India A took a 1-0 lead in the three-match ODI series by defeating Australia A by 171 runs at the Green Park stadium in Kanpur. After being invited to bat first by the Aussies, India went on to post a mammoth total thanks to some brilliant knocks. Firstly, openers Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh provided a strong start to the side and formed a massive opening stand of 135 runs. Both of them had starred for the Punjab Kings in IPL 2025 and replicated that form for India A.
Prabhsimran would eventually lose his wicket for 56 runs in the 21st over, however this didn't stop Priyansh from continuing to decimate the opposing bowlers. He was joined by Shreyas Iyer, who also minated against the Aussies. Priyansh eventually went on to get to his hundred in 82 deliveries and did so after hitting 11 boundaries and five maximums. He would eventually be dismissed by Tanveer Sangha for 101 runs, but the damage was already done.
Iyer's ton got India into a commanding position
Iyer then formed a massive 132-run stand alongside Riyan Parag as both of them took India's total over the 300-run mark. The latter eventually got dismissed after playing a valiant knock of 67, but Shreyas kept on going. He would go on to reach triple figures in just 75 deliveries to continue India's dominance with the bat. Despite his dismissal in the 47th over for 110 runs, Ayush Badoni went on to hit a 25-ball fifty to take India's total over the 400-run mark and they finished their 50 overs on 413/6.
How did Australia fare with the bat?
In reply, Australia did start off decently with the opening pair of Jake Fraser-McGurk and Mackenzie Harvey, however the formmer lost his wicket to Nishant Sindhu in the fifth over after posting 40 runs on the board. Harvey then formed steady partnerships with both Cooper Conolly (33) and Lachlan Shaw (45), however the Baggy Greens kept on losing wickets. After being restricted to 181/5, the second-half of their innings could only manage to score a total of 61 runs as they eventually got bundled out for 242.
Skipper Will Sutherland's half-century wasn't able to save the Aussies and they lost the series opener by a humongous margin of 171 runs. Sindhu was the star performer for India with the ball, recording figures of 4/50 in 6.1 overs. Ravi Bishnoi also contributed well with his figures of 2/49 with 8 overs. This victory will definitely give the Men in Blue a lot of confidence and they will be hoping to seal the series by winning the second game that is set to be played on October 3.