Riding on the fine half-centuries struck by opener Wasim Jaffer (92), who missed out an hundred, and Rahul Dravid (62) India posted 325 runs for the loss of nine wickets at the time of declaration in their innings on the opening day of the two-day practice match against ACT XI played at the Manuka Oval in Canberra on Thursday.
ACT were 10 without loss at stumps after the end of the first day's play. Indian opener Wasim Jaffer who had a terrible run in the last two Tests finally got his form back as he was the lead scorer for India .
Jaffer hit eight fours and two sixes during his 191-ball knock before ACT XI Skipper Mark Higgs uprooted his middle-stump at the stroke of tea.
India lost their first wicket in the form of Virender Sehwag in 21st over. Sehwag has yet to find his golden touch as he scored just 24 runs off 49 balls, and was caught at second slip by skipper Mark Higgs off Swards while Dinesh Karthik (25) became Swards second victim after the former tried to pull one back to mid-on where Perera took an easy catch.
Rahul Dravid looked in good nick, after he was blamed for sluggish knocks in both the Tests, as he smashed 62 crucial runs. Southpaw Yuvraj Singh's struggle on Australian soil continued as he was caught at gully for just two runs. However, captain MS Dhoni and all-rounder Irfan Pathan chipped in with useful contributions of 38 and 33 runs respectively.
ACT XI's Perera and LC Swards were productive enough to share five wickets together. Perera picked up two wickets while Swards claimed three victims.
Earlier, the stand-in India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and decided to bat first against Mark Higgs's ACT XI. Indians rested Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Sourav Ganguly and Anil Kumble for this game, as this is not a first class match.
The scheduled warm-up match is to be played for three days but because of the recent controversies the match has been reduced to two days.
TEAMS
Indians: W Jaffer, V Sehwag, KD Karthik, R Dravid, RP Singh, Yuvraj Singh, I Sharma, MS Dhoni, Harbhajan Singh, IK Pathan, Pankaj Singh and VRV Singh.
ACT Invitational XI: JL Crosthwaite, R Starr, RR Sherlock, J Dean, AM Ritchard, LC Swards, CJL Rogers, RW Bulger, AJW Perera, MA Higgs, EJM Cowan and JW Rogers.
SCOREBOARD
Indians 1st innings
Wasim Jaffer c Ritchard b Higgs 92
Virender Sehwag c Higgs b Swards 24
Dinesh Kaarthick c Perera b Swards 25
Rahul Dravid c Crosthwaite b Perera 62
Yuvraj Singh c Dean b Perera 2
M S Dhoni c & b Ritchard 38
Irfan Pathan c Bulger b Swards 33
Harbhajan Singh c Crosthwaite b Bulger 0
RP Singh c Crosthwaite b Ritchard 12
Pankaj Singh not out 5
VRV Singh not out 4
Extras: (B-5, LB-9, W-8, NB-6) 28
Total: (for 9 wkts dec; 84 overs) 325
Fall of wickets: 1-66, 2-117, 3-210, 4-220, 5-233, 6-288, 7-291, 8-304, 9-321
Bowling: Richard Sherlock 17-4-72-0, Ashley Perera 15-3-40-2, Luke Swards 17-2-45-3, Adam Ritchard 18-1-71-2, Ryan Bulger 12-0-70-1, Mark Higgs 5-0-13-1.
ACT Invitational XI 1st innings
C Rogers batting 2
E Cowan batting 8
Extras: 0
Total: (no loss in four overs) 10
Bowling: IK Pathan 2 1 5 0, I Sharma 2 1 5 0
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