Australia A battling to save face against England Lions

Australia A face an uphill grind to get themselves back into their match against the England Lions at the MCG after finishing day two 325 runs behind and five wickets down.

Australia A reached stumps at 5-103 on the second evening of this four-day, first-class day-night contest, with Josh Inglis (13 not out) and Jack Wildermuth (11no) at the crease.

Australia A suffered two big blows in final hour as opener Usman Khawaja and captain Moises Henriques both perished to edges behind, having done the hard work to get a start.

But this MCG pitch – the easternmost strip of the seven drop-in pitches in this most scrutinised square – has made finding fluency extremely difficult.

Still, the Australia A bowlers were made to toil for 140.2 overs over the first two days as the England Lions racked up 428 before being dismissed, with two batters – Dom Sibley and Dan Lawrence – scoring centuries while wicketkeeper-batter James Bracey added 65 batting at No.6

With National Selector Trevor Hohns watching on from his seat in the MCC members' stand, no Australia A batter was able to better Khawaja's 30 from 79 balls in the 37 overs they faced on day two.

Khawaja fell nine overs before stumps as the Lions attack, led by towering Ashes seamer Craig Overton, extracted more life and movement from the pink ball under the MCG lights than their Australia A counterparts had managed.

Khawaja had weathered the storm for the best part of 30 overs, keeping his composure and shape as balls whizzed past his outside edge with alarming regularity, while the occasional one jagged back to thud into thigh pad or rib cage.

There was some respite as the Lions moved away from their new-ball pair of Overton and Sussex seamer Ollie Robinson, but their return for the final half hour of play brought about the Queensland state skipper's downfall.

Henriques had appeared more fluent than most in facing 46 balls for his 25, hitting five boundaries, but he too feathered an edge late in the evening to give Robinson his second.

Both Khawaja and Henriques would have an eye on the mid-year Test series in Bangladesh, but – as state captains – would be just as keen to hit top form for the closing stages of the Marsh Sheffield Shield season, with that competition resuming without them on Monday.

Australia A had lost opener Marcus Harris early as his stuttering summer made another false start, edging the early movement extracted by Robinson to fourth slip for just six

That brought in the in-form Nic Maddinson, fresh off two big innings for Victoria in their Shield match with NSW.

But facing the same pink ball against which he made his Test debut back in 2016, Maddinson was only able to add one before trapped in front by a yorker from Overton.

Kurtis Patterson, who 12 months ago was flying high having notched his maiden Test ton against Sri Lanka, was only able to add 11 before a lifting delivery from Brydon Carse surprised him and had him edging to Overton at second slip.

That left Australia A at 3-41 in the 17th over. It was a scoreline which at that stage echoed the first innings, when the England Lions had been reduced to 3-55 before a mammoth 219-run partnership between Dom Sibley and Dan Lawrence on day one.

While neither of those batters was able to press on when play resumed in bright sunshine on the second afternoon, the Lions were able to add 154 runs to take their first innings to 428, and keep the Australia A bowlers in the dirt for a further 50 overs.

There was joy on the second ball of the day for the tireless Mark Steketee who had Lawrence caught behind by wicketkeeper Josh Inglis for 125.

Sibley followed soon after for 116 in identical fashion and Steketee grabbed a third in the session when Tom Abell cut to point.

A half-century to James Bracey and an attacking cameo of 29 from Dom Bess helped boost the Lions tally.

Michael Neser cut a frustrating figure as he bowled 27 overs without luck, managing only three maidens and conceding 108 runs, including the only six of the innings when No.10 batsman Carse, the South Africa-born seamer from Durham with a British-born grandparent, lumped him over fine leg.

Australia A: Marcus Harris, Usman Khawaja, Nic Maddinson, Kurtis Patterson, Moises Henriques (c), Josh Inglis (wk), Jack Wildermuth, Michael Neser, Jackson Bird, Mark Steketee, Mitchell Swepson.

England Lions: Zak Crawley, Dominic Sibley, Keaton Jennings, Sam Northeast, Dan Lawrence, James Bracey, Tom Abell, Dominic Bess, Craig Overton, Brydon Carse, Ollie Robinson.