Harper lifts Australia A with impressive ton against India A
Puducherry, Sept 29
Wicketkeeper-batter Sam Harper lifted Australia A out of a hole with a sparkling 101 not out to help the visitors reach a confident 282/7 against India A on the opening day of the second and final four-day game at the Siechem Stadium here on Tuesday.
In what was his Australia A debut, the Victoria-regular struck seven fours and three sixes and shared in two key partnerships - 84 for the sixth wicket with Liam Scott ( 34) and 89 for the next with Todd Murphy (33) - to help the visitors recover from 104/5 after opting to bat first.
India A had won the opening four-day game by 162 runs after posting a confident 334 in their first innings on choosing to bat first last week. Australia A initially appeared to be failing to capitalise on the opportunity on winning the toss, before Harper turned it around with his sixth first-class century.
Medium pacer Nachiket Bhute (3-35), on his India A debut, took out opener Josh Philippe (5) and skipper Peter Handscomb (0) in the first hour, and left-arm spinner Shams Mulani accounted for the other opener Sam Konstas (2) as the visitors were left struggling at 67/3 at lunch.
Mulani (3-77), who took seven wickets in the opening match, dismissed Jason Sangha (46) and Nathan McSweeney (34) off successive overs in the second session after the pair had put on 81 for the fourth wicket.
However, Harper, who used his feet well, tacked both the conditions and the attack impressively, reaching his century with a streaky boundary off pacer Tushar Deshpande off the second new ball.
Brief scores: Australia A 282/7 in 87 overs (Sam Harper 101 not out, Jason Sangha 46; Nachiket Bhute 3-35, Shams Mulani 3-77) against India A.
— IANS
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