 "IND vs AUS: Steve Smith, Travis Head centuries propel Australia to 405/7 on Day 2 of Brisbane Test")
IND vs AUS 3rd Test Day 2 report: Australia put themselves in a strong position on Day 2 of the third Test against India in Brisbane on Sunday, posting a total of 405/7 at stumps. Mitchell Starc (7*) and Alex Carey (45*) were the unbeaten batters.
Jasprit Bumrah, who registered figures of 5/72, removed openers Usman Khawaja and Nathan McSweeney early. Nitish Kumar Reddy also got a wicket in the first session after he saw off Marnus Labuschagne. Centurions Steve Smith (101) and Travis Head (152) shared 241 runs for the fourth wicket.
Leaving Bumrah’s brilliance aside, India’s on-field tactics left a lot to be desired as Head played yet another game changing knock. Head’s hundred came after a match-winning 140 in Adelaide while it was a classical Test match knock for Smith, who reached three figures for the first time in 25 innings, silencing his detractors.
Jasprit Bumrah gets Travis Head to bring up his fifth wicket! #AUSvIND | #MilestoneMoment | @nrmainsurance pic.twitter.com/2QGUazarZP
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 15, 2024
While reaching their personal milestones, Smith now is the international batter with joint most Test hundreds (10) against India alongside Joe Root followed by Sir Vivian Richards and Sir Garfield Sobers (8 each).
Impact Shorts
View AllHead, since his century in WTC final at the Oval in 2023 has been India’s nemesis with another classic ton in ODI World Cup final and two more in the current series. No player in last one year has scored more runs against India across formats.
Poor tactical calls
The field placements in early part of Head’s innings were questionable with India having a deep point and deep square leg, allowing the explosive batter to pace his innings with singles and doubles earned through cuts and whips off legs.
The short balls were finally attempted when Head was well set and he duly put them away with disdain but Rohit Sharma not playing a third man for his ramp shot looked a bit odd. It was more of reactive captaincy from Rohit rather than being pro-active.
His special effort included 18 boundaries. Even after tea, too many runs were conceded with Ravindra Jadeja (0/76 in 16 overs) and Nitish Reddy (1/65 in 13 overs) opening the bowling as Rohit Sharma chose to preserve his frontline pacers for the new ball.
Smith’s hundred too was of high quality. He preferred to grind it out in the first half of his innings before gaining the confidence to go for his strokes. He changed his stance for the third time in as many Tests by reverting to his exaggerated shuffle across the stumps and that ended up paying rich dividends. The hands were moving well, which has always been integral to his game.
One bowler, who should consider himself unlucky is Akash Deep who repeatedly beat Smith’s outside edge without much success. In the morning, Bumrah extended his dominance over the Australian openers before Reddy got into the act to leave the visitors at 104 for three at lunch.
Despite the pressure exerted by the Indian pacer, Australia were able to muster 76 runs in the session. With the majority of day one lost due to rain, play started half an hour earlier than scheduled time and it did not take long for Bumrah what he has done thus far in the series.
Resuming at 28 for no loss, Australia lost Usman Khawaja (21 off 54) in the fourth over of the day when Bumrah had him caught behind with a ball that straightened slightly to take a faint outside edge. It was the third time Bumrah had got rid of the left-handed opener in the series.
In the following over, Bumrah sent back Nathan McSweeney (9 off 49) for the fourth time in three Tests, drawing a thick outside edge from an angle that travelled fast to Virat Kohli at second slip. India were able to maintain pressure after the early breakthroughs with under pressure Smith and Marnus Labuschagne (12 off 55) looking to occupy the crease.
Akash and Siraj did a pose a few questions to both Smith and Labuschagne but could not get the desired results. Reddy, who got the ball to swing, ended Labuschagne’’s vigil in the 34th over of the innings. The India all-rounder drew the Australian number three to drive off a full ball and Labuschagne took the bait only to be caught by Kohli at second slip, leaving Australia at 75 for three.
Just moments after making his hundred, Steve Smith was dismissed by Jasprit Bumrah. #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/i0sky2vYl5
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 15, 2024
Two overs later, there was a major scare in the Indian camp as Siraj walked off the field after feeling discomfort in his left leg in the middle of his over. He was seen holding his left knee but returned to the field much to India’s relief.
The injury scare came after Siraj and Labuschagne shared a light moment as the Indian pacer walked towards the batter to swap the bails only for them to be swapped back. Rain is predicted for the next three days and is likely to impact the outcome of the game controlled by Australia at the moment.
IND vs AUS 3rd Test Day 2 Highlights: Indian pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Nitish Kumar Reddy dismissed Australia’s top-order consisting of Usman Khawaja, Nathan McSweeney and Marnus Labuschagne on Day 2 of the third Test in Brisbane on Sunday.
Australia resumed from their overnight score of 28/0 from Day 1, when only 13.2 overs were bowled before rain eventually played spoilsport. Jasprit Bumrah removed openers Usman Khawaja (21) and Nathan McSweeney (9) early on Day 2, before Nitish Kumar Reddy saw off Marnus Labuschagne (12). At the time of writing this report, Australia were 95/3 in 38.3 overs with Steve Smith (23*) and Travis Head (15*) unbeaten.
IND vs AUS | Why India chose Jadeja and Akash Deep over Ashwin and Harshit Rana
The five-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test series, which is part of the 2023-25 World Test Championship (WTC) cycle, is currently tied at 1-1. India had won the first Test in Perth by 295 runs whereas Australia emerged victorious in the second Test in Adelaide by 10 wickets.
IND vs AUS, The Gabba weather forecast
According to Weather.com, chances of rain in Brisbane on Sunday is very minimal. The day’s play started on time on Sunday after several overs were lost on Saturday. According to Weather.com, there’s just a six per cent chance of rain on Sunday, which means we could see just minor interruptions due to drizzle and not major interruptions due to heavy rain. We should still witness a whole day’s play on Sunday even if there are interruptions due to rain.
IND vs AUS 3rd Test playing XI
Australia playing XI: Usman Khawaja, Nathan McSweeney, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey(w), Pat Cummins(c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood.
India playing XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant(w), Rohit Sharma(c), Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep.
With PTI inputs
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