- By Namrata Vijay
- Thu, 07 Nov 2024 11:55 AM (IST)
- Source:JND
IND-A vs AUS-A: At a time when all the Indian batters failed to perform, Dhruv Jurel rose to the occasion by scoring 80 runs off 186 balls and helped India post a respectable target of 161 runs during the first innings of the 2nd unofficial Test against Australia A on Thursday. Jurel had smashed six fours and two sixes and helped the team bounce back after suffering a top-order batting collapse.
Jurel and KL Rahul were included in the India A squad as the team management wanted them to get some game time before the series opener in Perth. The youngster was part of the Test squad for the series against Bangladesh and New Zealand but didn't feature in a single match. He did impress everyone in the five-match Test series against England, where he scored a brilliant knock in Ranchi and helped the hosts win the match. He was in a similar situation on Thursday as Michael Neser rattled their top batting lineup.
Both Abhimanyu Easwaran and Sai Sudharsan fell cheaply during the first over. KL Rahul, who opened the innings was also seen struggling as Scott Boland dismissed him after scoring just four runs.
Jurel along with Padikkal helped the team bounce back by stitching a gritty partnership. Nesser then took the wicket of Devdutt Padikkal just before lunch. Jurel had scored 24 runs off 91 balls before lunch and the Men in Blue were tottering at 64/5.
Jurel and Nitish Kumar Reddy then stitched a partnership of 39 runs but then Beau Webster took his wicket and dismissed Tanush Kotian and left the visitors reeling at 103/7. Jurel then started attacking the opposition from there on while he kept losing partners from the other end. Prasidh Krishna did help him as they stitched a partnership of 36 runs but then McSweeney dismissed Jurel.
Prasidh Krishna was the last batter to be dismissed as the India innings ended at 161 runs.