India dismiss Cricket Australia XI for 219 in tour match

Varun Aaron celebrates with teammates after picking up a wicket

India made an impressive start to their tour of Australia on Monday, by bowling out Cricket Australia XI for 219 on day one of the two-day warm-up match at the Glenelg Oval in Adelaide. Varun Aaron starred for India with the ball, picking with three wickets while Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammad Shami picked up two wickets apiece. In reply, India were placed comfortably at 55 for 1 with Shikhar Dhawan the lone man out for 10.

Opting to bat first after winning the toss, Cricket Australia XI were rocked early when Bhuvneshwar removed Matthew Short for a golden duck. Captain Ashton Turner then put on a 51-run stand with opener Ryan Carters before the former became Aaron’s first victim of the day, caught by wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha for 29.

The Jharkhand pacer struck two balls later by removing Nick Stevens for a second-ball duck. Carters and Kelvin Smith then shared a much-needed 74 run stand for the hosts before Smith became Bhuvi’s second victim of the day. Once the fast bowlers had done their bit, it was time for the spinners to join the party.

Ravichandran Ashwin removed the well-set Carters for 58, caught again by Saha. Varun Aaron, then returned for a second spell and picked up the wicket of Alex Gregory while Mohammad Shami made up for his wicketless opening spell by removing Jonte Pattison and Josh Lalor to leave the hosts in tatters and when Karn Sharma picked up David Moody for a duck, it looked like the hosts would be bowled out for a score under 200.

However, Harry Nielsen was in no mood to throw in the towel so soon and smashed a 40-ball 43, that included 7 fours and shared a 52-run partnership with No. 11 Harry Conway to help his side reach a total of 219. Apart from the bowlers, wicket-keeper Saha too enjoyed a field day, taking 5 catches and effecting the stumping of Harry Conway.

Dhawan falls early again

In reply, the opening pair of Shikhar Dhawan and Murali Vijay failed to give India a good start with the bat. The left-hander was dismissed for 13, caught by captain Turner off the bowling of Josh Lalor. Cheteshwar Pujara and Vijay then played sedately to help the Indians reach 51 for 1 at stumps on day one, trailing the hosts by 168 runs.

India would certainly be pleased with their bowling effort, especially Aaron, who was playing his first game after pulling his hamstring during the first ODI against Sri Lanka in Cuttack, earlier this month. Bhuvneshwar, playing his first game after the ODI series versus the West Indies also seemed to be in a good rhythm while Shami also looked good in his second spell.

After a not-so-impressive debut in the series against Sri Lanka, Karn picked up 2 wickets while Ravichandran Ashwin picked up 1. Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja weren’t used by skipper Virat Kohli.

The batsman would now be looking to get some runs under their belt on Thursday before they move on to the Adelaide Oval for their second warm-up game.