Western Australia XI 168 for 8 (Hobson 64, Short 52, Ashwin 3-32) beat Indians 132 for 8 (Rahul 74, Lance Morris 2-23, Kelly 2-26) by 36 runs
Chasing 169, India’s openers Rahul and RIshabh Pant started slowly against effectively BBL champions Perth Scorchers’ pace attack. Pant struggled for fluency once again as he swung and missed at several attempted slogs against the accurate left-arm pace of Jason Behrendorff.
Rahul was the exception as he batted cautiously before opening up with a couple of sixes in the 18th over off Behrendorff to give India a sniff of an unlikely victory. But his dismissal in the next over effectively snuffed out the contest as India split their warm-up games in Perth.
WA XI controlled the game throughout after electing to bat in sunny conditions. Their batting was strengthened by the inclusion of BBL star Josh Philippe, but the opener holed out to Arshdeep Singh in the third over.
Much like in the first game, quicks Arshdeep and Bhuvneshwar Kumar conjured sharp bounce on a quick deck but wickets were harder to come by after that.
Hobson, who plays for Perth Scorchers and is an accountant in his day job, was particularly belligerent against the spinners and hit four sixes in his 41-ball knock.
But his dismissal triggered a WA collapse with Ashwin getting into good rhythm after a tough start with wickets in consecutive balls to remove captain Ashton Turner and Sam Fanning, who starred in game one with a half-century but the 21-year-old unwisely tried to reverse sweep on his first ball.
India were sharp in the field, marked by two direct-hit run outs, and well marshalled by Rahul although captain Rohit was still giving instructions.
Kohli did not play in the two warm-up matches in Perth, much to the disappointment of locals, but did field and spent time at first slip and the deep. He also jogged laps before play.
A strong crowd of 2500 fans attended with the AUD 5 entry fee going towards the WA Cricket Foundation.
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