Warriors draw first Indian Tour match

The Western Warriors have drawn the first match of their 12-day University of Western Australia Tour of India against Karnataka State in Bangalore.

The three day match, which began at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore on Saturday, finished late yesterday afternoon Indian time with the Warriors 81 runs short of victory when play was halted.

Karnataka State won the toss on day one and decided to bat, giving the Warriors bowlers a stern test in conditions vastly different to those the team normally experiences at the WACA Ground.

Darren Wates made an early breakthrough, dismissing Robin Uthappa (13) with the score on 30 before the Karnataka middle order put together a couple of strong partnerships. Rowland Barrington (41), C Raghli (108) and B Akhil (65) made good contributions for the home side while Steve Magoffin (2-60), Shawn Gillies (2-25) and Marcus North (2-28) did well with the ball to restrict the home side to 8-336 declared.

With the bat the Warriors made a shaky start to be 3-53 before a stunning fourth wicket partnership between North and Adam Voges gave WA the upper hand.

North was simply superb smashing 101 from just 117 balls, with 18 boundaries and a six, before he was out LBW to Sunil Joshi. Voges was also impressive with 75 not out as late wickets saw the home side fight back, forcing the Warriors to declare behind at 8-254.

Karnataka made a good start in their second innings, reaching 0-57 before the WA bowlers hit back in stunning fashion. Magoffin triggered the turnaround with the wicket of Uthappa for 20 as the home side proceeded to lose all 10 of their wickets for a further 114, to be all out for 171.

Spinner Aaron Heal was the star with 5-42, showing he could be ready to play a part in the WA Pura Cup team this summer. Inness and Wates contributed two wickets each while Magoffin took the one.

Left with the task of chasing 254 off 53 overs for victory Justin Langer and Clint Heron put on 45 for the opening stand before Heron was dismissed for 20.

Langer went on to make 43 and put on a 72-run stand with number four Scott Meuleman (74 not out) but the task proved too great in the number of overs, the Warriors finishing at 6-173 at the close of play.

The Warriors next match is a one-day fixture in Bangalore tomorrow.

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