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The squad was split into two teams of 10 for a 22-over-a-side match in the first proper hit-out of the tour
Australia I 195 for 6 (Marsh 56, Turner 45) beat Australia II 193 for 5 (Christian 47, Henriques 36) by four wickets
In another example of making the best of what is available in the current environment, the Australia squad was split into two teams of 10 – Australia I led by Aaron Finch and Australia II captained by Matthew Wade – to play a 22-over-per side match.
It was the performances of Marsh, who hit four sixes in his 28-ball 56, and Ashton Turner who cleared the ropes in the final over to help secure victory that edged the contest in the end after the asking rate had passed 12 an over.
However, the innings of Christian – 47 off 31 balls – was also significant as he resumes his Australia career after a gap of four years and has been billed as one of the options to fill the troublesome middle-order positions.
“I hit them alright, was nice to actually play a game,” he said. “I’ve done a lot of travel of late and missed a lot of cricket, done a lot of training but not actually been on the field.
“Nice to be back in this environment. Ended up being a good hit out, everyone had a good hit, bowlers had a good bowl and we got to see what conditions will be like so all-in-all a pretty successful night.”
It could be Christian, Marsh and Turner are among the names battling for one or two spots in the final T20 World Cup squad once all players are available again.
For the bowlers, some of who were having their first run out since the end of the domestic season, there was some punishment on display with Josh Hazlewood taken for 44 off his four overs (although he claimed two wickets) while Mitchell Starc and Riley Meredith conceded 39.
However, left-armer Jason Behrendorff bowled his four overs for just 23 while, in a sign of the role spin might play, Ashton Agar took 1 for 25 from his full spell having opened the bowling and Mitchell Swepson kept his economy rate to seven an over.
“It was a pretty good wicket, a decent-sized ground and a strong breeze as well,” Christian said. “Even though we ended up playing 22 overs reckon 170 was around par [in 20 overs]. Both teams would probably have liked a guy in the top four to get a 70-odd to get to a 180-type score but 170 certainly competitive.
“We saw a lot bowled into the wicket, a lot of slower balls, spinners were quite effective so typical of what you get over here.”
Ben McDermott (Australia II) and Josh Philippe (Australia I) both had the opportunity to bat twice.
There is a second inter-squad match schedule for Wednesday ahead of the start of the series on Friday.