Dhruv Jurel makes a mark in tough conditions

Dhruv Jurel was the brightest spark for India A on the opening day of the second unofficial Test as Australia A's bowlers led by Michael Neser ran riot on a green top at the Melbourne Cricket Ground after winning the toss. Jurel made 80 in a team total of 161 with 26 the next highest score in a day of failed auditions to make the XI for the start of the Border-Gavaskar Test series. Australia A in response ended the opening day at 53 for 2.

Bounce and seam movement were the allies for the hosts, who had Neser strike twice in the first over of the game. Abhimanyu Easwaran, vying for a spot that could be left vacant if Rohit Sharma misses the start of the series, couldn't handle the exaggerated deviation off the surface and edged to gully. A similar fate awaited Sai Sudharsan off the very first ball he faced.

KL Rahul, made to audition again as an opener, on-drove the first ball he faced from Scott Boland for a boundary before feathering an edge. By the end of the third over, India A were 11 for 4 with Ruturaj Gaikwad becoming the third of Neser's victims. In the company of Devdutt Padikkal, Jurel set about the rebuild job.

Once the two batters survived the initial Neser and Boland bursts, the back-up seamers weren't as difficult to deal with and runs arrived at a faster clip. Trouble arrived as soon as the lead bowlers returned for another short burst just before the lunch interval. Neser ended the 53-run fifth-wicket stand by dismissing Padikkal for 26.

With a jittery Nitish Reddy for company, Jurel took India A's total past 100, showing great temperament and technique to handle the demons on the surface. Jurel's backfoot game, in particular, was noteworthy and with a spot in the Test side's middle-order potentially available, he did his chances no harm with a fine knock. The hosts, however, opened up the other end when Beau Webster dismissed Nitish and Tanush Kotian in one over.

Jurel farmed the strike in a 36-run stand with Prasidh Krishna and took up the load of scoring on himself before his enterprise ended 20 short of what would have been an excellent century. The visitors were soon bowled out for 161 but not before Neser was ruled out of bowling in the remainder of the game after picking up a hamstring injury.

Australia A's openers were put through the ringer too and Nathan McSweeney chased a Mukesh Kumar delivery he could have left alone to dent his chances of featuring in Perth. Khaleel Ahmed dismissed the other contender Cameron Bancroft while Marcus Harris batted resolutely to finish unbeaten on 26.

Brief scores: India A 161 (Dhruv Jurel 80; Michael Neser 4-27, Beau Webster 3-19) lead Australia A 53/2 (Marcus Harris 26; Mukesh Kumar 1-13) by 108 runs