Australians follow-on before salvaging draw

India A 451 (Tiwary 129, Gambhir 112) drew with Australians 235 (Watson 84, Dhurv 5-51, Saxena 4-61) and 195 for 3 (Watson 60, Cowan 53)
Scorecard

India A's spinners ran through the Australians' lower order to force the tourists to follow-on on the final day of warm-up game in Chennai which ended in a draw. Gujarat's left-arm spinner Rakesh Dhurv grabbed five wickets and Madhya Pradesh offspinner Jalaj Saxena took four as the Australians folded for 235 in the first innings in the final practice match before the first Test starts later this week.

The visitors fared better in second innings, posting 195 for 3, and would have been buoyed by the form of Shane Watson and Ed Cowan, both of whom made solid contributions in both innings. Watson followed up his aggressive 84 on the second day with an equally quick 60 before he was run-out following a mix-up with Cowan. Watson's innings included four consecutive fours off Dhurv to raise his half-century. At the other end, Cowan also played a brisk knock, striking nine fours and a six in his 53.

There was also time for Usma Khawaja, Phillip Hughes and Matthew Wade to get some batting practice before the game ended. Wade had batted over 100 deliveries in the first innings, but the other two had been dismissed cheaply.

The day began with Wade and Henriques hitting five sixes between them in the first innings. Saxena and Dhurv then struck repeatedly as the Australians' final six wickets went down for 59, with Wade becoming the last man to be dismissed.