Finance
On day 1 of the 2nd Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Friday, India captain Rohit Sharma and his deputy K.L. Rahul saw out the remaining nine overs to take the hosts to 21/0 in 9 overs and trail Australia by 242 runs at stumps.
Rohit and Rahul are not out on 13 and 4, respectively, after senior pacer Mohammed Shami took four wickets and the spin duo of off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja each took three wickets to restrict Australia to 263 in the first innings.
Usman Khawaja, who batted first for Australia after winning the toss, was precise in footwork and pristine in strokeplay to make 81, the first fifty by a visiting batter on the ongoing tour. Peter Handscomb looked impressive in his 72 not out. But losing wickets in back-to-back fashion thrice may come to hurt them later on.
In the first over, Rohit stood tall and punched past point off his Australian counterpart Pat Cummins. As Rohit and K.L. Rahul defended patiently, debutants Matthew Kuhnemann and Nathan Lyon found some extra bounce and turn. On the stroke of stumps, Rohit also got to overturn a ‘caught on forward short leg’ decision off Lyon.
Earlier in the morning, Australia survived a fiery opening spell from Mohammed Siraj to post a 50-run opening partnership. However, India recovered thanks to Ashwin, Jadeja, and Shami. In the first over, Shami had Warner lbw.
However, the left-handed batter immediately requested a review and was saved when replays revealed an inside edge. Khawaja, on the other hand, was the mark with a nice glance on an overpitched delivery off Mohammed Siraj. He then made use of fuller balls from Shami by hitting two boundaries through the vacant space in the off-side.
Ashwin’s bowling from around the wicket kept Warner on a tight leash. Despite using his feet to counter the ace off-spinner, Warner was befuddled as Ashwin found turn, bounce, and grip. He did, however, get off to a good start on his twenty-first delivery.
While Warner punched Siraj through the cover gap, Khawaja danced down the pitch to loft Ashwin over mid-off for six. Despite the fact that Shami and Siraj posed difficult questions to the openers, Khawaja and Warner managed to get a couple of boundaries as they built a 50-run partnership for the first wicket.
But Warner’s 44-ball vigil was cut short when Shami, who had come in from around the wicket, got the left-handed batter forward and found some movement to draw the outside edge and keeper KS Bharat took the catch to his left.
Khawaja excelled at sweeping as well as bringing the reverse-sweep and slog-sweep, taking boundaries away from Ashwin and Jadeja. Marnus Labuschagne started with a leaning drive off Shami, then whipped off Ashwin and swept off Jadeja.
However, Ashwin struck twice in three balls in the 23rd over. Ashwin got an off-break delivery to spin in and beat the right-inside hander’s edge, trapping him lbw in front of the middle stump.
He then finished the over by catching Smith with a slider, which the right-handed batter tried to meet by coming forward but gave Bharat a low catch behind. Khawaja got to overturn a lbw decision off Jadeja and hit fifty in the final over before lunch.
Travis Head started after lunch by slashing Shami through the gully for a boundary. He was patient against Ashwin, and when the off-spinner flew a fuller delivery in the 31st over, Head was quick to dance down the pitch and slam a six.
However, after seeing some width, Head flashed hard off Shami in the next over. But he nicked perfectly to second slip, who took the catch above his shoulder. Handscomb got the ball rolling by punching and driving off Shami for back-to-back boundaries.
When Jadeja arrived, Handscomb was quick to punch him through cover for a boundary, then cut past point for the same effect. Khawaja, on the other hand, used reverse sweep and ramp against Jadeja for back-to-back boundaries.
Khawaja was quick to tickle through fine leg when Axar Patel pitched it slower down leg. He then used the reverse sweep on Jadeja once more. Khawaja shaped himself for a reverse sweep, only to see K.L. Rahul dive full length to his right to take a stunning one-handed catch. It was Jadeja’s 250th Test wicket, leaving Khawaja stunned and on his knees.
In the next over, Ashwin struck from the round-the-wicket angle, with a fetching turn and bounce that caused Alex Carey’s shoulder edge to slip. But Cummins chose to go on the offensive, slamming a pair of slog-sweep sixes off Ashwin over the deep mid-wicket stand. He would then glance and flick off Siraj for back-to-back boundaries to take Australia safely to tea.
Australia reached 200 in 59.4 overs to start the final session. Peter Handscomb began by guiding past slip for a boundary using the pace of Axar Patel’s delivery. Handscomb was quick to go on the backfoot and punch past the backward point when Jadeja pitched outside the off-stump.
Following Handscomb’s fifty in 110 balls, Jadeja ended the 59-run stand by trapping Cummins lbw, with the Australian captain burning a review. Jadeja castled Todd Murphy through the gate two balls later.
Lyon was hilarious in punching and driving Shami away. The pacer, however, had the last laugh, sending Lyon’s off-stump cartwheeling. On 67, Jadeja had Handscomb caught, but replays showed he overstepped and was called out.
Handscomb slog-swept Jadeja over deep square leg on the next ball for a sumptuous boundary. Shami ended Australia’s innings in the next over by dismissing debutant Kuhnemann.
Brief scores: Australia 263 in 78.4 overs (Usman Khawaja 81, Peter Handscomb 72 not out; Mohammed Shami 4-60, Ravichandran Ashwin 3-57) lead India 21/0 in 9 overs (Rohit Sharma 13 not out) by 242 runs.
Source:OCN
