India A fightback after poor batting show; match on a knife's edge after Day 3
The enthralling four-day game between India A and Australia A at the Allan Border Field in Brisbane continues to take many a twist and turn after yet another gripping day’s of action unfolded on Saturday.
Resuming the day at 44 for 2, India A were dealt a critical blow, right at the start of the day when Manish Pandey fell cheaply for 11 and then Shreyas Iyer fell soon enough for 11 to leave the side at 87 for 4.
The lower-middle order had to now stand up and take guard but barring Jayant Yadav, who fought valiantly for an unbeaten 46, none of them could get the side out of the doldrums. In fact, the situation could have been much worse, had it not been for a 36-run stand between Yadav and Varun Aaron, that helped the India eventually take a lead of 158 runs.
Daniel Worrall, David Moody and Chadd Sayers were the pick of the bowlers for the hosts with 3 wickets apiece
Just like it had been the case in the first innings, it was now up to the bowlers to stand up and deliver and they did just that with Shardul Thakur, picking up Joe Burns for 11 and then removing Travis Dean of the very next ball to leave the side reeling at 17 for 2.
Skipper Peter Handscomb, who played a vital knock in the 1st innings, could not deliver in the second, going for 24 off the bowling of Hardik Pandya and then Aaron picked up his first wicket of the innings, removing Marcus Stoinis for a duck to leave the hosts reeling at 50 for 4.
However, just when things were looking on the upswing for the visitors, rain arrived and the officials decided to take Tea soon enough, before inevitably, calling the day off.
Brief scores: India A 230 and 156(Yadav 46 Worrall 3-43) vs Australia A 228 and 59 for 4( Thakur 2-14)