Sundar, Thakur gatecrash Australia's party with record century stand

Brief Scores: Australia 369 & 21/0 (David Warner 20*, Marcus Harris 1*) lead India 336 (Shardul Thakur 67, Washington Sundar 62; Josh Hazlewood 5/57) by 54 runs

Shardul Thakur (67) and Washington Sundar (62) came out of the syllabus to haunt Australia with an incredible 123-run partnership as India folded for 336 to concede a slender lead of 33. Their herculean rearguard retrieved India from a quagmire after the middle-order batsmen got their eye in only to throw the wickets away, mostly to Josh Hazlewood who extended his rich vein of form to ensnare a five-wicket haul. A flurry of boundaries from the under-fire David Warner then extended the lead to 54 as the hosts reached Stumps at 21 for no loss. 

STAT ALERT: 

-Washington Sundar's 62 is the highest score at number seven by any visiting debutant in Australia. 

-Washington Sundar became the second Indian player to hit a fifty and take three-plus wickets in his debut bowling innings after Dattu Phadkar (51 & 3/14 vs Aus, SCG, 1947/48)

-Washington Sundar and Shardul Thakur's 123-run partnership is India's highest seventh-wicket partnership for India in Tests at Gabba, and third-highest overall on Australian soil

Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane oversaw a steady accumulation of runs in the first hour of play, albeit with a slice of luck. While Rahane lived dangerously as a couple of thick outside edges bisected the slip cordon, Pujara survived a searing bouncer from Josh Hazlewood that popped off his glove but fell well short of gully. Impeccably compact in defence, the senior pros weren't afraid to roll out their shots when the opportunity presented itself. Pujara rod the bounce and freed his arms to cut Mitchell Starc eloquently behind point and Rahane was denied almost half-a-dozen boundaries owing to a soggy outfield. Having cruised to safer shores, India eyed consolidation when Pujara nicked Hazlewood behind to the typical away-seamer zeroing in on the fourth stump that has proved to be his undoing on a number of occasions in this series. That his bat came down at an inclined plane yet again didn't help the cause either.  

Though Pujara could be cut some slack given it was a special delivery that got the better of him, Rahane was guilty of flashing his blade at Starc's wide tempter to squander another propitious start. Tim Paine deserves the fair share of credit for persisting with the left-armer's over-the-wicket angle and manning the cordon further with a fourth slip, a vacancy which had helped Rahane escape those two pokes earlier in the day. 

Pencilled in into the middle-order, Mayank Agarwal looked completely at home against the softer, ragged ball and eased India's nerves heading into Lunch in company with Rishabh Pant. Mayank even launched Nathan Lyon into the stands for a gigantic maximum but stayed true to India's pattern of flattering to deceive as he went fishing outside the off-stump to depart for 38. Pant wasn't able to replicate his Sydney blitzkrieg either as he shot himself in the foot with an absurd steer to gully.

It seemed like India were dead and buried with the scoreboard reading sorry figures of 186-6, however, Shardul Thakur and Washington Sundar decided against raising the white flags. There were no half measures as Thakur pulled Cummins all the way to zip off the mark before showing the manufacturer's name with an artistic drive past mid-off. The rookies adhered to no-fuss, percentage cricket, offering due respect to the good balls while making sure anything loose that came their way was dispatched to the fence as India galloped into Tea at 253/6. 

The second new ball brought little respite to Australia as both Shardul and Sundar notched up their maiden half-centuries, the former with a thundering strike over long-on off Lyon. The drooping shoulders suggested that the Sundar-Thakur association had swept Australia off their feet as the deficit dwarfed below 100. It was this evident slump in body language that paved the way for mediocrity in the field with Tim Paine grassing a glove brush to reprieve Sundar on 45. Though the young southpaw hoisted Lyon over long-on for a no-look maximum, Paine's faux pas didn't cost the hosts dearly with India losing wickets in quick succession thereafter. Cummins knocked over the well-set Thakur while Hazlewood accounted for the quintessential tail-ender, Navdeep Saini. Running out of partners, Sundar farmed the strike for a brief while but erroneously guided Starc's lifter straight to gully to depart to a standing ovation. Siraj did flash his blade to garner some vital runs before Hazlewood struck timber to set the seal on his fifer.

Yet to make his mark since his return from injury, David Warner went hammer and tongs right from the outset as Mohammed Siraj was creamed for three consecutive boundaries in his second over. The match is delicately poised with India pretty much in the scheme of things. All thanks to the staunch yet swashbuckling Thakur and Sundar, who punched above their weight with the bat and will look forward to replicating the same with the ball tomorrow. 

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