Srikar Bharat slams century, puts India A in driver's seat in 2nd unofficial Test against Australia A

Bengaluru: Srikar Bharat hit a splendid ton and his century stand with Kuldeep Yadav put India A in command over Australia A in the second unofficial Test at Alur on Monday. Bharat struck a brilliant 106 off 186 balls with 12 boundaries and a six and together with Kuldeep (52) shared crucial 113 runs for the eighth wicket to take India A to 505 all out in their first innings in reply to Australia A’s 346. [caption id=“attachment_4344107” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. Getty[/caption] At stumps on day three, Australia were 38 for two in their second innings, still trailing India A by 121 runs. Earlier resuming the day at 223 for three, India A lost captain Shreyas Iyer (42) first, cleaned up by Mitchell Marsh. Then Bharat walked into the middle and built a 41-run partnership for fifth wicket with Shubman Gill (50), who was bowled by Chris Tremain before lunch. In the second session, India A lost two more wickets – Krishnappa Gowtham (20) and Deepak Chahar (6) with the scoreboard reading 370 for seven. But then Bharat and Kuldeep managed to hold the fort and stitched a fine stand to help India A post a mammoth total. Ashton Agar (3/87) and Tremain (3/41) picked up three wickets apiece for Australia A. Australia A began their second innings on a disastrous note, losing Kurtis Patterson and Matt Renshaw early. Patterson (4) was picked by Gowtham while Renshaw (19) fell to Shahbaz Nadeem.