McSweeney pushes Test case, Edwards pummels Siraj-led India A

Sam Konstas continued a fruitful tour of India but was outshone by the man he replaced in the Test side last summer, Nathan McSweeney, on the opening day of Australia A's second four-dayer against India A in Lucknow.

Jack Edwards' belligerent late hand of 88 off 78 balls came on the back of hard early graft from Australia A captain McSweeney (74) and Konstas (49), who put on 86 for the second wicket after being inserted in punishing heat by India A.

The visitors reached 9-350 at the Ekana Stadium where regular drinks breaks were a necessity in temperatures above 35 degrees. McSweeney is hopeful the conditions bake a pitch his side will be bowling last on, especially after last week's washout.

Konstas added to the 109 and 27no he scored in that drawn series opener, but was out-lasted here by McSweeney, who posted his third fifty-plus score in seven innings for Australia A this year.

Selection chief George Bailey previously downplayed the relevance of subcontinental A series runs to the looming Ashes campaign.

But it will have done two of Usman Khawaja's most recent opening partners no harm to have hit form against Test-quality pacemen in their push to face England this summer.

"The pitch is playing quite nice. It has a little more pace in it than the last game. The ball swung around a bit more than probably anticipated," McSweeney said at stumps.

"But I thought the way Sammy and I were able to play during that first session set-up a decent day. Sammy is playing beautifully.

"It's always nice to be in the runs. It's a great experience playing in these conditions. The wicket seems to be spinning a little bit, more so late in the day, so hopefully get another chance to bat against some great spinners."

The fact India A skipper Dhruv Jurel asked his opponents to bat after winning the toss on Tuesday, perhaps sensing a quick kill given he had the lion-hearted Mohammad Siraj at his disposal, suggested McSweeney and Konstas' runs were not cheap ones either.

Siraj (1-73 off 13 overs) and fellow Test incumbent Prasidh Krishna (1-63 off 14), who are both tuning up for India's home Test series against West Indies beginning next week, were expensive against the youthful touring XI that boasts an average age of 24.

Siraj did manage to break the Konstas-McSweeney union after lunch when the former was one run short of his half-century. Konstas had earlier survived an lbw appeal against Siraj off the first ball of the innings.

With no signs of the reverse-ramps he flummoxed India with during last summer's Boxing Day Test, Konstas was instead out caught behind pushing at a length ball from Siraj.

McSweeney was fortunate not to suffer a similar fate before passing fifty. Narayan Jagadeesan took over wicketkeeping duties from Jurel after the first break and promptly dropped the South Australian, on 40, off Krishna.

It was an untimely error given Rishabh Pant has reportedly been ruled out of making a comeback against the Windies next week from the broken foot he suffered in the England series earlier in the year.

McSweeney punished India's quicks when they erred but bided his time against the spinners, with all but one of his 10 boundaries coming against the seamers. He was dismissed trying to add another, skying a catch on a miscued pull shot off Gurnoor Brar.

"Playing 'A' cricket internationally you get some great bowlers. It was good to experience Siraj and Krishna, who have played a lot of Test cricket. It was a challenge, no doubt," said McSweeney.

"The better the bowling, the more good balls they bowl and the less bad balls they bowl, so it's harder to score. They challenge your defence more so than others.

"It's what you train for – to challenge your skills against the best possible bowling you can, and today was definitely that.

"There's a tour here in 2027 and I think anyone who comes back for that will be way better for the experience."

Edwards took a different approach to his skipper, scoring at a run-a-ball against India A's left-arm spinner and standout bowler Manav Suthar. He also treated Siraj with disdain, pummelling him for 35 from 18 balls including eight fours.

The NSW captain, one of three additions for this match along with Will Sutherland and Henry Thornton, has helped Australia A add 76 for the final two wickets so far.

Todd Murphy (29no) and Thornton (10no) also frustrated the hosts before stumps was called.

Suthar finished the day with 5-93 including the scalp of Cooper Connolly for a duck as the 22-year-old failed to back up the 70 he made last week. It was a similar story for opener Campbell Kellaway, who was out for nine after scoring 88 in the first four-dayer.

Australia A's spin contingent of Connolly, Murphy and Corey Rocchiccioli will face the challenge of bowling to a batting line-up featuring as many as four of India's possible Test top seven on Wednesday.

Australia A tour of India

India A four-day squad: Shreyas Iyer (c), Abhimanyu Easwaran, Narayan Jagadeesan (wk), Sai Sudharsan, Dhruv Jurel (vice-captain, wk), Devdutt Padikkal, Harsh Dubey, Ayush Badoni, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Tanush Kotian, Prasidh Krishna, Gurnoor Brar, Khaleel Ahmed, Manav Suthar, Yash Thakur. Second match only: KL Rahul, Mohammed Siraj

Australia A four-day squad: Xavier Bartlett, Cooper Connolly, Jack Edwards, Campbell Kellaway, Sam Konstas, Nathan McSweeney, Todd Murphy, Fergus O'Neill, Oliver Peake, Josh Philippe, Corey Rocchiccioli, Liam Scott, Henry Thornton. Second match only: Will Sutherland

September 16-19: First four-day match: Match drawn

September 23-26: Second four-day match, Ekana Stadium, Lucknow, 3pm AEST

India A one-day squad (first match): Rajat Patidar (c), Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Riyan Parag, Ayush Badoni, Suryansh Shedge, Vipraj Nigam, Nishant Sindhu, Gurjapneet Singh, Yudhvir Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, Abhishek Porel (wk), Priyansh Arya, Simarjeet Singh

India A one-day squad (second and third matches): Tilak Varma (c), Rajat Patidar (vc), Abhishek Sharma, Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Riyan Parag, Ayush Badoni, Suryansh Shedge, Vipraj Nigam, Nishant Sindhu, Gurjapneet Singh, Yudhvir Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, Abhishek Porel (wk), Harshit Rana,  Arshdeep Singh

Australia A one-day squad: Cooper Connolly, Harry Dixon, Jack Edwards, Sam Elliott, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Mackenzie Harvey, Lachlan Hearne, Todd Murphy, Tanveer Sangha, Liam Scott, Lachie Shaw, Tom Straker, Will Sutherland, Henry Thornton

September 30: First one-day match, Green Park, Kanpur, 3pm AEST

October 3: Second one-day match, Green Park, Kanpur, 3pm AEST

October 5: Third one-day match, Green Park, Kanpur, 4pm AEDT