Liam Scott took five, and India A’s last pair batted out three overs to win the series in Puducherry
India A were 292 for 9 chasing 365 with three overs left, and Nachiket Bhute and Praful Hinge kept Australia A out to draw the second four-day game and take the series 1-0.
Oct 2, 2026
India A finished the final day in Puducherry with nine wickets down, and they held on. Nachiket Bhute and Praful Hinge saw out the last three overs at the Cricket Association Pondicherry Siechem Ground, India A closed on 310 for 9 chasing 365, and the second four-day game against Australia A was drawn. That was enough to win the two-match series 1-0.
For a long stretch of the last day it looked like Australia A would level it. Liam Scott, who had taken one wicket in the first innings, finished with 5 for 37 from 18 overs, the best figures of the match.
A nightwatcher made 52
India A resumed on 28 for 1, needing another 337. Tushar Deshpande had been sent in as nightwatcher on the third evening after Sai Sudharsan fell to Todd Murphy, and he was still there at lunch. He made 52 from 119 balls with four fours and a six, and he and Devdutt Padikkal put on 60 for the third wicket after Scott had Aayush Pandey lbw for 19.
Padikkal fell for 26, caught behind by Josh Philippe off Scott. Philippe had the gloves for the whole day in place of Sam Harper, who made 128 in the first innings. Liam Hatcher removed Deshpande soon after, and Shaik Rasheed’s 38 from 45 balls ended when Nathan McSweeney trapped him lbw.
Then the innings lurched. Scott bowled Kumar Kushagra for 1, Corey Rocchiccioli had Tanush Kotian caught, and India A were 199 for 7 shortly before tea. They needed 166 more with three wickets left, and a win had gone out of the conversation.
Rathod and Mulani took the game deep
What followed was a long stand built on not getting out. Yash Rathod and Shams Mulani added 85 for the eighth wicket across more than 35 overs. Rathod played the shots, reaching fifty from 81 balls and going on to 80 with eight fours. Mulani made 29 from 131 balls.
Scott broke it. He trapped Rathod lbw for 80 with the score on 284, and in the 100th over he had Mulani lbw as well. That left India A on 292 for 9, with one wicket for Australia A to take. There were three overs of the match left.
They did not get it. The last pair added 18 from those 18 balls. Bhute finished on 20 not out from 21 balls, and Hinge kept out the six he faced. Hinge was not in the original XI. He came in after Anshul Kamboj was called into India’s ODI squad to replace the injured Prasidh Krishna for the third match against West Indies, and was pulled out of this game two overs into Australia A’s second innings.
What the two games showed
India A won the first match at the same ground by 162 runs last week, so the series is theirs. This draw was a different kind of test. They were bowled out for 167 in reply to 358, gave up a first-innings deficit of 191, and still did not lose.
For Australia A, the second game was the better one. Harper’s 128 rescued them from 16 for 3 on the first morning, and Scott, Rocchiccioli and Jhye Richardson bowled India A out cheaply once. They could not do it twice.