CANBERRA: Harshit Rana’s four-wicket haul followed by a combined batting effort led India to a stunning five-wicket victory over Australia’s Prime Minister’s (PM) XI in the two-day pink-ball warm-up game here at Manuka Oval on Sunday.
In one match, reduced to 46 overs per side due to rain, India’s regular captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and put the PM XI into bat.
The home team had a shaky start to the innings as they were reduced to 22/2 with Akash Deep and Mohammed Siraj making early inroads.
After the initial hiccup, opening batsman Sam Konstas joined hands with Jack Clayton and began the recovery.
The duo added 109 runs to their total until Harshit Rana dismissed Clayton, who scored 40 off 52 deliveries.
Rana inflicted a middle-order collapse with three more wickets in quick succession, resulting in the PM XI falling to 138/7 in 25.3 overs.
But Konstas stood firm and put together a 67-run partnership with Hanno Jacobs before finally dying in the 38th over.
He top-scored for the PM XI with 107 off 97 deliveries, studded with 14 fours and a six.
Despite ending up on the losing side, Konstas was named best player on the field for his century of struggle.
Jacobs, on the other hand, formed one-sided partnerships of Jack Nisbet and Charlie Anderson before eventually falling victim to Washington Sundar in the 44th over.
He scored 61 off 60 balls with the help of four fours and two sixes.
Rana starred with the ball for India, taking four wickets, while Akash took two. Prasidh Krishna, Siraj, Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja did a scalp each.
In response, India comfortably chased down the total for the loss of just five wickets, courtesy of Shubman Gill’s half-century.
The top-order batsman, who missed the opening Test due to a thumb injury, found his touch ahead of the pink-ball Test against Australia as he scored the best goal for India in the friendly with a 62-ball 50.
He was followed by India’s first Test centurion Yashasvi Jaiswal who scored 45 down the order while Nitish Kumar Reddy and Washington Sundar contributed 42 each.
For the PM XI, Anderson took two wickets, while Lloyd Pope, Matt Renshaw and Clayton shared three between them.
