Konstas, Kellaway, Connolly make India A toil on opening day

Sam Konstas, the incumbent Australia opener, strengthened his case for the Ashes by hitting a hundred in a session for Australia A against India A in Lucknow. Campbell Kellaway, who is also in the opening mix, contributed 88 off 97 balls in a 198-run opening stand, which established Australia A's dominance.

For India A, Harsh Dubey, the Vidarbha left-arm fingerspinner, took three wickets, including that of Konstas for 109 off 144 balls.

Konstas, 19, made a welcome return to form after managing only 50 runs in six innings in the Caribbean earlier this year. After rain had washed out the first session at the Ekana Stadium, Kellaway and Konstas hit the ground running for the visitors.

After bringing up his fifty off 86 balls, Konstas raced to a century of 122 balls. He got the landmark with a six over long-off off offspinner Tanush Kotian just before tea. All three sixes from Konstas came in the arc between long-on and deep midwicket against spinners.

"I thought I had to face quite a few demons mentally just trying to get through that and, yeah, obviously different challenges and just trying to adapt to the conditions," Konstas said after play. "So super stoked and hopefully can build on from that.

"I thought early on [the pitch] had a bit of nip and just trying to get through that and then spin wise it didn't spin as much. So just backing my instincts and yeah, just trying to rinse and repeat each ball with my process."

Speaking on Wednesday morning, Australia coach Andrew McDonald lauded the pre-season work Konstas has put in but continued to stress that Sheffield Shield runs would carry most weight in selection.

"To come from the West Indies, to go away and work on your game, that winter investment, to get an immediate return gives a lot of confidence," McDonald told SEN radio. "A lot of our game is about confidence and believing in what you're doing.

"To get that feedback in that short space of time is incredibly rewarding for the player and coaches that have worked on that. And now, it's the ability to sustain that."

India A finally separated the opening pair in the 38th over when Punjab fast bowler Gurnoor Brar dismissed Kellaway. Dubey and Khaleel Ahmed then made further inroads as Australia A slipped from 198 for 0 to 224 for 4.

Cooper Connolly and Liam Scott, though, added 109 in 24.2 overs to re-establish Australia's command. Dubey struck again, just before stumps, to cut Connolly's innings short on 70 off 84 balls. Scott (47*) and wicketkeeper-batter Josh Philippe (3*) were both unbeaten at stumps on the first day in Lucknow.