India’s cricket captain, Rohit Sharma, expressed satisfaction with his team’s performance after their victory against the Prime Ministers’ XI in a pink-ball warm-up match. He emphasised that the team achieved their pre-game objectives.
The match, held at Canberra’s Manuka Oval on Sunday, saw India defeat the Australian Prime Ministers’ XI by five wickets. This win was fueled by Harshit Rana‘s four-wicket haul and strong batting performances from Shubman Gill, Nitish Kumar Reddy, and Yashasvi Jaiswal.
Rohit Sharma acknowledged the crowd’s support during the post-match presentation.
“It was fantastic (the match and the win). We got what we wanted as a group. It was a bit unfortunate that we couldn’t play the entire game, but we made the most of the time we had. Absolutely fantastic (to see the crowd). We love coming to Australia, and it’s always great to see fans turn up to support us. There’s never been a time when they haven’t shown up. It’s really nice to see people coming out and cheering for us,” he said.
The match, initially planned for two days, was shortened to a 46-overs-per-side game due to rain on both Saturday and Sunday.
India opted to field first after winning the toss. Sam Konstas, a rising U19 star, scored a remarkable century (107 runs off 97 balls, including 14 fours and a six). Hanno Jacobs also contributed significantly with a quickfire 61 off 60 balls, hitting four boundaries and two sixes. Their combined efforts propelled the Prime Ministers’ XI to a total of 240 in 43.2 overs.
Harshit Rana was the pick of the Indian bowlers, taking 4 wickets for 44 runs in his six-over spell, effectively disrupting the Australian middle order. Akash Deep secured two wickets, while Mohammed Siraj, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, and Prasidh Krishna each claimed one.
India’s opening batsmen, Yashasvi Jaiswal (45 runs off 59 balls) and KL Rahul (27 runs off 44 balls), provided a solid foundation with a 75-run partnership. KL Rahul later retired hurt.
Following Rohit Sharma’s dismissal for just three runs, Shubman Gill (50 runs off 62 balls) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (42 runs off 32 balls) took charge, putting the Australian bowlers under pressure.
Washington Sundar (42 not out off 36 balls) and Ravindra Jadeja (27 runs off 31 balls) further solidified India’s innings, steering them to a final score of 257/5 in their allotted 46 overs.
For the Prime Ministers’ XI, Charlie Anderson proved to be the most effective bowler, finishing with figures of 2/30.
Sam Konstas was awarded the ‘Player of the Match’ for his exceptional century.
