Australia A v India A, 1st Unofficial Test, Review: Cameron Bancroft's half-century seals the deal for the hosts

Australia A, riding on the sensible 58 runs knock from opener Cameron Bancroft, registered a comfortable three-wicket over India A to took a 1-0 lead in the 2-match unofficial Test series.

After ending Day three on a quite nervous note, losing four of the top order batsmen in a short span of time in the last session, all hopes were on the unbeaten opener Cameron Bancroft to perform and rally chase. As anticipated, he did not let hs team down and guided his team to the target without any hassle.

The fresh day began on a steady note with overnight batsmen Bancroft and Swepson adding 57 runs for the first wicket. After ending day three on a nervous 59/4 after Indian fast bowler made early inroads in the Australian batting order, it appeared that match was slightly open and could tilt in either India’s favor if another wicket or two fall in the following day.

But, Bancroft and Swepson made sure that there were any early casualties in the first session. The task was small. With only 158 runs to win, the Aussies needed only one stable partnership to sail past the target. Bancroft and Swepson did that for their team. They successfully took Australia past the 100 runs mark before the getting separated.

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After losing the company of Swepson in the 42^nd over, Bancroft stitched small partnerships with Sam Whiteman (14) and Chadd Sayers (15) to ensure that their path to the victory was clear.

The Indian fast bowlers, after who created a bit of a scare for the chasing side yesterday were not effective at all today. Despite pocketing one wicket each today, the pace bowling of Shardul Thakur and Varun Aaron weren’t able to snap quick wickets that were required.

The match was a low-scoring affair. Batting first, India A could make on 230 with help of skipper Manish Pandey’s sensible half-century. Later, The India bowlers made a stupendous comeback in the game to bowl out Australia 228 runs.

India could have gained an advantage at this stage and put up a big target to chase. Going by the way things unfolded over the course of the four days, a target in excess of 240 would have done the job for India. But, the Australian fast bowling attack hit back harder and proved to be too hot to handle for the Indians who could make only 156 in the 3rd innings, setting a small target of 1589 for the hosts to chase.

Brief Scores:

1st Innings

India A: 230 all in 51.3 overs (Manish Pandey 77, Michael Swepson 4/78)

Australia A: 228 all out (Peter Handscomb 87, Varun Aaron 3/44)

2nd Innings

India A: 156 all out (Jayant Yadav 46; Daniel Worrall 3/43)

Australia A: 161/7 (C Bancroft 58; S Thakur 3/42)

Player of the match: Peter Handscomb