Sandhu threatens to spin a new ending

A five-wicket haul to India A spinner Pragyan Ojha – including the stumping of batsman Peter Handscomb for 91 – has nosed his team in front of Australia heading into the final day’s play in Chennai tomorrow.

India A ended day three with a 154-run lead and seven wickets in hand.

READ: Virat Kohli to to take on Australia A

But all results still remain a possibility after Gurinder Sandhu started to turn the game back late in the day – quite literally.

Told the fading light meant Sandhu could no longer continue bowling express, the big quick turned his hand to off-spin with immediate results.

Sandhu, who had already bowled six overs of pace in the second innings for three runs and three maidens, ended the day with figures of 2-13 from 11 overs.

He picked up Abhinav Mukund (40) with a sharp catch in close by Cameron Bancroft, and Cheteshwar Pujara (42) thanks to a goalkeeper-like catch from Handscomb at mid-wicket, to set up an enthralling finish.

Earlier, Australia A began the day on 4-185 with Victorian teammates Handscomb (75no) and Marcus Stoinis (42no) resuming their unbeaten 110-run partnership which had basically rescued their team’s innings.

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Marcus Stoinis raises the bat // BCCI

They started where they left off yesterday; ticking off milestones – 50 for Stoinis, a 150-run partnership – in a partenrship highlighted by some chanceless footwork from Handscomb and the power of Stoinis to take on spin down the ground.

There was a moment of concern for the Indian team when Ojha jackhammered into the ground trying to field a ball on the ropes and had to be taken off the field, but he reappeared before lunch.

Amit Mishra, who was told yesterday he’d been recalled to India's Test squad after four years, celebrated today with two wickets in the first session.

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Peter Handscomb caught short of his ground // BCCI

He spun one past Handscomb – who had looked untroubled and composed throughout his innings – to have the young right-hander stumped for 91, and had Matthew Wade (2) back in the sheds not long after.

Ojha’s earlier fielding mishap clearly didn’t bother him after lunch when he had Stoinis caught out on the boundary for 77. Stoinis’ dismissal triggered a mini-collapse, with three wickets falling in three overs.

Sean Abbott was run out for seven and, five balls later, Sandhu was bowled for a duck to give Ojha his fifth wicket for the innings. Ojha finished with 5-85.

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Ojha snared a bag of wickets for India A // BCCI

At 9-248, Steve O’Keefe and Andrew Fekete offered some resistance, combining for a handy 20-run partnership until Mishra picked up his third wicket when snaring Fekete (12).

O’Keefe finished on 10no as Australia was bowled out for 268; 33 runs shy of India A’s first innings total.

In reply, India A began their second innings with some attacking strokeplay, the batsmen more willing to take on the bowlers than their first innings.

A great catch in the deep by Nic Maddinson sent first-innings top-scorer KL Rahul on his way for 29, which included four fours and a six.

Mukund and Pujara were on their way to building a solid partnership before falling to Sandhu’s surprise spin.

The only other time Sandhu had bowled spin in a match was against a high-scoring Western Australia in the Sheffield Shield this past season, but the bounce and drop that Sandhu’s height generated, as well as the zip off the pitch, wasn’t akin to a part-time offie.

Karun Nair (4no) and Shreyas Iyer (4no) will resume on the final day tomorrow with India A on 3-121.

Stephen O'Keefe ripped through the India A line-up, before Peter Handscomb and Marcus Stoinis rescued the tourists from a poor start

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