Australia A take massive lead on Day 2 despite Sai's 75

On a 14-wicket day in Lucknow, Inda A's middle order caved in to concede a massive 226-run lead but also came back in the final session to pick up three crucial top-order wickets, leaving Australia A 242 runs ahead with a stronghold on the game.

With Test selection around the corner for the home series against West Indies, Sai Sudharsan at No. 3 proved his worth with a fighting 75 that lent the home team's score some respectability, but Henry Thornton picked up 4 for 36 to put his team firmly in control.

Thornton's three early strikes had India reeling at 75/5 inside 22 overs before Sudharsan dropped anchor. He added a 51-run stand with Ayush Badoni to take the home team's score to triple digits. A couple of quick wickets again pegged India back, followed by Prasidh Krishna retiring hurt following a handy contribution of 16. Sudharsan was the ninth to depart - trapped LBW by Todd Murphy - leaving India significantly in the red.

In the dying minutes of play, Gurnoor Brar struck in his very first over to remove Sam Konstas for just 3. Mohammed Siraj followed up with the wicket of Campbell Kellaway in the next over and Manav Suthar also opened his account in what proved to be the last over of the day to see the back of Oliver Peake. At 16/3 Australia A may have been in a spot if not for the 200+ first-innings lead, having finished with 420 earlier in the day.

Brief Scores: Australia A 420 & 16/3 (Nathan McSweeny 11; Manav Suthar 1-0, Mohammed Siraj 1-6, Gurnoor Brar 1-9) lead India A 194 (Sai Sudharsan 75; Henry Thornton 4-36, Todd Murphy 2-48) by 242 runs