Josh Philippe and Sam Konstas hit aggressive half-centuries, while pacer Spencer Johnson struck crucial blows as Australia A beat India A by 69 runs in the second one-day match on Friday. With the win, Australia A also took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. Konstas (67 off 88 balls) and Philippe (58 off 58 balls) shared a 101-run stand for the second wicket, laying the foundation for Australia A’s 275 all out.
Along with the series defeat, however, the hosts will also be disappointed with the second successive failures of India batters Devdutt Padikkal, Sai Sudharsan and Ruturaj Gaikwad.
Rajat Patidar made 67 off 82 balls, but India A’s chase folded at 206 with a little over four overs remaining.
The 29-year-old creamed Nishant Sindhu for a couple of boundaries in succession, including a sweet inside-out drive through extra cover. Philippe reached his fifty off 53 balls when he pulled pacer Yash Thakur for a boundary. Konstas reached his fifty off 69 balls. Australia A were 168/3 in 30 overs at that stage. But India struck at regular intervals thereafter to restrict the tourists to 107 runs in the final 20 overs while taking the remaining seven wickets. The target was not imposing, but India A were hurt by the early departures of Padikkal (1), Gaikwad (12) and Sudharsan (13). Patidar was the only seasoned campaigner in the middle order, and though he made 67 off 82 balls, he never really received the support expected from the other end. In fact, the biggest partnership of the home side’s innings was a 51-run stand for the fifth wicket between Patidar and Sindhu. Brief scores: Australia A 275 all out in 49.5 overs (Sam Konstas 67, Josh Philippe 58; Arshad Khan 3/56) beat India A 206 all out in 45.2 overs (Rajat Patidar 67, Anukul Roy 34 not out; Spencer Johnson 3/35) by 69 runs. (Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
As a result, India A were reduced to 30/3 in the ninth over, with a relatively inexperienced batting line-up to follow. Philippe’s innings was well-paced, making amends for his cheap dismissal in the first match. However, the pair could not build on their starts as Philippe fell to Sindhu and Konstas to Arshad. But once Patidar fell to Johnson, there was no real fight left in the Indian ranks. Johnson also accounted for Padikkal and Suryansh Shedge.
At the other end, Konstas was relatively more sedate, although he had earlier pulled Arshad Khan for a six.
