Good start for India A Down Under

Siddharth Trivedi picked up four for 31 to help India 8216;A8217; restrict Northern Territory Chief Minister8217;s XI to 234 on the opening day of a four-day match at the Marrara Cricket Ground in Darwin, Australia, today.

Trivedi ripped through the local team8217;s batting with two early blows to remove openers DK Richards and AN Williams with only 37 on the board. The seamer then returned to claim the wickets of middle order batsman R Bowden and tailender S Mitchell.

India seamer Rudra Pratap Singh grabbed two for 48 while Ravinder Jadeja and Railways8217; Tejinder Pal Singh pitched in with two wickets each.

S Lavers was the top scorer for the hosts with 54, while D Truemer 38 and K Lawrence 32 came up with vital contributions in the middle to put up a respectable total.

At stumps, India 8216;A8217; were 15 for one with Gautam Gambhir 5 and Jadeja 0 at the crease. Robin Uthappa 4 was the last batsman to be dismissed.