IND A v AUS warm-up match Day 1 Review: Australia in the driving seat as Smith and Marsh score tons

The Border-Gavaskar Trophy is less than a week away. And Australia are hard at practice. As a part of their preparation, the visitors are currently playing a three-day warm-up game against India A. Matthew Wade was cleared to play the game at the Cricket Club of India in Mumbai.

Hardik Pandya the new captain of the India A team won the toss and chose to field as Australia played a spin friendly squad. With Michael Swepson, Steven O’Keefe, Ashton Agar all playing in the 15-man squad they put up; though only 11 can bat. India also played a 14-man team.

Australia started the day with brittle batting as Matt Renshaw who opened the innings in place of Shaun Marsh was dismissed cheaply for 11 and the inform David Warner was also sent back early as Australia were reduced to 55/2. Both the openers were sent packing by Navdeep Saini and caught by Ishan Kishan. Warner top-edged a short ball while Renshaw poked at one that moved away after pitching.

The team from down under played a bit with their batting lineup as the skipper pushed himself up the order at number 3 and Shaun Marsh was slipped down to number 4. This kind of worked for them as both the batsmen who adjusted scored brilliant centuries.

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Steven Smith scored 107 of just 161 balls, scoring at a brisk strike rate of 66.46. He hit twelve fours and one out of the park. He retired his innings after doing his bit and that gave Peter Handscomb a chance to swing his bat.

Marsh, on the other hand, was also busy scoring a century. He scored a wonderful 104 in 170 deliveries hitting 11 fours and one six. He followed the footsteps of his skipper and retired. Both the batsmen did their bit and it was now the turn of the tall all-rounder Mitchell Marsh and the backup wicketkeeper-batsman Peter Handscomb to show off their skills.

However, Handscomb was dismissed by Hardik Pandya for a well made 45 of 70 deliveries. He hit 3 boundaries in his innings. Mitchell Marsh looks solid and is not out on 16 runs. He is partnered by the fit-again Matthew Wade who is also playing on 7 and will resume the game on day 2. Australia ended the day with 327 for 3 on board. The Indian bowlers toiled hard but had limited rewards. Saini was the pick of the bowlers finished the day with 2 for 27 and Pandya was the other who got a wicket. The India A skipper finished with 1 for 64.

Brief Scores:

Australia: 327/3 (Smith 107, Marsh 104; Saini 2/27, Pandya 1/64)