India 'A' face stiff task

India 'A' have an imposing task at hand after being set a mammoth 482 by Australia 'A' to win the four-day Top End cricket series match at Cairns on Thursday.

They made a strong bid, having scored 117 for no loss at stumps on the third day, with openers Robin Uthappa (67) and Gautam Gambhir (40) going strong.

Their second innings batting was a vast improvement from the first, when they were dismissed for 254 after adding 33 runs on Thursday morning.

Speedster Mitchell Johnson (4/45) and Shaun Tait (3/67) finished off the India 'A' innings inside seven overs, but despite a lead of 207 runs, home team skipper Brad Haddin did not enforce the follow-on and decided to go for some big runs.

That they did, scoring 274 for 7 in 48 overs.

First innings double centurion Phil Jaques added salt to Indian wounds, slamming 117 in 103 balls that included five sixes and seven boundaries.

The hosts scored at almost a-run-a-ball, as Jaques and Chris Rogers (64) took the Indian attack to the cleaners.

Skipper Venugopal Rao (4-79) then took it upon himself to stop the Aussie massacre after all the three pacers -- R P Singh, Shib Sankar Paul and Siddharth K Trivedi – went wicketless and had only their bulging economy rate to show on a wicket where the rival speedsters wreaked havoc.

Rao claimed both the openers after their destructive 167-run stand and leggie Piyush Chawla, who was the only bowler to survive the onslaught, picked two for 55 before the Aussie declaration.

India started on a cautious note, but Uthappa, who scored a half century in the first innings, after surviving three missed catches, made a strokeful 67 in 114 balls, inclusive of five boundaries and two sixes.

Gambhir played a patient 139-ball-40, which was inclusive of four boundaries.