Internet Desk: Australian captain Steve Smith on Friday sent warning bells to Virat Kohli and his bowlers. The Aussie skipper scored a fluent 107 runs on the opening day of the three-day practice game against India A at the Brabourne Stadium. Joining his captain is middle order batsman Shaun Marsh, who also reached the three figure mark. The visitors scored 327/5 in spite of failures from openers David Warner (25) and Matt Renshaw(11).
Promising Haryana medium pacer Navdeep Saini gave India A early breakthroughs as he got rid of dangerous David Warner and Matt Renshaw. Warner’s quick fire 25 runs included four hits to the fence.
But Smith and Marsh left behind the early setbacks and went after the loose deliveries from the India A bowlers.
Resuming the post-lunch session at 81/2, the right-handed duo of Smith and Marsh added 130 runs in 33 overs without losing any more wickets to help Australia reach 211/2 at tea.
The Australian captain reached the milestone of 30th first class ton in his 100th game. His 161 ball knock included 12 boundaries and a six while Marsh’s innings was the more subdued which came from 173 balls and contained 11 hits to the fence and one over it, as the duo took the score to 211/2 before Smith walked off.
Thereafter, Peter Handscomb (45) joined Marsh and the duo added 79 runs for the fourth wicket before Marsh too joined his skipper in the dressing room after reaching the three-figure mark.
With both the centurions back in the pavilion, the India A bowlers sniffed the chance of a comeback and skipper Hardik Pandya responded well by dismissing Handscomb to leave the visitors at 305/5.