Chennai: The first of the two four-day first class matches between India A and Australia A ended in a draw at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium here on Saturday.
The hosts resumed play at 121 for 3 in the morning, following which they declared at 206 for 8, giving Australia a target of 240 runs. The visitors batted well but ran out of overs and time to finish the day’s play at 161 for 4.
India resumed in the morning with Shreyas Iyer (33) and Karun Nair (23) at the crease, but both were dismissed early in the day. Vijay Shankar (15) and Amit Mishra (13 not out) added to the score before skipper Cheteshwar Pujara decided to declare the innings and let his bowlers have a go at the Australian batsmen.
Australia’s bowlers had a good outing, with pacer Gurinder Sandhu (2-27), spinner Steve O’Keefe (2-81) and medium pacer Marcus Stoinis (2-18) clinching two wickets each. Fast bowler Andrew Fekete (1-28) and Travis Head (1-20) also chipped in.
In reply, the Australians started well and were cruising at 115 for 1 with opener Cameron Bancoft (51) and Head (50) striking fluent half-centuries. But the three quick wickets of Bancoft, Head and Peter Handscomb (0) slowed the run rate, bringing about the end of the match.
The Australia innings ended with Nic Maddinson (37 not out) and Stoinis (9 not out) at the crease.
Leg-spinner Amit Mishra, who has been selected in the senior squad for the three-match Test series against Sri Lanka in August, picked up two wickets for 49 runs.
