That’s it from me. Thanks to everyone who joined for this blitz OBO session. India dominant across the board but hard not to feel that Australia shot themselves in the foot. If they want to be a dynastic force they’ll have to sort this mess out stat! Maybe they’ll do it in the next Test? We’ll see you there.
Here’s the report on another thumping win for India. Keep an eye out for Geoff Lemon’s colour to come.
This is a shattering loss for Australia. A day which began with so much hope finishes with the Border-Gavaskar Trophy gone, and with it their bid for world domination. Two days of hard work in the Delhi haze went up in a puff of smoke in one disastrous hour. #INDvAUS
— Andrew Wu (@wutube) February 19, 2023
“What’s wrong with Aussie batting?” That’s a good question, Ravi S Machiraju. What do you think’s the issue?
“In earlier days on such tracks test matches would be slow and mostly defensive with maybe 50 runs in one session but the defence would be rock solid and the team would reach 300 after lunch on day 2. Were these guys playing a T20 exhibition of ghastly sweep shots here? No thinking or application, no technique or respect needed against the turning ball on a regular Indian spinning track on a beautiful day and no instructions at all from the coach or presumed brains trust to do anything other than the suicidal pre determined sweep! Why is intelligent defence dead?”
Perhaps it is just a mindset issue. Australia have loads to ponder as they look to level the series from the remaining two Tests.
“The Aussies made Ashwin and Jadeja look like Waqar and Wasim in the ‘90s - the “every ball, a wicket” sense.”
Yes, they certainly were the architects of their own doom, Shyam Krishnan.
A beaming Pujara is on the screen:
I thought we might end up chasing closer to 250. We were prepared for that. But the way our bowlers bowled today, they showed a lot of patience. It didn’t go our way yesterday. The way they bowled today was incredible.
On the sweep shot (which got the Aussies in a heap of trouble:
If you look at this pitch, it’s not an ideal shot to play because of the low bounce. If there’s enough bounce I might play that. If you can move your feet and get to the ball, that’s better on turning tracks.
And the pitch. Was it difficult?
Not really. You have to get used to the pace of the pitch. Some balls spun, some balls are going straighter. Once you play about 30, 40 balls it’s a good pitch to bat on.
India win by six wickets and go 2-0 up in the series!
India retain the Border Gavaskar Trophy with a thumping win. Murphy is asked to return and bowl the final over. His first three balls have Pujara twitching. But the fourth is in the slot and Pujara steps out of his crease and hammers a crisp flick up and over midwicket for four. Dominant from the hosts. Australia were terrible with the bat (we’ll get to that in a sec) but India were ruthless. Like a prize fighter who sniffs out weakness, once they see their chance they seize on it. Naches for Pujara in his 100th Test to finish things off with a flourish.
Reactions and comments to come. Do drop me a line if you fancy while we wrap things up.
26th over: India 114-4 (Pujara 27, Bharat 23) The scores are level thanks to a mighty six from Bharat who has played a gem of a cameo. Travis Head comes on to bowl (because why not?) and he’s launched with a slog sweep over the rope. He gets a single, so does Pujara and it’s all square. Head darts his final ball down leg. The cynic would suggest he did that on purpose, eager to avoid being the guy who concedes the winning run. But I’m not a cynic so I won’t suggest that.
25th over: India 105-4 (Pujara 25, Bharat 16) Wonderful! If that drive against Lyon in the last over was good, this is even better. Bharat is all timing with a high elbow and a bent front knee. That, kids, is how you play an extra cover drive to the slow left arm bowler. But he’s not done. He unfurls another gorgeous drive, this one a little squarer but with the same amount of zing. The sweeper wasn’t too far away but he had no chance. Quality batting. 10 to win.
24th over: India 96-4 (Pujara 25, Bharat 8) Now that is a tasty cricket shot. Lyon is full(ish) outside off the off stump and Bharat just leeeeeeeans on it and caresses it for four. Lovely. Lyon drags his length back for the rest of the over. The final ball is a real drag down and Bharat swivels on his pull but hits it straight to the man at deep square. He’ll keep the strike with 18 needed to go 2-0 up in the series.
“Hi,” well hey there Saurabh Raye. Thanks for checking in.
“Enjoying the OBO.. India are unbeatable in India, and Australia cannot win a series against India in Australia. Happy days!!”
Too true.
23rd over: India 91-4 (Pujara 24, Bharat 3) A bowling change now. Not sure why they’ve mixed it up. I thought Murphy was going alright (despite going for 11 in his last set). Anyway, Kuhnemann’s slow left arm is back on the scene and he’s tidy to start. Outside the off stump with the occasional one darted in. Bharat is patient. He won’t be sucked into a slog like Iyer. A short arm jab through midwicket off the back foot gets him two.
22nd over: India 89-4 (Pujara 24, Bharat 1) Lyon has found a better groove and gets a wicket his toils deserve. It’s a catch in the deep from a slog, but it’s a wicket and he’ll take it. Two singles take two runs off the target. One belongs to the new man Srikar Bharat who taps one in a gap in the covers.
WICKET! Iyer c Murphy b Lyon 12 (India 88-4)
Iyer wasn’t going to stick around and nurdle these remaining runs. But he’s paid the price for his exuberance and holed out to deep square leg. Lyon is quicker through the air which means Iyer has to rush his shot. He loses his shape and it turns into an ugly slog as he gets it square of it’s intended target. Murphy clings on. That’s another one down but with only 27 needed it’s surely game over already. Right?
21st over: India 87-3 (Pujara 23, Iyer 12) India’s batters are so ruthless. One mistake and they seize on it. Murphy has bowled really well but he strays short and Pujara scythes a firm cut square on the off side. A single down to long-on gets Iyer on strike and the new batter clearly has an appointment in mind as he’s in a hurry. He closes the over by heaving a six wide of long on. He doesn’t catch all of it, but he’s got enough to clear the ropes. 28 needed for the win.
20th over: India 76-3 (Pujara 18, Iyer 6) An eventful over from Lyon. He drops one short and Iyer clatters him through a gap past point, working with the angle across him. A pair of singles – to Iyer chipped safely over midwicket and then to Pujara who shuffles across his stumps to work it wide of short leg – keeps the score ticking along.
“Loving your commentary, as we don’t have Pay TV we are loving the highs and lows from your perspective Thanks and keep up the great work! How good are India and Australia are woeful and the team needs a clean out!”
Aw-shucks, Tricia Riley, appreciate the kind words and glad you’re enjoying it. Yes, India are just too good, unbeatable even, on their own patch.
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19th over: India 70-3 (Pujara 17, Iyer 1) Well then. Australia have their breakthrough and it’s Kohli. Does that mean they’ve got an opening? Well, yes. But’s a small one. They’ll need to go bang, bang, bang, bang, as India did this morning. The new man Shreyas Iyer shows early intent and wristily flicks one down to long on. There’s a buzz int the field with Aussies pouncing on dribbling balls. One brings two, as they say. It’ll have to bring five if Australia are to pull off a miracle.
That’s the first time Kohli has ever been stumped after 180 innings. Good on ya Murphy.
WICKET! Kohli st Carey b Murphy 20 (India 69-3)
Oh wow! Kohli’s sauntered down the track and landed in no man’s land. Brilliant bowling from Murphy who had settled on a deliciously teasing line outside off stump. This one’s given just a bit more air. Like a fly fisherman dangling a lure, he gets the big fish. He’ll be on the losing team once this is all over but that’s one for the memory bank. Beautifully done.
18th over: India 69-2 (Pujara 17, Kohli 20) Lyon starts with that tighter line angled in on the stumps but shifts wider as the over develops. Pujara is watchful. He’s playing it later. There’s a hopeful appeal for lbw when a very wide ball spins back in to Pujara and hits his pad. Was he playing a shot? I think so. So did the umpire, Michael Gough, so it’s another wicketless maiden.
17th over: India 69-2 (Pujara 17, Kohli 20) Murphy’s twirling from round the wicket but it’s pretty pedestrian. Excelt he’s got one sliding on with the angle and it beats Kohli’s forward push.
Great insight on the comms now about the difference between Australia’s approach to spin and India’s. The tourists looked to play on the back foot or sweep. India have played with straighter bats and pressed on the front foot. Guess which approach has been more successful.
Murphy hurls down a maiden.
16th over: India 69-2 (Pujara 17, Kohli 20) Lyon continues and he’s tidy on a straight line. They need more from their primary spinner who has gone at more than four an over. Kohli manages to squeeze one off his knees behind square for four. How’s he done that? Just superb timing. A single to deep midwicket gets Kohli – who moves around the crease like a panther – means he keeps the strike.
Thanks Angus. Top shift there. Unlike your fellow Aussies. Looks like I’m here for a good time, not a long time. India closing in.
15th over: India 64-2 (Pujara 17, Kohli 15) Kohli and Pujara are starting to flash each other sly little grins between overs. Australia are avoiding eye contact. Murphy keeps plugging away from around the wicket, fast and flat. But ineffective. He notches a maiden. Time for me to hand over last rites to my colleague Gallant Dan Gallan – thanks for your company cricket fans.
14th over: India 64-2 (Pujara 17, Kohli 15) A strolled single from Pujara, a sublime four from Kohli, the latter a simple flick off the hips to the fine leg rope. Five from the Lyon over and 51 runs between Australia and subcontinental oblivion. Again.
13th over: India 59-2 (Pujara 16, Kohli 11) Australia can see the Test slipping away. India are cantering to victory, picking off safe runs with regularity and occasionally pulverising loose bowling with sweetly-hit boundaries. India take three from that Murphy over to bring the chase target to 56.
12th over: India 56-2 (Pujara 13, Kohli 11) The King goes BANG! Again it’s those tap-dancing Kohli feet turning good balls into half volleys and scudding them through the outfield for four. Next ball it’s those supple wrists rolling over for sweat-free singles. No sweeps, reverse or otherwise, so far for the India batters.
11th over: India 50-2 (Pujara 12, Kohli 6) Matthew Kuhnemann is out of the attack and Todd Murphy is in. The bespectacled leftie strays with his first ball and Kohli sends it to fine leg for two. He then steps out and rolls the wrists for another simple single. India’s fifty is up and they need 65 runs for victory.
10th over: India 47-2 (Pujara 12, Kohli 3) Gaze steady and feet dancing, Kohli makes it looks so easy as he pierces the field for another run. Pujara takes a quicker route, throwing those axeman’s arms at a straight drive that bounces once, twice before tumbling over the rope. The Rock is starting to roll now.
9th over: India 42-2 (Pujara 8, Kohli 2) Crack goes Kohli! He tiptoed down to Kuhnemann and smothered any spin with a stinging onside drive for a single to get off the mark. Pujara returns serve next ball as India roar into the forties. Kohli is seeing gaps everywhere – mystifyingly, rather than attack from close quarters Cummins’ has most of his men in the deep. Kohli taps another run.
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8th over: India 39-2 (Pujara 7, Kohli 0) Strong appeal by Lyon against Pujara! No interest from the umpire but Lyon and Carey conspire to send it on high. Bad call. It’s missed the bat and the foot is firmly planted so another shocking review by the Australians in a Test riven with them. Lyon settles for a maiden. India need 76 runs to win.
WICKET! Rohit Sharma run out 31 (India 39-2)
That was comical! Rohit and Pujara have botched a few singles with bad calls but that one takes the biscuit. They ran the first run easy enough but Rohit stopped midway through the second for a second look. Not Pujara. He kept running, even as it was toward a back-pedalling skipper. End result is Rohit the aggressor is gone and Australia have fluked a second wicket. Are India imploding here?
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7th over: India 32-1 (Rohit 24, Pujara 7) Up Lyon throws it, over Rohit sends it! Again footwork got him to the pitch of the ball and Pat Cummins had the sour task of watching it sail into the stands.
6th over: India 31-1 (Rohit 24, Pujara 6) Over the top goes the skipper! Lyon tossed up the cherry with his second ball and Rohit found it ripe to launch hard and high over the long-on boundary. Six! A couple of easy singles follow as Australia’s spread field starts to leak easy runs. Factor in bad bowling and sweet pull shots around the corner to the boundary from Rohit and you’ve got a short chase coming.
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5th over: India 19-1 (Rohit 12, Pujara 5) And we’re back. Easy as you like, Rohit skips forward and rolls his wrists over a Kuhnemann floater for a single. That leaves India exactly 100 runs to win the Test. Make that 96 after a rank legside long hop gets the treatment from Pujara. Captain Cummins has kept his defensive field from before the break – no silly mid-off or leg slip, just “Human Pinball” Peter Handscomb in close on the legside.
How did you spend your lunch break? Laughing? Crying? I tried to make sense of what I’d just seen – and failed. Can I suggest, Captain Cummins and Coach McDonald, a new tactic before this second session?
LUNCH: India 14-1 (Rohit 12, Pujara 1). India need 101 to win.
In an extraordinary Test, that was the most extraordinary session of them all.
Australia completely imploded to go from 1-61 to all out 113. At one stage they lost four wickets for nought to go from a shaky 95-3 to a shot duck 95-7. For Australian fans, it was awful to watch as batter after batter imploded with terrible shots to fizzing deliveries from the “Revving Ravis” Ashwin and Jadeja.
Australia panicked – their nerve, tactics and character were all found wanting. On the other hand, India were cool and calculated. Knowing the pitch wasn’t the monster it was made out to be, they bowled smartly and strategically, knowing the Australians would fall on their swords before they could be run though.
Australia started day three ascendent, with a great chance to level the series and wrestle back the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. They are now a smoking wreck. India were in a bit of trouble and chasing the game. Now they are chasing just 101 to win the Test and retain the trophy. It’s a funny old game ain’t it?
I, for one, need a breather. Does this crazy Test have another twist? Join us in a hot half-hour and we’ll find out…
4th over: India 14-1 (Rohit 12, Pujara 1) Almost a run out! Rohit wanted a single from the non-strikers end but the slightly less nimble Pujara wasn’t keen. Instead he pulls a Lyon long hop to a fielder on the boundary for a single. He’s off the mark in his 100th Test! Rohit clips a single from the next and there’s more confusion between the batters as they debate a quickie on the fifth. They decide against it, happy to go to Lunch relatively intact, needing 101 run to win.
3rd over: India 12-1 (Rohit 11, Pujara 0) Kuhnemann returns and is quickly sent to long on for two runs by Rohit who, unlike the Australian batters, uses his feet to get to the ball rather than reaching for it from the crease. India have sent their “Rock” to the crease in Pujara. Will they shuffle the order to send a “Roller” out next and smack some fast runs while the senior man anchors this chase. We may not find out because Rohit Sharma has stepped out and driven Kuhnemann for another four.
2nd over: India 6-1 (Rohit 5, Pujara 0) A huge appeal for a stumping against Pujara first ball! But the foot is grounded and Australia have burned a review already. Just when you thought things couldn’t get any weirder, Australia – who don’t deserve any luck after the way they batted – are gifted an early wicket to a fluke rebound! What can Cheteshwar Pujara do in his 100th Test?
WICKET! Rahul c Carey b Lyon 1 (India 6-1)
Extraordinary! Rahul positively whacked Lyon’s first ball into the on side but instead of running to the boundary it ricocheted off Peter Handscomb at sill mid-on and ballooned into the air where Carey took the catch. Geez, the Cricket Gods have a funny sense of humour.
1st over: India 6-0 (Rohit 5, Rahul 1) How do Australia recover from that? They will be hurt and humiliated. But they have 115 runs to defend. Can they take inspiration from Ravi Ashwin, who triggered their collapse, and Ravi Jadeja who gutted them with seven scalps. India’s chase is about to begin and it is debutant Matt Kuhnemann – not captain Pat Cummins? – who is taking the new ball. Rohit runs a single from the third and Raul strokes another before captain Rohit Sharma gets ruthless, bludgeoning a straight drive to the boundary. Six from the first over and Australia already on the back foot.
Australia all out 113. India needs 115 to win.
Australia have imploded with the bat. What can they do with the ball?
Allan Border is angry. He’s decrying Australia’s reckless approach to this innings, their inability to change course when wickets started to fall and the abject panic they showed in hitting across the line, against the spin and against common sense. The pitch was not to blame today. Australia faced good bowling from Ashwin (3-59) and Ravi Jadeja (7-42) but they were the captains of their own destiny and, ultimately, the architects of their own demise.
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WICKET! Kuhnemann bowled Jadeja 0 (Australia all out 113)
And there’s the coup de grace! Kuhnemann chops on to give Jadeja 7-42. Australia are out for 113 and should hang their heads in shame.
31st over: Australia 113-9 (Murphy 3, Kuhnemann 0) Australia coach Andrew McDonald will be under some pressure after this Test and he knows it. As Murphy runs another single, Graeme Hugo wants to know what I mean when I describe Pat Cummins’ dismal dismissal as “climate change captaincy”
Graeme, it’s a condition increasingly rampant in Delhi today in which your polar ice cap melts under your baggy green and you decide to slog sweep your first ball when your teammates need you to stay calm, show leadership and bat time.
WICKET! Nathan Lyon bowled Jadeja 8 (Australia 113-9)
Jadeja has six! Lyon usually puts a high price on his wicket but he that was way too expansive to a bowler in such form. He swung big, missed by a mile, and was skittled in desultory fashion.
29th over: Australia 112-8 (Lyon 8, Murphy 2) After getting to 61 runs with the loss of one wicket yesterday Australia have lost six for just 50 runs this morning. Now Ravi Ashwin is circling the tail as two game but nervy off-spinners try to eke a few more runs to defend. Murphy hurries another single… but that’s exactly what Ravi Jadeja wants for his next over.
28th over: Australia 111-8 (Lyon 8, Murphy 1) Almost a run out! As if Todd Murphy doesn’t have enough on his mind with the scoreboard dripping Australian blood, Lyon called him through for a single first ball. He made it by an inch but not sure the kid would risk cardiac arrest to get another run like that. Australia have made 50 runs this session and lost seven wickets, each uglier than the last. They lead by 112 runs now and have two tail-end wickets in hand.
WICKET! Alex Carey c Bharat b Jadeja 7 (Australia 110-8)
Carey sweeps and succumbs! Jadeja has his five-for and Australia are a shambles. That one stayed low and, again got past a flashing blade, to hit pad.
27th over: Australia 110-7 (Carey 7, Lyon 8) Almnost a run out! Carey called for the single and Lyon was slow to get his motor going. He got there in the end but only by a whisker. How will Alex Carey mount this comeback? He of all Australia’s players seemed to master the sweep, both reverse and orthodox, in the first innings at Nagpur (until he unluckily bottom edged one). But having seen his teammates perish playing the shot, does he ignore it or embrace it? He sweeps a four to give us our answer.
26th over: Australia 103-7 (Carey 2, Lyon 6) Jadeja hunting for his five-for as Australia hang on grimly. Carey and Lyon each run a single but they are firmly in damage control. As Australia’s chief bowling weapon in the second innings, Lyon knows every run is worth its weight in gold if he’s to defend a small total.
25th over: Australia 101-7 (Carey 1, Lyon 5) As Lyon swipes a four, the visitor’s dressing room is a shambles of heads-in-hands. If Australia lose this Test, they lose the Border-Gavaskar Trophy but also risk what seemed an assured spot in the World Test Championship. What they’ve really lost though is their heads. Time and again they have turned to the sweep shot as their weapon. But either through poor technique or shonky preparation for this tour, they’ve executed poorly and been punished. Yes, India’s spinners have been good but this pitch hasn’t been a monster. Australia have simply imploded.
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24th over: Australia 97-7 (Carey 1, Lyon 0) Lyon survives the Jadeja hat-trick! What has happened to Australia this morning. This has been highly reckless cricket and Pat Cummins ridiculous stroke to his first ball was the exemplar of stupidity. Sorry folks, love big Patty and his climate change captaincy, but that was a VERY poor example to set your men when they need to bat time and claw for every run. It leaves Alex Carey and Nathan Lyon with the responsibility to pick up the pieces.
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WICKET! Pat Cummins bowled Jadeja 0 (Australia 95-7)
Cummins gone first ball! He went for the big sweep first ball and it’s gone straight through him and skittled the timbers. The Delhi crowd going fully bedlamic now and Australia descending into the maelstrom after four wickets in eight balls.
WICKET! Peter Handscomb c Kohli b Jadeja 0 (Australia 95-6)
Another one gone! This time Handscomb drives at Jadeja and thick edges behind where Virat Kohli swallow it whole. Just when Australia needed calm play and cool heads, Handscomb – so brilliant and brave in the first dig – has a brain explosion and tries to carve against the spin. Fantastic ball by Jadeja but not a shot Handscomb will enjoy seeing on replay.
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WICKET! Matthew Renshaw LBW Ashwin 2 (Australia 95-5)
Renshaw is history! Ashwin had him utterly bamboozled that over and finally, on the final ball, he threw one in short and Renshaw reached out those long levers to tickle another reverse sweep and missed it completely. Plum LBW and Australia capitulating again.
23rd over: Australia 95-4 (Renshaw 2, Handscomb 0) Big shout from Ashwin on Renshaw! But having frittered a review, India let it go. And rightly so, it was going down leg. Renshaw advances to the fourth and is rapped on the pad. There’s a half-appeal but nothing comes of it. But the appeal on the final ball is MASSIVE and the onfield decision is OUT. Australia will review…
22nd over: Australia 95-4 (Renshaw 2, Handscomb 0) Another reverse sweep by Renshaw off Jadeja! That’s very risky but again it works, if only for a single. He’s playing with fire the big Queenslander! With Labuschagne gone from the third ball, it’s first innings hero Peter Handscomb playing out the over
WICKET! Marnus Labuschagne b. Jadeja 35 (Australia 95-4)
Farewell Marnus! He’s been done like a dinner by a Ravi Jadeja fast ball which stayed low and caught the bottom edge, cannoning into off stump. Jadeja has been expensive – 38 runs from his eight overs – but he’s got two huge wickets and that’s a deal India will take every day of the week.
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21st over: Australia 93-3 (Labuschagne 34, Renshaw 1) Ashwin sends a warning! Matt Renshaw was wandering down from the non-strikers end when Ashwin calmly held onto the ball instead of delivering it. No eye contact, no lip, but a warning nonetheless. And a fresh devil in the already-confused cranium of Renshaw. He outruns that devil with a single. And then Labuschagne’s Luck kicks in as he clips off his toes and it’s dropped by Shreyas at silly mid-on! That was very catchable but he didn’t get a hand on it. Needs to seek out Peter Handscomb for some juggling tips after play, perhaps?
20th over: Australia 90-3 (Labuschagne 32, Renshaw 0) Renshaw walks out with Australia suddenly in trouble. They have come out swinging as predicted and whacked 28 runs but they have lost the key wickets of Head and Smith so it’s a tactic that has backfired. Can Labuschagne rescue them again. He belts a four and runs a single to signal he can and will not be cowed doing so. Renshaw is yet to face a ball.
WICKET! Steve Smith LBW Ashwin 9 (Australia 85-3)
Massive moment in this Test! Smith is out cheaply again to Ashwin. He got down on one knee for the sweep but wily Ravi saw him coming and shortened his arc of delivery meaning Smith was caught reaching too far and swishing too hard for it. It missed the toe of the bat and replays show it hitting the stumps. Suddenly Australia are reeling!
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19th over: Australia 84-2 (Labuschagne 27, Smith 9) Evasive action from Marnus! Ravi Ashwin has switched to over the wicket for this over and he sent the first one fizzing in flat and full, meaning Labuschagne had to jam down hard to keep it out. He tries again on the third. Is there a three-card trick emerging here? We’ll never know because Smith scamper to the striker’s end when his partner squirts one past silly mid-off. Big shout on the last! Smith tried to sweep and it rushed on and thumped into the pads. Onfield decision is OUT but Smith will review…
18th over: Australia 84-2 (Labuschagne 26, Smith 9) Here comes Jadeja, with his high-pony bouncing and his slingshot arm whipping them in at 90kph. Smith is watchful to the first two but he skips down to the third, which is flatter and fuller, and puts it over the top for four. Smith then strokes another two onto the offside to keep the run rate rattling at 4.7 and extend Australia’s lead to 85.
17th over: Australia 78-2 (Labuschagne 26, Smith 3) Even on the extremely rare occasions Steve Smith isn’t scoring runs he never quite looks out of form. (Maybe that’s because, with all with his shivers and tics, he never looks like any batter in the world). Here he takes an easy single when Ashwin strays to leg. And now Labuschagne stands tall and reverse sweeps for four! Big shout on the fifth though! Marnus marched down but had to defend when Ashwin changed the angle of his arm. Another shout for LBW as Labuschagne’s reverse sweep goes awry on the final ball and he gets struck on back pad. Onfield decision is NOT OUT but India will review… but it’s missing. Review wasted!
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16th over: Australia 72-2 (Labuschagne 22, Smith 1) Ashwin the Destoyer returns. After Labuschagne runs a single from the first Smith gets off the pair by dabbing a single from the second. Days one and two have shown us that batting is trickiest in this morning session when the ball is hard and new. The pitch appears to be cracking up fast but it’s a chilly 19 in Delhi and morning dew and some overnight sweating under the covers create intriguing conditions. None of it worries Labuschagne who whips Ashwin through covers to the rope. Shot!
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15th over: Australia 66-2 (Labuschagne 17, Smith 0) The curiously out-of-sorts Smith gets this Jadeja over from the non-strikers end as Labuschagne faces his first sighters of the day. He takes a single from the second and Smith, averagingh 60+ and with Test 8000 runs to his name, gets to battle his way off a pair. But to four balls straight he hits but doesn’t run.
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WICKET! Travis Head c Bharat b Ashwin 43 (Australia 65-2)
India strike! Head belted a boundary earlier and his eyes lit up again when Ashwin tossed his last ball of the over up. But it was a trap and Head fell hook, line and sinker. Falling forward, his gentle swish caught only the edge and the wicketkeeper Bharat did the rest.
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13th over: Australia 65-1 (Head 43, Labuschangne 16) Let battle commence! Head starts as he means to go on with a four and Ashwin will have to come up with a new tactic or it could be an expensive morning.
As the players warm up in the Delhi haze, plenty of questions are quivering behind the scenes: will Australia come out swinging again and kick on for a commanding lead? Or will India’ spinners strike afresh to send them into a slump as in the First Test? Can Travis Head vanquish his subcontinental demons at last with a career-defining innings? Does India defend against him or attack in this first session? Will Marnus Labuschagne show India why he’s the world’s No 1 batter? Or will Virat Kohli get in his ear and remind him who’s King? And what’s with Steve Smith? The twitchy mad genius of Australian cricket got a second ball duck in the first dig and had another bad case of the butterfingers in the field. Can he recover to bat Australia into a match-winning lead? We’re about to find out…
Day two was a rollercoaster. Strap yourself in and get prepped for day three with Geoff Lemon’s match report…
Preamble
What a Test we have here in Delhi between India and Australia! Evenly poised after two days, full of epic redemption stories, dappled with controversy and travelling at warp-speed.
Australia batted with gusto on day one for a strong 263, thanks to excellent knocks from the redoubtable Usman Khawaja and a reborn Peter Handscomb. India’s response on day two was rattled by Nathan Lyon’s resurgence. Chastened after his one wicket return in the first Test, “Gaz” rediscovered his mojo to take four wickets for eight runs in just 15 overs in the morning session.
And when Lyon bagged his five-for after lunch and debutant Matthew Kuhnemann sensationally removed Virat Kohli for 44, India collapsed to 139-7, still 126 runs behind with only three wickets in hand. But then this series took yet another amazing twist as India’s champion allrounders Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel counter-punched for a wonderful century stand.
The difference in these two innings over two days between two great nations in Test Two? ONE RUN! India 262. Australia 263.
Dead-level (almost), with 13 overs to survive and David Warner out of the match with concussion, Khawaja walked out with new opening partner Travis Head. Shockingly axed for Nagpur, out cheaply in the first innings and batting in an unfamiliar spot, Head had every right to be nervous. Instead he cut loose, smashing sixes and fours all round the ground. By stumps he was 39 not out, his critics were eating Delhi crow and Australia were 61-1 and back in front.
What brand of crazy beautiful Test cricket will day three deliver? We’re about to find out…
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