India A vs Australia, Tour Game: Day 1 - As it happened

We`ll bring you regular updates from the India A vs Australia warm-up match in Chennai.

Arya Yuyutsu / Zeenews Sports Bureau

Day 1 was dominated by Gautam Gambhir's too-early-to-say-'back-to-form' century. Rohit Sharma and Manoj Tiwary's 50 piled on the misery for the visiting Aussies who went in with three spinners. While Doherty did get 3 wickets, the spin trio have looked largely ineffective, Agar being the worst of the lot. The rookie spinner got smashed around or much of the day and ended with figures of 13-1-78-0, going at 6 an over! ALSO READ Gautam needs to overcome this ‘Gambhir’ phase» Doherty 3-69 and Henriques 1-20 were the ones with the wickets. Gambhir made 112 while Sharma and Tiwary both made 77 each, with the latter still at the crease (or will be once again tomorrow morning). Gautam's got a steady start and will start alongside Tiwary on 34*. Jiwanjot Singh was the first to be dismissed, for 24, while Nayar was unhappy with the ump for his dismissal as he walked back to the pavillion having made just 4 runs. To see how the day played out, read our regular updates from the first day's play at Chennai: ==================================================================================== INDIA A Score: 338/4 II Overs: 90 (Tiwary 77*, CM Gautam 34*) Stumps: Day 1 has belonged to India A, who've lorded it over Australia. The pitch is coming apart like an old sun-burnt piece of parchment, but credit where it's due as the batsmen have clicked. The headlines will be grabbed by Gautam Gambhir for his first first-class century since Jan 2010! Rohit Sharma and Manoj Tiwary have also put themselves back on the selectors' minds and the latter, still batting on 77 will look to convert this to a massive hundred. Join us tomorrow to see if that happens. ==================================================================================== INDIA A Score: 313/4 II Overs: 85 (Tiwary 58*, CM Gautam 29*) With 5 overs to go for the day, India A seem to be shutting shop safely. A sharply brilliant return catch by Moises Henriques to potentially get rid of Gautam was ruled to have been taken on the bounce in the only event of note over the last 5 overs. ==================================================================================== INDIA A Score: 301/4 II Overs: 80 (Tiwary 57*, CM Gautam 18*) Tiwary has now chipped in with a 50 of his own. Not like he could chip in with others' 50s strictly speaking. Verbosity extreme! India A, meanwhile, have sauntered nonchalantly past 300. ==================================================================================== INDIA A Score: 276/4 II Overs: 74 (Tiwary 45*, C Gautam 0*) Doherty has, suddenly, gotten two quick wickets, taking his personal tally to an impressive 3, given the circumstances. First he's ended Rohit Sharma's fine innings, catching his outside edge as Wade does the rest. Then Nayar came in and departed soon enough, caught at short-leg. The batsmen seemed unhappy with the decision but honestly, mate, given DRS' performance, you don't want to complain. That said, it's not like there's video cameras in the ground, let alone a full-fledged DRS system in place! Nayar went for 4, while Rohit Sharma managed 77 off 144 balls. CM Gautam is the new man in. ==================================================================================== INDIA A Score: 236/2 II Overs: 65 (Tiwary 24*, Sharma 68*) With 16 runs in 6 overs post tea, the final session of play has started fairly sedately. Both batsmen would be keen on impressing the selectors and big knocks will definitely help them. Talk about stating the obvious! Well, it's spin operating from both ends now. ==================================================================================== INDIA A Score: 220/2 II Overs: 59 (Tiwary 16*, Sharma 60*) Tea: The second session has been about landmarks and Gambhir and there's been a fair bit of talk about the Aussie spinners. To be fair to them, this isn't the best track to judge their talents yet, but if you add up Lyon, Doherty and Agar's stats, their figures would read: 32 overs, 2 measly maidens, 1 wicket (Doherty got Jiwanjot's scalp) for 168 runs with an economy rate of 5.25 runs per over! Tiwary, meanwhie, has walked in and hit three boundaries already. Another strong session and India A could actually be on track to declare sometime tomorrow! Jumping the gun? Me? Oh well! ==================================================================================== INDIA A Score: 203/2 II Overs: 56 (Tiwary 8*, Sharma 51*) Gambhir finally decides he's made enough of a statement and it's time to give others a chance. At least that's our justfication. The 127-run second wicket stand is broken by Henriques and that ushers Tiwary in. Well, time for Rohit to move the scoring along now; he's been a bit quiet these last few overs. G Gambhir c Watson b Henriques 112 (162b) ==================================================================================== INDIA A Score: 188/1 II Overs: 52 (Gambhir 105*, Sharma 51*) Just to make matters rathar confusing when it comes to selecting the Indian team for the final two tests, Gambhir strides to his century. It's at a startlingly good pace too, in about 140 balls with 13 fours and 3 sixes. Interesting stat surreptitiously stolen from Aakash Chopra's tweet: "Quite astonishingly it's his only first class century since Jan 2010!" Meanwhile, Sharma has slowed down considerably, given his slazzle-dazzle earlier on and nudges past his 50. So no look-in for Jaffer then, even if the openers fail in the first two tests. About 8 overs left for tea now. ==================================================================================== INDIA A Score: 159/1 II Overs: 43 (Gambhir 83*, Sharma 45*) Ashton Agar is getting slammed about here, conceding 54 from 7 overs so far. Rohit Sharma, swiftly approaching his 50, has hit him for a couple of sixes now. Earlier Gambhir had hit him for consecutive sixes to bring up his half-century. India A have really taken this session by the scruff of its neck and rattled it about like a rattle. Half-hearted personification attempt, you say? Well, no half measures from Gambhir and Sharma in any case! ==================================================================================== INDIA A Score: 116/1 II Overs: 35 (Gambhir 57*, Sharma 29*) Gambhir has stormed to his fifty and is looking good here. He has already added a couple more sixes to his tally. Rahit is giving him good support as well. They're really taking on Agar, Lyon and Doherty. These are troubling symptoms for the Aussies. ==================================================================================== INDIA A Score: 88/1 II Overs: 30 (Gambhir 42*, Sharma 16*) Lunch: The first session has been all for India A as Gambhir inches closer to a much-needed 50. Rohit Sharma has started well too, even chipping in with a six. Gambhir will be all set for a determine second session. ==================================================================================== INDIA A Score: 67/1 II Overs: 25 (Gambhir 37*, Sharma 0*) A strong first wicket partnership between Jiwanjot Singh, who had a tremendous Ranji season, and Gautam Gambhir, leading the squad and yearning to get back into form, has finally been broken by Doherty. But a 67 run opening partnership against what`s pretty much Australia`s starting line up is a great start. Gambhir`s looking strong here and has even hoicked a six and four fours. Rohit Sharma is the new man in. Jiwanjot Singh c Watson b Doherty 24 (72b) ==================================================================================== Toss: India A win the toss and decide to bat first. Teams India A: G Gambhir (cap), Jiwanjot Singh, R Sharma, M Tiwary, Jalaj Saxena, C Gautam (wk), A Nayar, D Kulkarni, M Gony, Vinay Kumar Australia: S Watson (cap), M Wade (wk), A Agar, E Cowan, X Doherty, M Henriques, P Hughes, U Khawaja, N Lyon, P Siddle, M Starc Preview Axed from the Test team after a prolonged form slump, India `A` skipper Gautam Gambhir will have a point to prove when he leads out the side in a three-day warm-up cricket match against the Australians starting on Saturday. The left-handed opener, who hasn`t scored a Test century for three years now, was dropped from the squad for the four-Test series against Australia starting here on February 22. Replaced by Shikhar Dhawan, who was originally named the A squad skipper, Gambhir found himself demoted to the role -- ironical for a player once seen as captaincy material for the senior national squad. He would still be biggest star in the India `A` line-up which will square off against the full-strength Australians, who didn`t do too badly in their opening practice game against the Board President`s XI.