• Home
  • Cricket News
  • Aus Vs Ind Tim Paine Rapt With Australian Bowling Performance On Day 3

AUS vs IND: Tim Paine 'rapt' with Australian bowling performance on day 3

Onecricket


At the end of the second day’s play, Australia were behind in the game, not only by conceding a lead of 53 runs but also due to lacking momentum as the Virat Kohli-led Indian side was surging ahead. Barring the period when Tim Paine was guiding his bowlers, who were functioning as his batting partners in the latter part of the day’s play, both Virat Kohli, the captain, and his bowlers kept on asking uncomfortable questions to the home batsmen. No one other than Tim Paine looked fluent enough to counter-attack the consistently attacking Indian bowling line up. 

When Australian were walking off the field after the end of the day’s play, Paine would have worried that his record of facing defeats at the hands of India could get worse.

All was riding on the shoulders of their bowlers to bring the hosts back in the game like their Indian counterparts had done on that day and avenge the loss of reputation they faced in the last series when they were deflated by a never-tired Chesteshwar Pujara.

It’s an old argument that when bowlers try too hard to make things happen, they can’t commit to line and lengths to trouble the batsmen over an extended period of time. But, Tim Paine was aware of the competence of his bowling attack which almost handed him the honour of winning an away Ashes series only last year. He expected bowlers to bring the team back at the front in the game and his bowlers vindicated him by blowing the Indian batting order away as soon as play began on the third day.

"I know we were behind by a few runs after the first innings but there was a calmness amongst us. I can probably speak for the bowling group in saying that we thrive on those situations when we're a little bit behind and it's up to us to change the momentum of the game, and that's what we did today," Paine said in the post-match press conference.

The current Aussie captain has rated the Indian bowling attack very highly and hence had expected a ‘dogfight’ that would drag the game towards day four and day five, but at the same time, he had immense faith in the quality of his bowling line up as well. Pat Cummins was up to the task as the Aussies eliminated a threat that could have irritated them in the form of night-watchman Jasprit Bumrah, and followed it up with a peach of a delivery to eliminate Pujara who was the biggest thorn in their flesh last time around. With Pujara out on duck, the pressure was right back on the Indian team and they could not come back from this position as Josh Hazlewood produced unplayable deliveries, one after another to leave the tourists in tatters. 

Virat Kohli tried to combat those deliveries by showing ‘intent’ as he tried to transfer a bit of pressure but his chief nemesis in the Australian side - Pat Cummins - got him edging to gully, and with him faded every hope of their resurgence.

"To hang in to give our bowlers a chance to have a little crack under lights last night, then to have Pat start the day like he did, and Josh Hazlewood from his very first ball was just on. When you are as tall and quick as our boys and they get it right, it can be an absolute nightmare. Full credit to our bowling attack again. I said this morning that I thought both these attacks have the ability to take really quick wickets - I didn't think they'd be coming that quick. We were expecting a real dogfight right to the end -late day four and maybe day five - but it shows the talent we've got with the ball when our boys execute. If there's anything in the wicket that's what can happen," Paine said of the bowling performance in the morning session of the third day.

Not only did the Australians snatch victory when the match was seemingly going away from them, but they also saw Joe Burns coming near his best, albeit against a bowling line up that clearly looked jaded and deflated after a debacle with the bat from their teammates. Burns was personally backed by both Paine and the coach Justin Langer to come good in Adelaide and while he failed to capitalise on that trust in the first innings, a distraught bowling attack was the best thing he could have hoped for while battling for form. Burns hit a fifty he needed badly to reclaim a bit of confidence and also to safeguard his batting position going ahead in the series

"Burnsey is a really important part of our team, all cricketers know how hard it is when going through a run like that. To come out in Test cricket and try and find your way out of it, it's a very difficult place to be, so we are thrilled for Burnsey. Fifty not out will do his confidence a world of good," Paine sounded relieved after Burns’ revival to form or at least a glimpse of it.

Australia have taken a much-needed lead in the Border-Gavaskar trophy and with Virat Kohli returning to India for his paternity leave, the well-oiled bowling attack would be relishing the prospect of facing an inexperienced Indian batting line-up, with only Chesteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane being the experienced foes remaining in the batting order for the second test, starting December 26 at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).





Powered by Froala Editor

Powered by Froala Editor

Discover more

Top Stories
news

Match Preview: Strikers look to overcome batting worries against Sixers

The Sydney Sixers are flying high after their magnificent win over Melbourne Renegades. They are very likely to find a tougher challenge when they take on Adelaide Strikers at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart on Sunday. Strikers, on their part, are also not looking bad, having won their previous match against Hobart Hurricanes, a team which was riding the crest of three wins on a trot. So, it should be an interesting contest with both teams looking to sustain their momentum. Sixers on Top The performace by the Sydney team in their last game couldn't have been more perfect. First their batsmen put on 205 and then the bowlers bundled the opposition out for 60. The batting is looking very solid for the Sixers with many batsmen seeming to be in good nick. Opener Josh Philippe smashed a near ton in the last game while his partner Jack Edwards also had a good knock in the first game. Englishman James Vince already has a half-century under his belt, continuing his good showing in Big Bash cricket. Daniel Hughes and Jordan Silk, especially the latter, also batted well in the match against the Renegades, providing further confidence to the batting unit. The fact that Daniel Christian and Carlos Brathwaite are batting below would make bowlers wary of this batting unit. The bowling shone radiantly in the last game with Ben Dwarshuis leading the way with four wickets. He received great support from Steve O'Keefe who opened the bowling. This means that the team is well endowed for both spin-friendly and pace-friendly wickets. Benjamin Manenti has also been decent with his efforts. The big question is whether Jason Holder would be brought in since he is now available. He would be a very handy option both with the bat and ball and may force Christian or Brathwaite to make way for him. Strikers Have Batting Issues Peter Siddle has grabbed the headlines with his five-for in the last game. But he is not the only one doing his job well. Young Wes Agar has also been on mark. Rashid Khan is yet to make the big impact expected of him. But he won't be like that for long. Sooner or later, his quality will bring about a good performance. In the batting department, Alex Carey's innings in the last game would give some confidence to the Adelaide team but the rest of the batting line-up hasn't fired that much. Opener Jake Weatherland showed form with a half-century also but his partner Phil Salt needs a score. Strikers need somebody to step up and get a big score. Phil Salt and Jonathan Wells are quality players who will be expected to do that. Sixers vs Strikers: Match Details Venue: Bellerive Oval, Hobart Date and Time: December 20, 1:45 PM IST, 7:15 PM Local, 8:15 AM GMT Pitch Report So far, batting hasn't been that difficult in Hobart. Despite the venue's reputation for helping swing bowlers, scores over 150 have been common. So, one can expect another high-scoring game. Weather and Toss Some rain is expected in the area during daytime. This also means there could be cloud cover. In Test matches, such conditions may translate into good bowling conditions but that is not likely to be the case tomorrow. Batting first or chasing will depend more on the specific strengths of the team and the comfort level of their batsmen. Probable XIs Sixers: Josh Philippe (Wk), Jack Edwards, James Vince, Daniel Hughes (C), Jordan Silk, Jason Holder, Carlos Brathwaite, Ben Dwarshuis, Steve O'Keefe, Benjamin Manenti, Thomas Rogers Strikers: Phil Salt, Jack Weatherald, Matt Renshaw, Alex Carey, Jonathan Wells, Matthew Short, Harry Conway, Rashid Khan, Daniel Worrall, Wes Agar, Peter Siddle

news

AUS vs IND: Hazlewood leads Australia's rout of India to lowest total in Tests

India were restricted to their lowest score in an innings of a test match in their long history of test cricket. They were restricted to 36/9 as Mohammed Shami was retired hurt after taking a blow on his right wrist from Pat Cummins and could not bat while in pain from that blow. The batting order was turned into a shambles as they beat the historical grim figure of 42 which they had registered in 1974 in the playing days of Sunil Gavaskar. It all began with the wicket of Jasprit Bumrah who was promoted as a night watchman and it started mayhem that ended only with the complete collapse of the tall batting order that had promised to be along stronger and tighter in techniques. Australian bowlers were on the money and found the devastating fuller lengths straightway and Pujara was the first man to go among the specialist batsmen. Cummins was looking threatening from his first spell on day 2 and he made Pujara rooted to the crease and playing for a ball that looked like coming into him with the angle. Turned out, the ball seamed away after pitching and took Pujara’s edge to Paine behind the stumps. Josh Hazlewood was brought in as the first change and he proved to be the most lethal weapon the Australians had in the store for the Indian batting line up. He struck twice in his very first over and sent both Mayank Agarwal and Ajinkya Rahane packing to the pavilion. Both the batsmen were caught rooted to the crease and Hazlewood, as he always does, was on the mark with fuller length and ball jagged away to take the edge of the bats. From 15/2, India went 15/4 in a matter of balls and then it was resting on Virat Kohli’s shoulders’ to lift the team from the hole they found themselves in. But, it was not to be as Kohli looked to get amongst the Aussies and drove a ball that he should have left keeping in mind the situation of the game. An outside edge was snaffled by Cameron Green in the gully after a brief fumble. Hazlewood returned with another over where he took two wickets and this time it was Wriddhiman Saha and Ravichandran Ashwin to go back to the pavilion on consecutive deliveries. Although Umesh Yadav denied him a hattrick, the pacer returned in the next over to produce yet another unplayable delivery to Hanuma Vihari and collected a much deserving fifer that turned the game on its head on the morning of day 3. His bowling spell read 5-3-8-5 and it emphasized the annihilation he along with fellow pacemen has carried out on the Indian batting line up.