Sam Konstas shines with century in practice match vs India
What's the story
Promising 19-year-old cricketer Sam Konstas put on a show in Canberra on Sunday. He scored a brilliant century during the Australian PM XI's practice match against India. While wickets kept falling at the other end, Konstas held his nerves and took the Indian bowlers to the cleaners with his aggressive batting style. Notably, this warm-up game is being played with the pink ball ahead of the India-Australia Day-Night Test in Adelaide.
Batting prowess
Konstas's aggressive batting style dominates Indian bowlers
Konstas, who opened the innings for his team, counter-attacked India's bowlers with a flurry of boundaries, mostly through the leg side. He was especially harsh on Harshit Rana and Prasidh Krishna, taking charge after the first hour of play. This display of skill and determination highlighted his potential as a tough opponent in the upcoming matches.
Century achievement
Konstas's century: A testament to his potential
Despite the pressure of wickets falling at the other end, Konstas remained unfazed and brought up his century in just 90 balls. He eventually fell to Akash Deep for a 97-ball 107 (14 fours, 1 six). Konstas's performance was especially impressive considering he was tipped as the replacement for David Warner before the start of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. However, Australia went with Nathan McSweeney as Usman Khawaja's opening partner for the series opener.
Details
50-over per side affair
Notably, the opening day of the two-day affair got entirely washed out due to rain. Owing to the same, Day 2 sees a 50-over per side match, giving India an equal opportunity to practice both batting and bowling. This fixture is important for India as it is their only practice session ahead of the day/night Test against Australia on December 6 in Adelaide. Notably, the visitors won the opening Test by 295 runs.
Stats
Here are Konstas's FC stats
Konstas, 19, who plays for New South Wales, came into the limelight after scoring twin centuries against South Australia in the first match of the ongoing Sheffield Shield season. Having played just 10 FC games so far, he has scored 630 runs at 39.37. This includes two tons and as many fifties. Notably, he is not a part of Australia's squad for the ongoing series.