The ball was flying around and India’s struggle at the top of the order continued. Australia will be very happy with the way things have panned out on the first morning of the fifth and final Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG). They have removed the Indian top three and have them in trouble.
All eyes were on the Indian team ahead of this game. Captain Rohit Sharma decided to opt out (rest) which raised a lot of eyebrows around the cricketing fraternity. It was Jasprit Bumrah who walked out for the toss. He called correctly and opted to bat first on a green-looking SCG pitch. Shubman Gill came in for Rohit while Prasidh Krishna replaced the injured Akash Deep. For Australia, Beau Webster received his maiden Test cap and replaced Mitchell Marsh.
Yashasvi Jaiswal started off with a boundary in the very first over. The left-handed opener clipped one through the leg-side to get going. However, Pat Cummins bowled a testing over and beat Jaiswal three times in a row. But Jaiswal was negating the bounce decently while KL Rahul was looking his usual self, trusting his defense and leaving the ball nicely.
However, the latter was out in the 5th over and it was a soft dismissal. Starc dished one full on the pads and it was an innocuous delivery but Rahul flicked it straight to square-leg.
Jaiswal didn’t last long either. Scott Boland came into the attack in the 8th over and started hitting the pitch hard. It brought results straightaway as Jaiswal edged one to third slip. At 17/2, India were in trouble. It could’ve easily been 17/3 with Virat Kohli almost out on a golden duck.
The India No. 4 edged a back-of-a-length delivery to second slip. It was dying on second slip where Steve Smith dived low to his right and flicked the ball to Marnus Labuschagne at gully. The Australian team was very confident that the catch was clean and were celebrating. However, replays showed that there seemed to be some part of the ball touching the ball before Smith flicked it back up. The Australian vice-captain was not happy as he felt he picked it up cleanly. Kohli survived and got an early reprieve.
After that early jitter, the former India skipper settled down and looked in decent touch. He was leaving the ball well outside the off-stump and defended confidently. He was allowing the ball to come to him rather than going out searching for it.
At the other end, Gill had a couple of close shaves. He inside-edged a full ball off Cummins which went past the stumps and also had an edge that went through the slip cordon. But apart from that, he was looking good and rotated strike nicely.
The Australian pacers were getting some good bounce. There was seam movement as well. Cummins and Boland were bending their backs and hitting the pitch hard. They were consistently asking questions and were excellent with their lines and lengths. Debutant Webster bowled a probing first spell in Test cricket.
Gill falls on the last ball before lunch
Kohli and Gill helped India recover from 17/2. Just when it looked like the duo would head back at the end of the first session unscathed, Gill had a brain freeze. He fell on the last ball before lunch.
Nathan Lyon was introduced only a few minutes before lunch and he bowled a maiden over to start with. He was getting bounce and a hint of turn. Gill faced him for the first time only in the final over before lunch. He defended the first ball well before needlessly advancing down the track on the last ball and edged it straight to Smith at first slip.
What was looking like an even session is now all Australia’s. Once again, India are in a spot of bother at 57/3. Kohli has looked decent but the pitch is still playing tricks. Rishabh Pant is not in the best of forms. He is due to walk out next.
Australia will be looking to continue the good work and pose more questions. India are in desperate need of a substantial partnership.
BRIEF SCORES: India 57/3 (Shubman Gill 20, Virat Kohli 12*, Nathan Lyon 1/1, Scott Boland 1/5) vs Australia.
