Josh Philippe has followed in the footsteps of Sam Konstas by cracking a quickfire century for Australia A in their four-day match against India A at Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow.
Just a day after Konstas (109 off 144 balls) reminded national selectors of his immense talent, Philippe also made a bold statement by posting an unbeaten 123 off 87 balls.
Philippe’s knock featured 18 fours and four sixes, with the 28-year-old still unbeaten at the crease when captain Nathan McSweeney declared at 6-532 on Wednesday.
It continues an imperious run of Australia A red-ball form by the NSW wicketkeeper-bat after he hit 85 against Sri Lanka A in July and a second unbeaten century (120no) against England Lions in January.
Philippe has played 12 T20s and three ODIs for Australia, but he is yet to feature in Test cricket. The wicketkeeper-batter averaged 32.8 across eight Sheffield Shield matches last season but is behind fellow in-form wicketkeepers Josh Inglis and Alex Carey in the pecking order.
Other notable scorers for visitors included Campbell Kellaway (88 off 97 balls), Liam Scott (81 off 122 balls), Cooper Connolly (70 off 84 balls) and Xavier Bartlett (39no off 24 balls).
Australia A’s run rate across their 98-over first innings was a Bazball-like 5.43, with Philippe boasting a strike rate of 141.4.
“At my best, (attacking the spinners) is how I play them naturally,” Philippe said at stumps. “I like to try to take the game on and look to put pressure back on them straight away.
“It was a pretty good wicket and ‘Scotty’ batted beautifully and then ‘X’ (Bartlett) came in and we had a nice little partnership going at the end when we we’re told we’d probably declaring soon.
“It’s still a pretty good wicket. There’s some signs of a bit of spin from us today – hopefully as the game gets on it continues to deteriorate, and our spinners can take charge and get some poles.”
In reply, India A had moved to 0-88 before Scott snared the first breakthrough for the tourists when he bowled Abhimanyu Easwaran for 44.
Opening partner Narayan Jagadeesan progressed 50 not out with Test-capped No.3 Sai Sudharsan on 20 when rain brought an early end to day two shortly after the tea break. The hosts were 1-116, trailing by 416 runs.
Quicks Fergus O’Neill and Xavier Bartlett had sent down seven overs without success, while off-spinner Todd Murphy bowled economically for his 0-22 from eight overs.
Australia A tour of India
India A four-day squad: Shreyas Iyer (c), Abhimanyu Easwaran, Narayan Jagadeesan (wk), Sai Sudharsan, Dhruv Jurel (vice-captain, wk), Devdutt Padikkal, Harsh Dubey, Ayush Badoni, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Tanush Kotian, Prasidh Krishna, Gurnoor Brar, Khaleel Ahmed, Manav Suthar, Yash Thakur. Second match only: KL Rahul, Mohammed Siraj
Australia A four-day squad: Xavier Bartlett, Cooper Connolly, Jack Edwards, Aaron Hardie, Campbell Kellaway, Sam Konstas, Nathan McSweeney, Todd Murphy, Fergus O’Neill, Oliver Peake, Josh Philippe, Corey Rocchiccioli, Liam Scott, Henry Thornton. Second match only: Will Sutherland
September 16-19: First four-day match, Ekana Stadium, Lucknow, 3pm AEST
September 23-26: Second four-day match, Ekana Stadium, Lucknow, 3pm AEST
India A one-day squad (first match): Rajat Patidar (c), Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Riyan Parag, Ayush Badoni, Suryansh Shedge, Vipraj Nigam, Nishant Sindhu, Gurjapneet Singh, Yudhvir Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, Abhishek Porel (wk), Priyansh Arya, Simarjeet Singh
India A one-day squad (second and third matches): Tilak Varma (c), Rajat Patidar (vc), Abhishek Sharma, Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Riyan Parag, Ayush Badoni, Suryansh Shedge, Vipraj Nigam, Nishant Sindhu, Gurjapneet Singh, Yudhvir Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, Abhishek Porel (wk), Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh
Australia A one-day squad: Cooper Connolly, Harry Dixon, Jack Edwards, Sam Elliott, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Mackenzie Harvey, Lachlan Hearne, Todd Murphy, Tanveer Sangha, Liam Scott, Lachie Shaw, Tom Straker, Will Sutherland, Henry Thornton
September 30: First one-day match, Green Park, Kanpur, 3pm AEST
October 3: Second one-day match, Green Park, Kanpur, 3pm AEST
October 5: Third one-day match, Green Park, Kanpur, 4pm AEDT
