29 overs, 76 runs, 3 wickets! While India bowled with great control, Australia batted solidly and blunted out to ensure they didn’t lose wickets in clusters.
In the 13.2 overs that were bowled on the first day, India were inconsistent with their lengths and the Australian openers looked decent. However, things changed on the second morning.
Led by Jasprit Bumrah, the Indian pace attack were right on the money from the start and challenged the Aussie batters a lot more. The Indian vice-captain was absolutely magnificent in his first spell. It seemed like he would take a wicket almost every other ball.
In his first over of the day, Bumrah rapped Usman Khawaja on the pads before going past his outside edge a couple of times. He finally had his man as the left-handed opener nicked one to the keeper in Bumrah’s following over.
Akash Deep drew Nathan McSweeney’s edge which went for four before Bumrah got rid of the 25-year-old batter for the fourth time in this series. McSweeney edged one straight to slip to give Bumrah his second wicket of the morning.
That brought Steve Smith to the crease to join Marnus Labuschagne. India continued to probe away as Akash Deep and Labuschagne troubled the two experienced batters. There were a few deliveries that went past the edge, a few didn’t carry while a couple went in the gap. Labuschagne had a few tight leaves as well as he was leaving the ball on length.
Mohammed Siraj came in as first change for the day and continued the good work. He kept things really tight. While he was on the shorter side, he did challenge the batters on a few occasions. Nitish Kumar Reddy came in and looked to bowl full.
Both Smith and Labuschagne were battling it out and Reddy gave India their third wicket. The seam-bowling all-rounder drew Labuschagne forward and got him edging to second slip where Virat Kohli took a good catch.
India trouble Smith, Head
Travis Head walked in and struck a couple of boundaries. He’s not gone out on the attack yet and has looked to play himself in. However, Akash Deep bowled a superb spell to him. He constantly beat Head’s bat and posed questions. It seemed like a wicket was just around the corner as Smith also looked iffy towards the end of that session.
Smith was pinned on the pads a few times. He misjudged a leave from Siraj but the umpire ruled it in the Australian vice-captain’s favour. On review, it showed umpire’s call on hitting the stumps. Inside edges saved Smith on other instances as India continued to impress with the ball.
There was a minor injury scare for the Rohit Sharma-led side. Siraj walked off after bowling just two balls in the 37th over which was his seventh of that spell. He was holding his left hamstring as he went back. However, he did come back onto the field towards the end of the session.
India bowled brilliantly but Australia battled and grinded things out quite well too. The game is evenly poised at the moment at 104/3. Both Smith and Head have had their moments and shares of luck and India will hope to turn that around in the second session.
KEY PERFORMANCES: Australia 104/3 (Steve Smith 25*, Usman Khawaja 21, Travis Head 20*, Jasprit Bumrah 2/26, Nitish Kumar Reddy 1/16) vs India.
