AUS vs IND, 2nd Test, Day 2: Travis Head’s hundred (140) put India on backfoot. India at 128-5 at the stumps on Day 2 of pink-ball test.
Brief Score: IND 180 & 128/5 (R Pant 28, S Gill 28, P Cummins 2/33) trail AUS 337 (T Head 140, M Labuschagne 64, J Bumrah 4/61) by 29 runs.
The second day of the Adelaide Test was also dominated by the hosts, who earlier had a terrific opening day. Resuming Day 2 from 86/1, Australia started on a good note but then lost some wickets. However, Travis Head‘s massive knock of 140 helped them take a 157-run lead. Four-wicket hauls from Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj helped India bundle out Australia for 337.
India trailed by 29 runs with five wickets left in their second innings. The Australian pace trio of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, and Scott Boland continued their good work to put the hosts in control at stumps on Day 2 at the Adelaide Oval.
Talking Point: Poor batting display from India continues
India has been facing a significant challenge in their batting department, with a noticeable decline in performance particularly among the senior batters. Star batter Virat Kohli once again failed to deliver a strong innings. Kohli’s off-side challenges continued as a nagging Scott Boland caught him behind. However, the most worrying signs were of captain Rohit Sharma who fell for another single-digit score.
Rohit played down the wrong line as Pat Cummins got in an inch-perfect delivery. The ball held its line and snuck in through Rohit’s bat and pads to rattle the stumps. The opening batter KL Rahul also departed cheaply on a sharp bouncer from Cummins in the second innings. The ongoing poor batting display from India, especially from the senior batters, highlights a critical area of concern for the team.
Read More: AUS vs IND, 2nd Test, Day 1: Starc’s pink-ball heroics skittles India to 180; Aus 86-1 at stumps
Travis Head steers Australia into an 11-run lead at the end of the first session
Marnus Labuschagne gets back in the runs, while Jasprit Bumrah wastes no time getting into his work, picking up the wickets of Nathan McSweeney and Steven Smith in the first session. Marnus scored a fighting 63 and has forged two quality partnerships. He added a cautious 67 runs for the second wicket with McSweeney (39) and a breezy 65-run stand for the fourth wicket with Travis Head.
Meanwhile, Head reached his half-century in just 63 balls. However, late in the first session Nitish Kumar Reddy relieved some pressure off India with the big wicket of Marnus. Australia led India by 11 runs scoring 191/4 at the end of the first session.
Siraj ended Travis Head’s fiery innings, Australia’s score read 332/8 at dinner
Stylish Travis Head dazzled with a sensational century, propelling Australia to a commanding position. Head attacked from the outset, blasting two sixes off Ravichandran Ashwin to bring up a 63-ball half-century. Riding his luck after being dropped on 76, he raced to his eighth Test century in style. The southpaw eventually fell short of 150, getting bowled by Mohammed Siraj and the two had an intense exchange of words. Head blasted 140 in 141 balls as the hosts ended the second session with a lead of 152 runs. Soon, Jasprit Bumrah swiftly claimed his fourth wicket of the day by removing Australia captain Pat Cummins for 12. Earlier, Ashwin bounced back in style after the DRS blunder and gave India the precious wicket of Mitchell Marsh.
Read More: BGT 2024-25: Statistical Highlights of D/N Tests played at Adelaide Oval
Australia is all-out for 337; India suffers a hapless batting collapse, and ends the day at 128/5
After getting booed in the final stages of the second session, Mohammed Siraj came back in to wrap up the Australian innings in quick time. On the first delivery of the third session, Siraj struck and dismissed Mitchell Starc for 18. He cleaned up the last two Aussie wickets within the first three overs of the last session. The hosts eventually folded for 337 with a 157-run lead.
For India, Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul started the proceedings to form a strong opening partnership.
However, both the openers failed to score big in the second innings. Pat Cummins provided Australia with their first breakthrough as he dismissed Rahul for 7. Whereas, Jaiswal and Virat Kohli became the victims of Scott Boland.
For the hosts, Mitchell Starc kept picking up wickets with the pink ball. He bowled an absolute peach to bamboozle Shubman Gill. Starc executed an inswinging delivery that slipped through the gap between Gill’s bat and pad, striking his middle stump. Another perfect beauty from Pat Cummins which nipped back in to hit the top of off-stump sent Rohit Sharma back.
Statistical Highlights from Australia vs India, 2nd Test, Day 2
- Steven Smith was dismissed for the third time by Jasprit Bumrah in Tests., and for the second time in BGT 2024-25.
- Marnus Labuschagne registered his fifth 50+ score against India in Tests.
- Travis Head registered his second Test century against India.
- Travis Head now has the second-most hundreds (3) in D/N Tests. Marnus Labuschagne has the most with 4.
- Travis Head’s 140(141) is the third-fastest completed innings of 100+ for Australia against India in Tests. His strike rate stood at 99.29.
- Rohit Sharma was dismissed for the fifth time by Pat Cummins in Tests.
- Virat Kohli was dismissed for the second time by Scott Boland in Tests.
Read More: BGT 2024-25: Bumrah bowled with brilliance & captained with craft in Perth
What’s next
Rishabh Pant (28) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (15) are in the middle and will start the third day for India. The duo will look to score big and put on a fightable total on board. Meanwhile, Australia will look to end India’s innings as soon as possible.
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