Padikkal did not enforce the follow-on, and India A still beat Australia A by 162 runs
Australia A lost five wickets before lunch on the last day in Puducherry, and Shams Mulani finished them off with seven in the match.
Sep 25, 2026
Devdutt Padikkal had a first-innings lead of 163 and the option to make Australia A bat again straight away. He batted instead, and by the second session of the fourth day the decision looked fine. India A bowled Australia A out for 200 chasing 363 at the Cricket Association Pondicherry Siechem Ground and won the first four-day game by 162 runs to go 1-0 up in the two-match series.
Padikkal’s 59 set the target
India A’s second innings was not much tidier than their first. They were 94 for 3 after Sai Sudharsan fell lbw to Todd Murphy for 39 and Shaik Rasheed went for a six-ball duck, seven balls apart. Padikkal, who had made 3 in the first innings, reached fifty from 72 balls and was the one who kept the scoreboard moving. He made 59 from 88 before Liam Scott trapped him lbw.
The last six wickets fell for 48. Murphy took three of them to finish with 4 for 48, and 7 for 125 across the match. Kumar Kushagra, who had made 113 in the first innings, was left unbeaten on 46 from 59 balls with two sixes, and India A were all out for 199 shortly after tea on the third day.
It came at a cost. A ball from Brendan Doggett reared up off a length and struck Kushagra on the chin, and he was unable to keep wicket for large parts of the chase. The substitute Narayan Jagadeesan took the gloves.
Five wickets before lunch
Australia A resumed on Friday on 55 for 2. Nathan McSweeney, 23 overnight, got to 35 before Anshul Kamboj had him caught by Aman Mokhade, and Kamboj then bowled the captain Peter Handscomb for 16. That was 91 for 4.
Tushar Deshpande did the real damage. He bowled Josh Philippe for 7 and Liam Scott first ball, off consecutive deliveries, to leave Australia A on 118 for 6. Five balls later Tanush Kotian bowled Jason Sangha for 26, and three wickets had gone for six runs. Deshpande finished with 3 for 14 from eight overs.
Fergus O’Neill held India A up. He and Murphy added 67 for the eighth wicket, and O’Neill was on 43 at lunch with Australia A on 185 for 7. It only delayed things. Shams Mulani had O’Neill caught by Mokhade for 47 from 52 balls, then removed Murphy for 17 and Doggett, and it was over 6.1 overs into the afternoon session. Mulani took 3 for 57 to go with his 4 for 67 in the first innings.
What Puducherry told the selectors
Kushagra was named player of the match for 113 and 46 not out, and it is hard to argue. Of the batters India A are looking at, he is the only one who made a hundred, and he did it after retiring hurt on 82 on the first evening and coming back the next morning.
The bowling is harder to split, which is the kind of problem selectors like having. Mulani’s seven wickets came from 34.1 overs of left-arm spin. Kotian took four in the match, Kamboj three, and Deshpande five, and Australia A’s batters never put a partnership of more than 67 together.
For Australia A the concern is the top order. Sam Konstas made 25 and 20, McSweeney 0 and 35, and the captain Handscomb 8 and 16. They have four days to find an answer. The second four-day game starts at the same ground on 29 September.