India A must respond in Puducherry after Australia A's 125-run opening win

India A return to the Cricket Association Pondicherry Siechem Ground on Friday needing a win to keep the three-match unofficial one-day series against Australia A alive

Ruturaj Gaikwad's side were beaten by 125 runs in the opening match on Tuesday, a defeat that gave Australia A a 1-0 lead in a series of only three games. The second starts at 9.30am IST on Friday at the same ground in Puducherry.

The margin was built on one innings. Nathan McSweeney made 123 from 135 balls with 13 fours and put on 141 with Will Sutherland after Australia A had lost half their side, carrying the tourists to 274 in 48.2 overs. India A, set 275, were bowled out for 149 inside 32 overs.

Until Tuesday the tour had run India A's way. They took the first-class leg of it, winning the opening unofficial Test by 162 runs in September before the second was drawn.

A chase that never began

Sai Sudharsan went for 1 and Devdutt Padikkal for a six-ball duck, and India A found no stand of substance from there. Prabhsimran Singh hit 17 from nine balls before he fell, and Gaikwad made 15 from 30.

Rajat Patidar was the only batter to pass fifty, making 53 from 51, and Nishant Sindhu's 31 from 43 was the next-best score.

Mahli Beardman did the damage with 4-23 from six overs, and Spencer Johnson took two.

McSweeney rebuilds from 30 for 3

Australia A chose to bat and were 30 for 3 inside five overs. McSweeney came in during that collapse and was still there in the 48th.

His hundred was a second in List A cricket. Sutherland's 77 from 68 provided the acceleration at the end, including three sixes in one over from Anukul Roy.

Speaking to ESPNcricinfo afterwards, McSweeney called batting against India A's spinners "a huge challenge" for an Australian touring the subcontinent.

Shedge's four-for in a losing cause

Suryansh Shedge was the pick of India A's bowlers with 4-40 from seven overs, with Yash Thakur taking 3-47 and Arshad Khan 2-48.

Shedge is in the squad because Hardik Pandya is not. Pandya, named in the original selection on 9 September, reported discomfort in his right calf after a fitness assessment ten days later, and an MRI showed mild swelling in the bone consistent with right medial tibial stress syndrome.

The 23-year-old Mumbai all-rounder cleared a fitness check at the BCCI's Centre of Excellence before travelling. He has played three T20 Internationals, on tours of Ireland, England and Zimbabwe, and made 147 runs in five matches on India A's white-ball tour of Sri Lanka in June.

Changes on both sides

India A also lost Naman Dhir, who was picked in India's T20I squad for the West Indies series, with Anukul Roy coming in for him. Padikkal, who led the side in the four-day matches, is vice-captain under Gaikwad for the one-dayers.

Australia A brought in Riley Meredith and Sutherland for Jack Edwards and Aaron Hardie, who is sidelined with a knee problem. Meredith has since been called into Australia's senior squad for the Test tour of South Africa.

What Friday settles

A second win would take the series for Australia A with a match to spare. An India A win sends it to a decider at the same ground on Sunday.

Puducherry has staged every fixture of this tour, the two four-day games included, so neither side will meet anything it has not already seen.

India A have lost once in three matches on this tour, and must avoid a second defeat on Friday to take the one-day series to Sunday.

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