Rohit Sharma fails again in Adelaide (Source: AP)
Australia gained complete control over Team India by the close of second day’s play at the Adelaide Oval. Travis Head whacked his eighth Test century after Marnus Labuschagne’s cautious 64 to mount a huge lead for the hosts. The Australian pace trinity also worked its magic in the final session of the day by wrecking India’s top-order.
Here’s the timeline of how AUS vs IND panned out in Adelaide:
AUS vs IND Highlights: Bumrah Grabs Two Early Wickets, Labuschagne Gets To 50
Jasprit Bumrah nicked overnight Australian opener Nathan McSweeney (39) in just the fourth over of the day, shortly before trapping Steve Smith down the legside for two as Australia slipped to 103-3 within the opening hour. Marnus Labuschagne at number three, resuming his innings at 20*, meticulously carved a half-century, cracking 64 runs in all from 126 balls with nine regal boundaries.
Labuschagne’s 65-run partnership with Travis Head took Australia to the brink of India’s first innings total, but a sharp catch from Yashasvi Jaiswal off Nitish Kumar Reddy accounted for his downfall. Fighting off an injury to make it to Australia’s playing XI for the pink-ball event, all-rounder Mitchell Marsh was also dismissed early, albeit under bizarre circumstances to legendary Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin at 208-5.
AUS vs IND Highlights: Blazing Travis Head Ton Takes Australia Ahead By 157
Australian middle-order juggernaut Travis Head raged on from his end to tonk his eighth Test century, reaching the milestone figure in just 111 balls. Head launched four sixes and 17 boundaries in his enterprising knock of 140 at run-a-ball before getting castled by a fiery Mohammed Siraj.
Jasprit Bumrah and Siraj ran through the remainder of the batting order to roll up Australia for 337 in 87.3 overs, thus limiting India’s deficit to 157 runs after the hosts had raced to 282-5 at one stage of the day. Both Bumrah and Siraj claimed four wickets each in the innings, with the former’s 4-61 being the headline act of India’s bowling.
AUS vs IND Highlights: Cummins And Co. Wreck Indian Top-Order Before Stumps
Indian opener KL Rahul gloved one towards Australian wicketkeeper Alex Carey off Pat Cummins for just seven in the fourth over of the innings late on Day 2. Yashasvi Jaiswal cracked a few confident boundaries in his swift 24 before he was similarly trapped by Scott Boland at 42-2.
Virat Kohli at number four once again fell victim to a nagging fourth-stump line, this time to Boland as India’s second innings troubles worsened at 66-3. During the final moments of the day, Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins knocked over Shubman Gill (28 off 30) and Rohit Sharma (6 off 15) respectively as Australia inched towards a potential Test victory.
By stumps, Team India reached 128-5 in 24 overs to find themselves another 29 runs away from the hosts, with Rishabh Pant (28* off 25) and newcomer Nitish Kumar Reddy (15* off 14) occupying the crease.