4:47 pm: It's stumps on Day 2. Australia A finish on 42/1 in 16 overs - Usman Khawaja 16 off 49 and Travis Head 13 off 33.
4:20 pm: Australia A leads by 9 runs. Travis Head and Usman Khawaja at the crease for the visitor. Aus A 40/1 after 11 overs.
OUT! That's wicket No. 9 for Siraj in this match, gets rid of Patterson for 13. Australia A 14/1. Patterson flicks one off his pads, but doesn't get good contact. The ball is collected down the leg-side by 'keeper K.S. Bharat. A loud appeal leads to some confusion, as the umpires get together to discuss the appeal. Patterson remains unmoved. After a brief chat with his colleague, the umpire lifts his finger. An angry Patterson indicates that he didn't hit it.
3:41 pm: Australia begins its second innings on a positive note, Kurtis Patterson getting off the mark with a four. Mohammed Siraj and Navdeep Saini will share the new ball.
These are two pivotal four-day games (2nd four-day Test in Alur from Sep 8) for the Australians. At least four spots in the Australian Test team to face Pakistan are up for grabs. Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood will miss the series as they recover from their back injuries. And with the banned trio of Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft missing in action, the two Tests in October are an ideal opportunity for the Australian selectors and coach Justin Langer to test the team's depth and bench strength in all departments.
India-A all out for 274, a slender 31-run lead!
3:27 pm: No, he can't! Bawane stuck on 92 no, last man Ankit Rajpoot is run-out. An annoyed Bawne slams his bat to his pads. Rajpoot not quick enough off the blocks, and he is caught out by a good throw from Dogget at square-leg.
Bawane is into the nineties but he's run out of partners at the other end. Can Ankit Rajoot hang in there? Meanwhile, Neser and Holland are making a strong case for themselves ahead of the two-Test series against Pakistan.
03:11 PM: Wow! First delivery with the new ball, and Neser dismisses Saini. A tentative push forward results in Neser taking a low caught and bowled. FOW: 261/9, 80.1 overs.
03:09 PM: New ball taken. No. 10 Saini will find things tough now.
03:01 PM: Bawane has a change of heart. He's refusing singles now. Australia-A happy to play along.
02:59 PM: Bawane not keen to shepherd the strike. Navdeep Saini looks compact in defence, so Bawane is not too worried.
02:48 PM: WICKET! Mohammed Siraj falls for 5, caught off the bowling of Brendan Dogget. Eighth wicket down. The bouncer strategy has worked. Dogget digs one in, Siraj atempts the hook and skies it high. Marnus runs in from cover and takes the catch.
02:10 PM: Tea is called, with India-A on 231 for 7. Bawane looks solid on 54, and Siraj is on 2. A lot of shirt pitched stuff from the seamers this session. Australia-A came out firing, but India-A managed to hang on.
01:57 PM: LBW!Neser gets rid of Kuldeep Yadav who was batting at 18. India A 225/7, Over: 66.2.
01:45 PM: Ankeet Bawane reaches his half-century in 101 balls. India A reduces the trail to just 20 runs now.
01:29 PM: 200 up for the side in 59.3 overs.
01:09 PM: Fast bowler Dogget hits Kuldeep Yadav on the shoulder with a bouncer. Kuldeep looks okay, but he has called for the physio. Dogget bowled bouncers throughout the over, with a short leg and leg slip in place, mischief clearly on the cards.
12:50 PM: 50 overs up. Its 178/6, RR: 3.56. India A trails by 65 runs.
12:48 PM: BOWLED! Left arm spinner Holland gets K. Gowtham for 31. Length ball on off, Gowtham moved forward to play an awkward square drive. Got an inside edge onto the stumps.
Poor shot selection. Backlift came from point, which led to the inside edge. This ball needed a straight-bat defence. Gowtham practises a straight backlift after seeing his stumps disturbed. He realised his error immediately. FOW 178/6, 49.4 overs.
12:21 PM: 150 on the board. At the end of 43 overs, India A has managed to put up 153, losing five wickets in the process. It trails by 90 runs.
12:11 PM: The action resumes at the Chinnaswamy.
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Lunch is called. India-A 145 for five. Gowtham and Bawane have a lot of work to do.
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11:30 AM: Gowtham races to 17 off 11 balls, with four boundaries. Nothing wild though, he's keeping the ball along the ground and finding the gaps. Field spreads a little now, sweeper cover in place.
11:20 AM: It is the aggressive K. Gowtham and Bawane at the crease now.
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Meanwhile, Rick Eyre tweeted:
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11:19 AM: WICKET! Its the glovesman. K S Bharat 5(10) gone! Goes forward to Jon Holland, ball goes past the outside edge and hits the stumps. India-A in trouble at 127 for 5, after 35.5 overs.
Holland delivered a sucker punch to Bharat there. Bharat was comfortable leaving Holland's deliveries outside off, so Holland sent one straight at the stumps. Bharat tentative in defence, and taken out.
11:09 AM: A. Easwaran run-out. India A is messing up the situation now. Easwaran pushes the ball to cover, takes off. Partner Ankit Bawane responds, but both batsmen stop and turn around after taking the first few steps. Marnus Labusghagne swoops in, and throws the stumps down in one fluent motion. A dive from Easwaran does not save him, he is well out. FOW: 116/4, 32.6 overs.
Marnus could have thrown at Bawane's end too, as Bawane was much a sitting duck as Easwaran. Really poor calling from both batsmen. These unnecessary risks should be avoided, especially in a four-day match.
10:54 AM: OUT! Skipper Shreyas Iyer (3, 9b) is the third wicket to fall. Strange dismissal. He shoulder arms to a Michael Naser ball which pitched slightly off. Ball came back in (reversed) a fraction, and took out off-stump. Shreyas didn't move his front foot to cover the line, and therefore wasn't sure of his off-stump. FOW: 107/3, 30.1 overs.
10:47 AM: India A reaches triple digits with Mayank and Samarth back in the pavilion. Score- India A 100/2 in 28.3 Overs.
10:46 AM: Skipper Shreyas Iyer is here to take charge of things after Samarth's dismissal.
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Samarth not having a great time in India-A colours. In his last nine innings, across formats, he has scored 25, 23, 0, 4, 37, 10, 18, 2 and 137.
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10:45 AM: R. Samarth out LBW for 25. Stayed on the back foot to defend a length ball from spinner Holland. Trapped on the pads, umpire raises his finger. Samarth bitterly disappointed, trudges off to the hut. FOW: 92/2, 27.2 overs.
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Ashton Agar is the other left-arm spinner in this squad. Agar isn't in the XI for this match. Australia-A is Keen to rotate the squad and give everyone match-time. Readers will remember Agar as the man who scored 98, batting at no.11, on his Test debut in the 2013 Ashes series.
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10:32 AM: Aussie pacers testing the pitch with bouncers. Samarth and Easwaran ducking and weaving, but not facing much difficulty. The left-arm spin of Jon Holland keeping things tight at the other end.
10:30 AM: After 25 overs, India A looks to be in control of things as the scoreboard reads 85/1.
09:45 AM: Mayank gone, three runs short of his half-century! Pushes forward to a length delivery outside off from pacer Michael Neser. Gets a faint edge to the keeper. Not much swing there, so Mayank just played the wrong line. Should have left that ball well alone.
The scoreboard reads: 62/1 in 15.5 overs. A R Eswaran comes out on to the crease.
09:30 AM: Karnataka openers R. Samarth and Mayank Agarwal start proceedings. All eyes on Mayank, who has been in stellar form in the last 18 months or so. He looked in fine touch again last evening, playing his favorite square drives to anything short and wide. If he gets through the first hour here, expect another ton.
And right on cue, Mayank gets going with a square-drive boundary off pacer Dogget. Mayank is off to the races.
Our reporter, Ashwin Achal will bring you regular updates as the day 2 action takes off at the Chinnaswamy.
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Day 1: Stumps- India A trails by 202 runs. (Ravikumar Samarth 10 n.o; Mayank Agarwal 31 n.o.)
Australia A won the toss and opted to bat.
Usman Khwaja's maiden first-class century in India may have saved the visitor the blushes but it'll be upto Australia's bowlers to ensure the Indian batsmen don't rack up a huge lead !
India-A pacer Mohammed Siraj recorded figures of eight for 59 – his career-best in first-class cricket – to help India-A bowl Australia-A out for 243 on day one. In response, the host finished the day on 41 for no loss. (Report)
Hello and Welcome to Sportstar's live coverage of the second day's play from the first unofficial Test between India-A and Australia-A at the M. Chinnaswamy stadium.
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