Suresh Raina (115) and captain S Badrinath (95) waged a grim battle but still could not see the side through as India succumbed to a 19-run defeat against the Australian Institute of Sports in a run-feast of a match in the Emerging Players Tournament in Brisbane on Sunday.
Put into bat, the hosts piled up 371 for five in 50 overs with Theo Doropoulos (107) and captain Moises Henriques (124) scoring bulk of the runs.
In reply, Raina and Badrinath almost knocked down the target but their batting colleagues let them down and the side was bowled out for 352 in 46.2 overs at the Albury Oval, which saw 723 runs being scored on the day.
Batting first, the Australians got a rollicking start with Doropoulos and David Warner (80) tearing apart the Indian attack, putting 133 runs for the first wicket before Abhishek Nayar removed Warner.
But with Henriques joining Doropoulos in the middle, there was no respite for the visitors. The second wicket partnership yielded 156 runs before Doropoulos was castled by Amit Mishra. Henriques, however, was hardly perturbed as he blasted his way to century off just 76 balls.
Though openers Virat Kohli (27) and Shikhar Dhawan (5) could not give India the start they needed, Raina's scintillating form kept India in the hunt.
Raina took just 65 balls to race to his century, with his captain Badrinath playing the second fiddle. They cobbled together a 131-run stand for the third wicket when catastrophe struck and Raina fell to Doropoulos.
Abhishek Nayar (5) and Manoj Tiwary (10) could not live upto the expectation and India's hopes went up in smoke when Badrinath fell to Grant Sullivan and the side eventually collapsed with 3.4 overs to spare.
Doropoulos shone with the ball as well, scalping three for 68 while Sullivan also had his three-wicket haul.
Brief scores:
Australian Institute of Sports: 371 for 5 in 50 overs (Moises Henriques 125, Theo Doropoulos 107, David Warner 80)
India Emerging Players: 352 all out in 46.2 overs (Suresh Raina 115, S Badrinath 95; Grant Sullivan 3/62, Doropoulos 3/68).
