Sam Konstas falls for 49 for Australia A v India A as Nathan McSweeney notches half-century in Ashes bat-off
Sam Konstas has admitted to listening to Adele if he gets out for a low score and is dealing with the low emotions of the moment, while he prefers to shuffle some house music beats if he wants to get pumped up.
Nineteen-year-old Konstas wasn’t exactly rolling in the deep after he fell for 49 against India A in Lucknow, but there were not quite enough runs for him to break out the Calvin Harris either.
Australia’s Sam Konstas.Credit: AP
Undoubtedly, Konstas would be annoyed at himself for making another strong start and failing to cash in fully. He had notched another promising contribution ahead of the fight for an Ashes batting berth, but stopped short of a third century in as many games.
It was about half an hour after lunch on day one in sweltering Lucknow when he edged a delivery from Indian Test paceman Mohammed Siraj, after a stay that lasted 91 balls with seven boundaries. Australia A were 3-144 midway through in the second session, with Victorian Ollie Peake (29) out after a quick start.
Following the early exit of Campbell Kellaway (nine) on a green, seaming surface that India A’s captain Dhruv Jurel chose to bowl on, there had been a productive union with Australia A skipper Nathan McSweeney (55 not out), the man who Konstas replaced in the Test side ahead of the Boxing Day Test last December.
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McSweeney and Konstas added 86 at a more considered rate than the rapid first innings Australia A had piled up in the drawn first game of the series, when Konstas, Kellaway and Josh Philippe were among the players in the runs.
There was another significant departure for Konstas in that he avoided repeating the ramp shots that he played in the early stages of the first game, preferring to absorb Siraj’s four-over opening spell in a more orthodox manner.
He is still working on becoming more consistent in his use of a fresh pre-ball “trigger” movement that allows him to be sharper as the ball is coming down. That tweak should also help Kontas to avoid the types of bowled and lbw dismissals that have followed him to a degree in his international career so far.
