Australia A were leading by 150 runs with five wickets in hand at the end of Day 2 after bowling India A out on 169 in the morning. At stumps, Hilton Cartwright (99*) and Sam Whiteman (9*) had taken the hosts to 319 for five.
After resuming on 169 for nine, India A lost Hardik Pandya on the fourth delivery of the day without any addition to the scoreline in the second four-day game in Brisbane.
Shardul Thakur then got the visiting team off to a good start by claiming both openers upfront. While Travis Dean departed nicking the pacer to Naman Ojha behind the wickets, Joe Burns edged the delivery to the slips leaving the team on 11 for the loss of two wickets. However, Nic Maddinson and Kurtis Patterson joined forces to revive the innings with a 92 run stand.
Hardik Pandya forced an edge from Patterson through to the wicketkeeper to send the batsman back. After 25 runs, Maddinson was dismissed by Jayant Yadav for 81. Beau Webster then found an able ally in Cartwright in building on the platform set up by the middle order batsmen.
Batting at a steady pace, the pair overhauled India A’s first innings total and helped seize a lead. The partnership was worth 152 when Thakur ended it. Brought back into the attack, the pacer struck with the new ball to give his team a much needed breakthrough.
Continuing to anchor the innings, Cartwright then saw the team through to the end of day’s play with Whiteman in an unbroken 39-run stand.
Brief scores:
Day 1 – India A 1st inn 169/9 in 66 overs (H Pandya 79*, J Yadav 28, K Richardson 3/37, J Bird 3/53)
Day 2 – India A 1st inn 169/10 in 66.4 overs (H Pandya 79, K Richardson 4/37); Australia A 1st inn 319/5 in 91 overs (H Cartwright 99*, N Maddinson 81, B Webster 79, S Thakur 3/71) Lead by 150 runs
