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Tilak Varma's heroic knock of 94 and Riyan Parag's valiant half-century ended up going in vain as Australia A recorded a 9-wicket victory over India A at the Green Park stadium in what was a rain marred encounter. After winning the toss and electing to bat first, the Men in Blue got off to the worst start possible as they lost Asia Cup hero Abhishek Sharma for a golden duck. Pacer Jack Edwards provided the Baggy Greens with the massive breakthrough at the start and this was just the beginning.
The hosts then went on to lose Prabhsimran Singh for just one run in the very next over as Will Sutherland opened his wicket-account. Then, Shreyas Iyer, who had scored a century in the previous match of the series, got dismissed for only eight runs in the sixth over. This wicket left India in big trouble as they had been restricted to 17/3 within the first 10 overs of their innings.
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However, the duo of Tilak and Parag steadied India's sinking ship with a solid partnership. Both of them smashed the opposing bowlers all around the park and ensured that the hosts crossed the 100-run mark without losing any more wickets. The two of them went on to reach their half-centuries soon after, but Parag failed to go too far and was dismissed by Sutherland for 58, leaving India at 118/4 after 22.5 overs.
Tilak carried India to a fighting total
The rest of India's batters failed to form a strong stand with Tilak, who played like lone warrior. The left-hand batter formed partnerships of 33 and 34 runs with Harshit Rana (21) and Ravi Bishnoi (26) respectively, helping the hosts in reaching a respectable total of 246 before being bundled out. Tilak missed out on what would have been a well-deserved century and was the final Indian batter to be dismissed. Edwards was the top performer for Australia with the ball, recording figures of 4/56 in 8.5 overs.
In reply, the visitors made a strong start to the run-chase with openers Mackenzie Harvey and Jake Fraser-McGurk. However, just when Australia looked to be cruising at 48/0 after 5.5 overs, rain stopped play. The match didn't resume for a long time as the rain was pretty heavy and at one stage, it even looked as if the game would end up being abandoned. However, unfortunately for India, the rain stopped just in time for the match to resume.
The equation was changed drastically
Multiple changes were made to the equation as the visitors now had to chase a target of 160 runs in a total of 25 overs. Though the hosts did manage to get the big wicket of McGurk for 36 runs, it turned out to be just a consolation as the duo of Harvey and Cooper Connolly formed a massive 103-run partnership and took Australia to a thumping victory. Mackenzie remained unbeaten on 70 while Connolly also reached his half-century as Australia completed the chase in 16.4 overs.
This 9-wicket win saw the Baggy Greens level the three-match one-day series. The series deciding third match will be taking place at the same venue on October 5 and it remains to be seen which of the two sides will come out on top in that encounter.
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