India have defeated the Prime Ministers XI of Australia in the warm-up Pink-ball match ahead of the second Test against Australia. Led by Harshit Rana's fiery spell and contributions from the batters, India chased down a 241-run target in a rain-hit two-day warm-up match at the Manuka Oval, Canberra.
There were happy signs for India with Shubman Gill returning and hitting a fifty in the chase. Captain Rohit Sharma has also returned as India get a boost in their batting order ahead of the second Test. In a move that can surprise some, captain Rohit did not come out to open as KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal batted at the top of the order. This can serve as a hint for what the Indian management is thinking of the batting line-up for the second game after two hard-fought innings by Rahul in the first Test while opening the batting.
Meanwhile, Virat Kohli did not bat as the team while Jasprit Bumrah did not bowl as the team probably wanted to give chances to the others. Talking about India's batting order, Gill followed the two openers on three with Rohit coming out next. Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Sarfaraz Khan and Devdutt Padikkal also got chances with the willow.
Gill hit 50 before walking back retiring not out. Rahul had earlier gone back too after scoring 27. Nitish and Sundar scored identical scores of 42 in the chase. Sundar remained unbeaten, while India lost one more wicket after completing the chase in 42.5 overs. However, due to it being a warm-up, India were allowed to bat the 46 allotted overs. India won the game by 6 wickets.
Earlier, Harshit Rana starred with an impressive spell where he picked up four wickets in six balls. Akash Deep also picked up two with Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja getting one each. In the frame for opening at one time, Sam Konstas might make the Aussie selectors rethink about him after he hit a hundred while opening the innings.
The first-day of the match was washed out due to rain. The second day was set to witness a 50-over-per-side clash but due to a brief period of rain in the first innings, the contest was shortened to 46 overs-per-side. The Pink Ball Test against Australia is set to begin from December 6.
