 "Travis Head blows away India as Australia inch closer to series-leveling win in Adelaide pink-ball Test")
Travis Head led from the front with a magnificent century at his home ground while skipper Pat Cummins and Scott Boland grabbed a couple of wickets each as Australia thoroughly dominated India on Day 2 of the pink-ball Test in Adelaide. Head’s knock of 140, scored at nearly run-a-ball, proved to be the difference between the two sides in the second of five Tests as Australia posted 337 on the board, collecting a 157-run first innings lead.
Cummins and Boland’s twin-strikes along with Mitchell Starc’s removal of Shubman Gill then resulted in India losing five wickets in the evening session and ending the day on 128/5, trailing by another 29 runs and staring at the prospect of a series-leveling defeat inside three days at the Adelaide Oval.
Rishabh Pant was still batting on 28 off 25 balls with all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy (15 not out off 14 balls) for company, while captain Rohit Sharma (6) and Virat Kohli (11) were dismissed for low scores for the second time in as many days.
Indian batters crumble yet again
India lost KL Rahul (7) early in their second innings and Yashasvi Jaiswal (24) was done in by a peach of a delivery from Boland, who again struck with his first delivery that had a hint of late movement.
Boland then had Kohli (11) caught behind after he got one to land right in the channel which has been troubling the Indian batting mainstay for a while now.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsCASTLED!
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 7, 2024
Mitch Starc gets some "banana swing" to make a mess of Shubman Gill's stumps 🍌#DeliveredWithSpeed | @NBN_Australia | #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/sP41huXm4F
To make matters worse for the visitors, Starc knocked down Shubman Gill’s (28) middle stump with his late in-swing doing the damage to leave India at 86 for four in front of a record crowd of over 50,000.
However, unperturbed by the Australian inroads, Pant looked to be batting in a universe of his own and played some outrageous shots against the fast bowlers, leaving everyone stunned.
Least bothered by the fact that India were three down with not enough on the board, Pant danced down the track first ball and smashed Boland over mid-off for a boundary, and he maintained that audacious approach until the umpires called stumps.
Head continues to shine against India
Earlier, Head continued to be a thorn in India’s flesh with yet another magnificent knock that powered Australia’s response after bowling out India for 180.
Head, who got off the mark with a cracking boundary off Jasprit Bumrah (4/61), got a reprieve on 76 as Mohammed Siraj failed to complete the catch despite getting both hands to it after the batter tried to slog-sweep R Ashwin, having just smashed his third six against the off-spinner.
Amid the rejoicing around Head’s century, Siraj (4/98) was rewarded for his discipline as he had Alex Carey caught (15) behind following a faint outside edge with Australia’s lead crossing 100.
Desperate to prevent Australia from adding to that advantage, India took the second new ball the moment it was made available to them, and their lead pacer Bumrah too was brought back into the attack.
Bumrah, however, pulled his adductor muscle as the physio attended to him. Fortunately for India, Bumrah was up on his feet quickly and ready to bowl again, even as Head flicked him for two boundaries in between.
During his knock, Head played some incredible shots, including a pick-up six over Siraj over deep square leg, but the pacer had the last laugh as he brought his innings to an end when he cleaned him up with a yorker.
That's for baby Harrison!
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 7, 2024
Another home-town ton for Travis Head! #AUSvIND | #PlayOfTheDay | @nrmainsurance pic.twitter.com/u4s6nV62RZ
In all, Head struck 17 fours and four sixes.
Earlier, skipper Rohit giving his strike bowler Bumrah only four overs in the first session seemed odd, and so were some of his field placements.
Then, in another surprising move, he started the proceedings after tea with Ashwin instead of the fast bowlers.
Luck, though, was with Ashwin as Mitchell Marsh decided to walk off despite a half-baked appeal by the Indian team.
Seeing Marsh heading in the direction of the dressing room, Richard Illingworth raised his finger too, but replays clearly showed there was a gap between bat and pad.
Head, though, went about his task in the manner he does best — dictating the terms to the bowlers with his free-flowing strokes.
None of the Indian bowlers, including Bumrah, looked like they could cause problems for Head.
Brief Scores:
India 180 and 128/5 in 24 overs (Rishabh Pant 28*, Shubman Gill 28; Pat Cummins 2/33, Scott Boland 2/39) trail Australia 337 in 87.3 overs (Travis Head 140, Marnus Labuschagne 64; Jasprit Bumrah 4/61, Mohammed Siraj 4/98) by 29 runs.
_With PTI inputs
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