Day 2: Watch highlights of Cricket Australia XI vs India Practice Match
Day 1: Watch highlights of Cricket Australia XI vs India Practice Match
India’s first warm-up match against Cricket Australia XI ended in a draw with the visitors leading by 144 runs at the Gliderol Stadium in Adelaide.
It was batsmen’s turn to steal the limelight on the second day, after an impressive performance from bowlers the other day. Indians struck five half-centuries on Tuesday, with skipper Virat Kohli was the standout performer for the visitors.
India stared at an overnight score of 55 for 1 with Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara at the crease. Both Vijay and Pujara scored fifties and opted to retire after reaching their respective milestones.
“They’re just trying to get ready for the first Test. They want a bit of game time out in the middle,” off-spinner Sam Grimwade said. “I was expecting them to come really hard at us but they’re taking their time to get themselves in.”
“I’m pretty happy to be bowling out here to the Indians,” he added. “You watch him (Kohli) on TV all the time and he makes heaps of runs. It can be intimidating, but it’s not too bad … I can only improve by bowling to them.”
Ajinkya Rahane was dismissed cheaply, while attempting to drive a wide ball, which resulted in him being caught at mid-off. Suresh Raina, meanwhile, made a stroke-filled 44 off 49 balls, while Rohit Sharma also got a start.
Wriddhiman Saha and Karn Sharma thoroughly entertained the crowd with some big hits. Karn, in particular, made merry with the bat, lofting the ball all around the park. His attacking batting fetched him five fours and a couple of sixes.
When the teams shook hands with an hour and a half of play still remaining, Saha was unbeaten at 56 (75 balls) and Karn was at the crease with 52 off 54 balls.
