Report: Warm-up 2: Cricket Australia XI vs Indians - Day 1

The Indian bowlers had a perfect day on the field on the first day of the second warm-up match at the Gliderol Oval in Adelaide, against Cricket Australia XI.

After the bowlers dismissed the hosts for 243 in 68.3 overs, the batsmen played off 29 overs on a day that comprised 100 instead of 90 overs.

At stumps, Murali Vijay (39*)and Virat Kohli (30*) held fort for the Indians.

Shikhar Dhawan departed for a golden duck, in the second over of the innings, lobbing a leg-side half volley to the man at forward square leg, off Josh Lalor.

Cheteshwar Pujara looked compact in the middle for a while but soon he nicked one to slip where Ashton Turner clinched a stunner. Next ball, Virat Kohli did the same but this time Turner put down a straight forward catch.

The Australian bowlers maintained a short length for most part of the innings and also peppered the Indian batsmen with bouncers. Virat Kohli and Vijay – after getting a life each early in their innings – negotiated the bowlers well to remain unbeaten at stumps on the first day.

Like he had in the first match, Varun Aaron shone with the ball for the Indians this time too. Aaron finished with 4 for 41 in 14.3 overs as the Indians dismissed the opposition for 243 in 68.3 overs.

Karn Sharma, although expensive with an economy rate of 4.38, picked up three wickets while Mohammad Shami scalped two.

After their originally scheduled second warm-up match to be played at the Adelaide Oval on November 28-29 was cancelled due to the sad demise of Phillip Hughes, Team India finally got some match practice.

It was mutually agreed upon at the beginning of the match that the Indians will have a bowl on the first day so as to get their fast bowlers going. The pacers made the most of their day out in the sun, as they came charging down on full thrusters.

They used the short ball generously and to a good effect in the first session, ruffling the batsmen up and then picking wickets with fuller deliveries. Mohammad Shami got the Indians a breakthrough in the first over, getting Ryan Carters to prod forward and edge one to Shikhar Dhawan at second slip.

Varun Aaron got success in the very next over, as Ashton Turner got bowled through his legs in an attempt to play one down the leg side.

The next to strike was Mohammad Shami, in the seventh over. Mathew Short miscued a drive as Wriddhiman Saha took an agile catch behind the wicket.

The Indian fast bowlers had CA XI 34 for 3 inside 10 overs.

The innings was resurrected by Jordan Silk and Alex Keath, who put up 71 for the fourth wicket. The two went into Lunch unbeaten with the team total at 105 for 3.

However, within three overs after the break, the hosts lost both their set batsmen, thanks to Aaron and Karn. The paceman got Silk to edge one at third slip to Suresh Raina while the leg-spinner got Keath driving straight into the hands of Cheteshwar Pujara at cover.

Umesh, who went easy on the bouncer in the morning, came back in the third session with a short-ball ploy. He used the delivery often in his last spell and batsmen did find it tough to get them away.

Out of the Indian bowlers, Bhuvneshwar Kumar didn’t take the field. R Ashwin opted to hone his skills in the nets adjacent to the playing field for the most of the innings and only briefly made an appearance on the field. Saha and Naman Ojha took turns with the keeping gloves throughout the day and the slip cordon kept changing according to the availability of personnel.

Virat Kohli, India’s stand-in captain, missed the first session of play as he was on his way from Macksville after attending Phil Hughes’ funeral the day before. In his absence, Ishant Sharma led the team in the middle. Virat joined the team a few overs into the post-lunch session and took over the charge of the team. Post tea, however, he once again handed the team’s reins to Ishant as he went to have hit in the nets.

The Indian team began the day at the Gliderol Oval by paying their tribute to Phil Hughes. They lined up their bats at the fence and observed a minute’s silence to honour the memory of the departed cricketer.

Brief Scores:

Stumps Day 1

Indians 99 for 2 (Vijay 39*, Virat 30*) trail Cricket Australia XI 243 all-out (Ryan Carters 58, Sebastian Gotch 58) by 144 runs.

Indian bowlers’ summary

Mohammad Shami: 12-0-37-2

Varun Aaron: 14.3-2-41-4

Umesh Yadav: 12-2-47-0

Ishant Sharma: 11-2-37-0

Karn Sharma: 13-2-57-3

Ravindra Jadeja: 6-2-12-1

source: bcci.tv