Harper stars with hundred on Australia A debut

Sam Harper has made a statement century on debut for Australia A in the second four-day match against India A.

Left out of the Aussies' loss in the first match last week, Harper was selected to take the gloves and bat at seven as Josh Philippe shifted up to open the batting.

He delivered a stunning unbeaten hundred, heading to stumps on day one in Puducherry on 101 off 153 balls.

Harper's attack on India A's slow bowlers was a feature of his innings, attacking off-spinner Tanush Kotian in particular.

The Victorian was happy to advance down the pitch to the spinners and hit seven fours and three sixes in his sixth first-class ton – three of which have come this calendar year.

"Not letting the spinner settle over here was a plan going into the game," Harper said after play.

"Anytime I felt like they could strike, I used my feet to get to the pitch of the ball.

"I was trying to put them under pressure and get them off their length.

"People who watch any Sheffield Shield cricket know I'm not a great leaver of the ball; I like hitting the ball.

"They'll (the spinners) dictate you in these conditions, they'll probably find a way to get you out. So the plan was to be positive."

The innings has rocketed Harper into the Test squad conversation, given reserve wicketkeeper Josh Inglis recently departed South Africa after breaking a finger in the first ODI.

Harper's knock is also a refreshing sign for selectors with the Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test series in India approaching in January next year.

The Australia A batting group failed to post any eye-catching scores in the first four-dayer, with no batter passing 50 in the two innings of their 162-run defeat.

The tourists reached 7-282 at stumps with Harper unbeaten alongside Jhye Richardson (0no), who also sat out the first game.

After arriving to the crease at 5-104 following the quick wickets of Jason Sangha (46) and Nathan McSweeney (34), Harper combined with Liam Scott (34) and Todd Murphy (33) for two crucial partnerships, worth 84 and 89 respectively.

Murphy's defiant knock ended only a few overs before the close.

"Todd and I are very good mates," Harper said. "We had a lot of fun out there.

"It was a shame he copped a decent ball because it felt like he deserved to be batting (on day two) with the way he batted. He did a fantastic job."

Australia A men's tour of India 2026

1st four-day: India A won by 162 runs

2nd four-day: Sep 29-Oct 2, Puducherry, 2pm AEST

Australia A four-day squad: Brendan Doggett, Jack Edwards, Peter Handscomb, Sam Harper, Liam Hatcher, Campbell Kellaway, Sam Konstas, Nathan McSweeney, Todd Murphy, Fergus O'Neill, Josh Philippe, Jhye Richardson, Corey Rocchiccioli, Jason Sangha, Liam Scott

India A four-day squad: Aman Mokhade, Ayush Pandey, Devdutt Padikkal (c), Sai Sudharsan (vc), Yash Rathod, Shaik Rasheed, Kumar Kushagra (wk), Shams Mulani, Tanush Kotian, Tushar Deshpande, Anshul Kamboj, Praful Hinge, Narayan Jagadeesan (wk), Nachiket Bhute, Vijaykumar Vyshak

1st one-day: Oct 6, Puducherry, 3pm AEDT

2nd one-day: Oct 9, Puducherry, 3pm AEDT

3rd one-day: Oct 11, Puducherry, 3pm AEDT

Australia A one-day squad: Mahli Beardman, Nikhil Chaudhary, Ben Dwarshuis, Spencer Johnson, Sam Konstas, Nathan McSweeney, Riley Meredith, Todd Murphy, Mitch Owen, Josh Philippe, Tanveer Sangha, Liam Scott, Lachlan Shaw, Will Sutherland

India A one-day squad: Priyansh Arya, Sai Sudharsan, Devdutt Padikkal (vc), Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Rajat Patidar, Kumar Kushagra (wk), Nishant Sindhu, Vipraj Nigam, Arshin Kulkarni, Arshad Khan, Naman Dhir, Hardik Pandya, Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Gurjapneet Singh, Yash Thakur