Injury blow for quick after new-ball masterclass
Nathan McSweeney’s debut innings as an opener was short-lived, opening the door for Marcus Harris to make a fresh push for a Test recall as he went to stumps unbeaten at the MCG.
Australia A captain McSweeney (14) and Cameron Bancroft (3) lost their wickets in a challenging final session as the home side went to stumps 2-53 in reply to India A’s 161.
The tourists had been reduced to 4-11 in only 16 balls on Thursday morning as Michael Neser (4-27) exploded out of the blocks with three wickets in his first two overs.
But just as he was reminding the national selectors of his quality, Neser was dealt an untimely injury blow and was sent for scans on his hamstring after failing to get through his 13th over.
It could prove costly for the 34-year-old’s hopes of a Test recall against India, as he was poised to enter selection calculations for the Adelaide pink-ball clash and the third game at the Gabba.
McSweeney and Harris went out to open the batting shortly after the tea break, and scored fluently to reach 0-31 in the eighth over before McSweeney parried a short, straightening delivery from Mukesh Kumar to second slip.
Bancroft’s awful run of form to begin the season continued as he struggled to three from 21 balls before pulling a short ball from left-armer Khaleel Ahmed straight to square leg.
His dismissal meant his last seven red-ball innings had yielded only 29 runs at an average of 4.14.
Harris (26) and Sam Konstas (1) were at the crease when rain brought an early stumps, and both had a chance to press a claim on Friday against the India A quicks.
Earlier, Neser took only three balls to remove Abhimanyu Easwaran with a short, rearing delivery that caught the shoulder of the bat and was well taken by Corey Rocchiccioli diving forward at gully.
He followed it with another short-pitched ball that Sai Sudharsan swatted straight to Cameron Bancroft at second slip and missed out on a hat-trick by a matter of centimetres with a seaming, full delivery that was inside-edged for four.
Easwaran and Rahul, who has played 53 Tests, were both in the frame to replace Rohit Sharma as an opener in Perth should the Indian captain miss the series opener due to the birth of his second child.
But Rahul also fell cheaply, as Boland brought him forward and caught the outside edge to make it 3-9 in 1.3 overs.
Neser had Ruturaj Gaikwad caught edging to second slip seven balls later to leave the tourists reeling before Dhruv Jurel (80) helped to steady the side.
Beau Webster took 3-19 with his medium pace as Australia A captain Nathan McSweeney and Rocchiccioli chimed in with late wickets.
