India A set Australia A 363 in Puducherry with a day and a session to play

India A were bowled out for 199 in their second innings at Puducherry, leaving Australia A 363 to win the first four-day match with a day and a session still to play

India A's second innings lasted 57.4 overs and closed with the hosts 362 runs in front, a lead assembled from the 334 they made after winning the toss and the 171 to which their spinners reduced Australia A on the second evening.

It is the first of the tour's two four-day matches, and the squads are being watched with Australia's Border-Gavaskar Trophy tour of India still to come.

Australia A's task is to make more than twice their first-innings total, against an attack whose spinners took six of the ten wickets that ended it.

Kushagra's hundred sets the total

India A captain Devdutt Padikkal chose to bat and watched his side slip to 97 for 5 inside the 35th over, three of those wickets to the Western Australian offspinner Corey Rocchiccioli.

Fergus O'Neill had removed opener Aman Mokhade for six lbw on review, and Todd Murphy had Padikkal caught at slip by Jason Sangha for 3. Rocchiccioli then took a return catch to dismiss Sai Sudharsan for 57 and had Shaik Rasheed and Yash Rathod in quick order.

Wicketkeeper Kumar Kushagra and the Mumbai allrounder Tanush Kotian then put on 138. Kushagra retired hurt on 82 with cramps late on the first day, returned the following morning and finished with 113; Kotian made 69.

Rocchiccioli ended with 4-95 from 25 overs and Murphy with 3-77 from 33.3 as India A were dismissed for 334 in 117.3 overs.

Mulani turns the second day

Australia A lasted only 55.3 overs in reply. Slow left-armer Shams Mulani cut through the middle order to finish with 4-67, and Kotian added 2-31 from the other end.

Sangha top-scored with 46 and was the wicket that settled it, caught at point by Kotian off Mulani as he went for a reverse sweep he appeared to have middled.

Sam Konstas made 25 and Liam Scott 26. Peter Handscomb fell for 8, Campbell Kellaway for 2 and Nathan McSweeney without scoring, and the innings ended 163 behind.

A shorter second innings

Batting again with that lead, India A were far less settled. Where their first innings had run to 117.3 overs, the second was over inside 58, the last of the wickets falling in the third session of day three.

The 199 still left Australia A needing 363, with the remainder of the third day and all of the fourth to get them.

Rocchiccioli presses his case

The 28-year-old has been the most persistent of the tourists' bowlers, and after his first-day return of 3-72 he was careful to share the credit. "I probably sat behind Todd Murphy a little bit, he bowled brilliantly and I was able to attack from one end," he said. "I felt like my typical bounce and spin played a factor here."

He described the effort as a collective one. "I just stuck to my guns, and we bowled really well as a bowling cartel," Rocchiccioli said.

Asked whether the performance made him a candidate for a Test tour of India, he declined the invitation. "Right now, I'm pretty keen to win a game for Aussie A," he said, adding that his focus was "solely what's in front of me".

What the tour is for

The four-day fixtures sit at the head of a multi-format series, and both squads are stocked with players on the edge of selection rather than established internationals.

For Australia A, the examination has been of batting against spin on a turning surface, which is the specific problem the senior side will face later in the season.

For India A, Kushagra's hundred and Mulani's four-for are the innings and the spell that have shaped the match so far.

Scorecard: India A 334 (117.3 ov) and 199 (57.4 ov); Australia A 171 (55.3 ov) and a target of 363 - 1st unofficial Test, Cricket Association Pondicherry Siechem Ground, Puducherry

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