25 overs, 50 runs, 1 wicket and 2 dropped chances. That was what the second session was all about in the fifth and final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy at the SCG. India lost Virat Kohli early before Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja battled hard as the Australian pace attack bowled excellently.
Australia started the session with Scott Boland and Pat Cummins, who tested Kohli and Pant. India just couldn’t break the shackles as they scored just 10 runs in the first five overs after lunch.
Kohli continued from where he left off in the first session. He was allowing the ball to come to him and was very patient before he once again fiddled with one outside the off-stump. Just when he looked set and was comfortable, he perished nicking to third slip.
It was Boland who got the breakthrough for the Aussies. He continued to probe away on that fourth and fifth stump line and forced Kohli to poke at it. It was the 7th time in a row this series that the former India skipper has been caught edging behind the stumps. He fell for 17 off 69 balls as a patient innings came to an end.
Jadeja walked out at 72/4 and he was dropped early. Boland got the left-handed all-rounder to edge to second slip where Steve Smith dropped a sharp chance. The Australian pacers continued to pose questions to Pant and Jadeja. But the left-handed duo kept fighting hard and survived testing spells from Cummins, Boland and Starc. Beau Webster also kept things tight and bowled in good areas.
In fact, the India wicket-keeper batter was struck on his body multiple times. He was hit on the arm by Starc. Pant received some attention as the physio came out with an ice pack and also tapped up the area where the ball hit him. In the following over, Starc got one to rear up off a length and that struck Pant on the head. There were times he was also hit on the thig-pad and arms.
Despite that, the Delhi left-hander looked composed in his defence and curbed his attacking instincts for a large part of the session. At the other end, Jadeja was once again dropped as Nathan Lyon shelled a low catch at gully. That was the second time Jadeja was let off. He continued to remain unfazed and kept biding his time at the crease.
Pant breaks the shackles just before Tea
India didn’t score at a great rate. In fact, they were 88/4 in 45 overs at one stage. The partnership was 16 from 13.3 overs. Pant was batting on 19 off 63 balls at that point while Jadeja was on 5 off 37.
That’s when Pant decided it was time to break the shackles. He ran down the pitch and smoked Webster back over his head for a big six. Lyon came back on for a brief spell before the end of the second session and Jadeja and Pant both hit him for a boundary each. That helped India go past the 100-run mark.
Australia have bowled really well and have tested the Indian batters. But the duo of Pant and Jadeja have held fort. They have battled hard and it’s been tough going. In fact, their partnership is currently 35 and they’ve taken nearly 19 overs for it.
107/4 may not have a great reading but with depth in the batting line-up, India will be hoping they can cash in after Tea. A couple of early wickets in the third session could well open the floodgates and that’s what Australia will be hoping for. The pitch has quickened up and the ball is still flying around. Australia are still ahead and will look to drive home the advantage.
BRIEF SCORES: India 107/4 (Rishabh Pant 32*, Shubman Gill 20, Virat Kohli 17, Scott Boland 2/15, Nathan Lyon 1/13) vs Australia.
