India A defiant as Aussies fall short after Scott's five

Liam Scott produced his third five-wicket haul of his first-class career but a defiant India A lower-order held on for 103 overs to secure a thrilling draw in Puducherry and take the two-match series 1-0.

After belting Australia A by 162 runs in the first four-day match at Siechem Stadium last week, the hosts were on the back foot from the outset in the second as Sam Harper produced an outstanding opening day century for the tourists.

The knock, Harper's third first-class century in nine innings, catapulted the Victorian wicketkeeper into Australia's Test squad in South Africa as injury cover for Josh Inglis.

Chasing 365 to win in the fourth innings after being bowled out for 167 in response to the Aussies' first-innings 358, India A were never seriously in the hunt after slipping to 7-199 when Corey Rocchiccioli removed allrounder Tanush Kotian in the 61st over.

The hosts had resumed day four on 1-28 from 13 overs, needing another 337 runs from a minimum of 90 overs to win the match.

But only No.3 Tushar Deshpande (52 off 119 balls) and No.5 Shaik Rasheed (38) made meaningful contributions at the top of the order, leaving No.6 Yash Rathod (80 off 138) the task of digging in with the lower order to save the match.

Alongside No.9 and player of the series Shams Mulani (29 off 131), a spin-bowling allrounder with a first-class average of 31, the pair batted for 36 overs to add 85 runs for the eighth wicket.

But two quick breakthroughs for Scott (5-37), dismissing both Rathod and Mulani lbw, left India's 10th-wicket pair needing to survive the final three overs to draw the match.

Nachiket Bhute (20no off 21) opted for attack as the best form of defence, hitting three fours in that period, while No.11 Praful Hinge (0no off six) blocked out Scott's penultimate over as the home side held firm to finish on 9-310.

"We tried everything, different plans and the Indian players played well," Australia A captain Peter Handscomb said. "A great game and spectacle … it was great to experience the Indian conditions."

India A skipper Devdutt Paddikal added: "Both teams played their hearts out. It was all up to Shams and Rathod. They knew what they were doing, they have played a lot of cricket and have a lot of experience behind them."

Off-spinning duo Todd Murphy (1-40) and Rocchiccioli (1-59) shouldered a heavy workload on the final day, toiling tirelessly and frugally through 23 overs apiece, but ultimately had only one wicket each to show for their efforts.

The two sides will now face off in three one-dayers at the same venue, beginning on Tuesday.

Over in Mohali, in India's northwest, the Australia A women fell to a 281-run defeat in the only four-day match of their multi-format tour, bowled out for 176 and 164 after the hosts made 364 and 257 on the back of Tanisha Singh's 92 and Niki Prasad's 91 having elected to bat first.

Victorian Tess Flintoff produced a defiant 146-ball 58 in the fourth innings but only found support from No.11 Lilly Mills as the visitors chased an unlikely 446 for victory.

Off-spinner Mills was the pick of the Aussie bowlers with nine wickets for the match (4-98 and 5-88) while Charli Knott took three wickets in the first innings and Frankie Nicklin four in the second.

Australia A men's tour of India 2026

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

2nd four-day: Match drawn

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