India 150 and 172 for 0 (Jaiswal 90*, Rahul 62*) advantage Australia 104 (Bumrah 5-30, Rana 3-48) by 218 runs
Jaiswal closed a brilliant century and finished 90 not out, while the resolute Rahul was unbeaten on 62 as India reached stumps at 172 for 0 with a lead of 218 runs.
A remarkable 17 wickets fell on a crazy opening day, but there were long periods of attrition on the second day which yielded just three wickets. It was a return to normalcy, as a crowd of 32,368 people sometimes resorted to waves and Mexican chants for fun.
India didn’t mind going at a leisurely pace. Jaiswal reached his half-century off 123 balls – the slowest 50 of his short Test career – and Rahul registered his off 124 deliveries. The unbroken partnership exceeded either team’s first round total.
After an unlikely 46-run lead in the first innings, the fifth-largest by any team with 150 or fewer batting first, India’s series-opening position was considerably strengthened with Jaiswal and Rahul batting in two sessions.
Jaiswal left the ball well and looked compact in defence. He learned his lessons from the first shift and made sure not to push the ball too hard. There was some trademark aggression, as when he hooked Cummins over the slippers and struck Starc at deep square leg, but he mostly unleashed textbook blows through the covers and onto the ground. Later in the day, he jumped Nathan Lyon to send him into the stands for long.
Australia’s pace attack failed to replicate the brilliant performance of the first day. Perhaps feeling tired from having to retreat so quickly, Australia looked helpless on a wicket that seemed to flatten in the sun. There was still some movement off the surface and occasional inconsistent bounces, but conditions were more benign.
Australia, however, were conservative at times, with the fielders in the depths underlining Jaiswal’s dominance, while seven bowlers were used, with Marnus Labuschagne unsuccessfully rolling out his much-publicized short-ball strategy.
As in India’s first innings, Cummins once again looked a little undercooked in his first red-ball match since the Test tour of New Zealand in March. He closed with figures of 0 for 44 in 13 overs.
Australia failed to capitalize on their chances, with Jaiswal falling short at 51 when he edged Starc, only for Usman Khawaja to miss a difficult chance at first slip. There was a missed opportunity in the next delivery when Rahul moved too far back, but the openers regrouped to continue India’s remarkable fightback.
When the game started, there was a remote chance that the match would end in two days. Bumrah continued to accelerate proceedings with a wicket in his first delivery of the morning when he edged in-form Alex Carey for 21.
Bumrah’s length and movement off the wicket was a constant threat as he threatened with almost every delivery. But it was debutant Harshit Rana who was rewarded for his hostile period by dismissing Lyon with a sharp strike that caught the glove and flew to the slip cordon.
At 79 for 9, Australia were in danger of being dismissed for the lower score against India and surpassing the infamous 83 at the MCG in 1981.
But Starc, who after the game on the first day claimed that the pitch was not as difficult to bat on as the score suggested, buckled down and found a willing ally in Hazlewood. They scored 26 – the highest partnership of the innings – in 18 overs for the last wicket.
Starc had to withstand a short barrage from Rana as the former Kolkata Knight Riders teammates engaged in a war of words. There was fake applause in the stands as Australia reached 100 – a milestone that seemed unlikely for much of their innings.
Debutant Nitish Kumar Reddy and offspinner Washington Sundar, who was surprisingly included with veterans R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, came into the attack and bowled steadily during the quiet first spell of the game. They failed to provide a breakthrough as a frustrated India appeared to have to consider their approach during the lunch break.
But just before the break, Starc lost his battle with Rana as he closed in tame fashion to end a fighting blow. He top scored with 26 off 112 balls – more than double the next highest number of deliveries faced of 52 by Labuschagne.
Tristan Lavalette is a journalist based in Perth
Source link
