In-form skipper Virat Kohli (64) and teenage prodigy Prithvi Shaw (66) were among the five Indian batsmen who struck fifties before the visitors were bowled out for 358 on the second day of the rain-hit practice game against Cricket Australia XI here.
In response, Cricket Australia XI finished the day at 24 for no loss in four overs. For India, Cheteshwar Pujara (54), Ajinkya Rahane (56), and Hanuma Vihari (53) were the others to post half-centuries.
Hardie finished with four for 50.
Rain finally relented and the match got underway earlier in the morning with play extended to 98 overs for each of the remaining three days.
Cricket Australia XI won the toss and invited India to bat.
The visitors left out Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Parthiv Patel and Kuldeep Yadav from the 14-man team selected for this practice game that doesn’t have first-class status.
The scores:
India 1st Innings: 358 in 92 overs (Virat Kohli 64, Prithvi Shaw 66, Aaron Hardie four for 50) vs Cricket Australia XI 1st Innings: 24 for no loss in four overs (Max Bryant 14 batting, D’Arcy Short 10 batting).