Dropped Gambhir cashes in with ton against Australia

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Gautam Gambhir proved a point after being dropped from the Test side by hitting a century (112; 126b, 13x4, 3x6) to help India A score 338/4 on the opening day of the final warm-up game against the Australians at the Guru Nanak College Ground on Saturday.

Rohit Sharma (77; 144b, 8x4, 3x6) and Manoj Tiwary (batting on 77; 106b, 12x4, 1x6) also contributed handsomely to give the hosts the upper-hand.

It was not easy for India A openers Gambhir and Jiwanjot Singh (24) to negotiate the pace and movement Mitchell Starc and Peter Siddle extracted in the initials overs. Nine runs off nine overs was slow progress, but Gambhir looked determined to hang on. He let a few balls go, tried to play close to the body, and restrained himself till the spinners were brought into the attack.

The three Aussie spinners — Nathan Lyon, Xavier Doherty and rookie Ashton Agar — hardly made an impact on Gambhir as he used his feet beautifully, scoring runs at will. Gambhir was particularly severe on rookie Agar, hitting him for two consecutive sixes over mid-wicket to reach his half-century.

In the post-lunch period, Aussie stand-in skipper Shane Watson could have reverted to his pacers but he was determined to give his spinners a fair go, and Gambhir seized the opportunity to score big. He completed his hundred off 144 balls. "Gambhir played beautifully through the day. He has always been a very good player of spin and it wasn't any different today," Doherty said later.

While all the attention was on Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, coming in at No. 3, also cashed in, putting up 128 runs with Gambhir in 30.4 overs. "In the first session the ball was doing a lot. But both Gambhir and I played well. I'm happy that Gambhir went on to complete the century," Rohit said.

It was equally important for Tiwary to make an impression and he, too, looked fluent. For Australia, Doherty (3-69) got the wickets, but it was Peter Siddle who was the most impressive.

SCOREBOARD

India A 1st innings:
Gautam Gambhir c Watson b Henriques 112,
Jiwanjot Singh c Watson b Doherty 24,
Rohit Sharma c Wade b Doherty 77,
Manoj Tiwary batting 77,
Abhishek Nayar c Cowan b Doherty 4,
CM Gautam batting 34;

Extras: (b-3, lb-5, nb-2) 10;
Total: (in 90 overs) 338/4;
FoW: 1/67, 2/195, 3/266, 4/272;

Bowling:
Mitchell Starc 16-5-36-0,
Peter Siddle 14-4-30-0,
Moises Henriques 11-2-20-1,
Nathan Lyon 20-1-97-0,
Xavier Doherty 16-2-69-3,
Ashton Agar 13-1-78-0.



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