Chennai, Aug 7:
Captain Usman Khawaja and his opening partner Joe Burns smashed scintillating centuries as Australia A thrashed a hapless India A by a massive 119 runs in the second tri-series cricket match here today.
Khawaja and Burns continued their top form as they sent the Indian bowlers to a leatherhunt in their knocks of 100 and 154 respectively, sharing 239 runs from 35.5 overs in their opening stand, to help Australia A post a mammoth 334 for 4 after electing to bat at the M A Chidambaram Stadium here.
The Indians produced a spineless show in all departments of the game as their bowlers were first steamrolled by Khawaja and Burns during the Australia A innings and then the home team batsmen fell far short of reaching the stiff target of 335 as they were bundled out for just 215 in 42.3 overs.
The Australians maintained their wicket to wicket bowling and the impatient Indian batsmen paid the price of chasing short-pitched deliveries. The wicket appeared to offer good bounce throughout the day but the hosts batsmen were to be blamed for failing to make a mark as the majority of them were out due to wrong shot selections.
The bowling frailties of the home side were exposed badly as Khawaja and Burns made a mincemeat of them, scoring runs almost at will and denying the Indians any success till the 36th over.
When Khawaja, who was also in great touch in the ‘Test’ series against India A, was out for 100 after hitting 10 fours and three sixes from 104 balls, the visiting side were well on course for a huge total.
Leg-spinner Karn Sharma bore the brunt of the assault from the Australia A openers as he bled 58 runs from his five overs before being taken off. Off-spinner Parveez Rasool and pacer Dhawal Kulkarni were also taken to task as they conceded 57 and 70 runs from their seven and 10 overs respectively. Kulkarni got one scalp while Rasool went wicketless.
Sandeep Sharma, Axar Patel and Karun Nair also got a wicket apiece.
The home side batting was no better than their bowling as the Indians lost wickets at regular intervals. Captain Unmukt Chand (52) and Kedar Jadhav (50) struck a half century each but those were too little to even go near the massive target set by their rivals who have been in tremendous form after winning their first match against South Africa.
The highest partnership for India A was the 33 between Jadhav and Sanju Samson (11) for the fifth wicket.
Pacer Gurinder Sandhu (4/28) and leg-spinner Adam Zampa (4/49) broke the back of Indian batting with impressive spells as the home side lost their top five for 123 in the 22nd over. The game was as good as over by then and the Indians were ultimately bowled out for 215 in 42.3 overs to suffer a humiliating defeat.
Chand hit seven fours and a six in his 47-ball 52 while Jadhav hit five boundaries and a six in his 56-ball essay.
By virtue of today’s massive win, Australia A also got a bonus point to collect 10 points from two matches while India A and South Africa A were yet to open their account after playing a game each.
Earlier in Australia innings, Khawaja and Burns made merry of the Indian bowling. Burns, in particular, was in an aggressive mood as he hit 14 sixes — besides five boundaries — in his 131-ball knock.
The Australian opening duo were cautious in the beginning until their stitched their 50-run stand. After that, Burns, who was dropped while on 15 by Sanju Samson, made his intentions known as he punished Rasool for four sixes.
Burns then smashed Karn Sharma for six sixes and then hit three maximum results off Axar Patel and another one off the bowling of Dhawal Kulkarni.
Khawaja and Burns, who also struck half centuries in their side’s nine-wicket victory over South Africa ‘A’ in the first match, were out in quick succession but Matthew Wade played a cameo of a 21-ball 34 not out towards the end to take the score to 334 for four. PTI
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