Border-Gavaskar Trophy: Head hurts India again
Australia rode Travis Head’s blistering 140 to post 337 and reduced India to 128/5 to stay on course for a series-levelling victory in the Day-Night second Test on Saturday.
Head smashed a swashbuckling hundred to fetch Australia a first innings lead of 157 at his home ground the Adelaide Oval.
Australia’s pace battery further consolidated their position by blowing away the top half of India’s batting order with the pink ball.
Siraj’s send-off
Australia batter Travis Head said he was disappointed with his reaction for the on-field confrontation with India pacer Mohammed Siraj. Siraj gave a fiery send-off to Head. “I actually jokingly said ‘well bowled’ and then he pointed me to go to the shades. I had my reaction as well but I would not like to give it too much airtime,” Head said. “I was surprised at the reaction in terms of the situation of the game and there was no confrontation leading up to it. I’m disappointed in the reaction that I gave back but I’m also going to stand up for myself.”
Bumrah fine: Morkel
India had an injury scare when Jasprit Bumrah appeared to grab his adductor muscle while bowling but bowling coach Morne Morkel assured that it was just a cramp.
Rishabh Pant led India’s fightback with an entertaining 28 not out with Nitish Kumar Reddy on 15 at the other side and 29 in the arrears.
Earlier, after Australia resumed on 86/1, Jasprit Bumrah (4/61) ensured the tourists did not have to wait long for a breakthrough. Opener Nathan McSweeney, playing only his second Test, added just one run to his overnight score before edging Bumrah behind for 39.
The crafty seamer also dismissed Steve Smith for two, strangling the out-of-form batter down the leg side with wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant taking a diving catch.
Marnus Labuschagne (64) kept his head down and collected runs without courting risks en route to only his second half-century in his last 11 Test innings.
Head, coming in at the other end, was more assertive and hit off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin over the mid-off ropes for his second boundary.
Reddy broke their 65-run stand when Labuschagne cut him to gully where Yashasvi Jaiswal took a sharp catch.
Head could not be contained, though, and the left-hander continued to play his shots on his way to a 63-ball fifty.
Mitchell Marsh fell caught behind to Ashwin even though replays showed no bat-ball contact and the batter did not challenge the decision.
Head continued to cut and pull with abandon and also had his share of luck. One of his edges flew between wicketkeeper and first slip and, on another occasion, Mohammed Siraj could not hold on to a tough catch in the deep.
Head took a single off Ashwin to bring up his hundred before gesturing to his wife, daughter and newborn son in the stands.
Siraj (4/98) finally stopped the batting carnage, bowling him with a yorker.
“When they’ve got the quality of quicks that they’ve got, I guess you’ve got to target something,” Head said, explaining why he targeted Ashwin, India’s lone spinner.
“I felt like I navigated through his spells really, really well, and was able to get the quicks back at certain stages into that new ball.”
India did not start well in their second innings when they came out to bat.
Pat Cummins dismissed KL Rahul (seven) caught behind with a steepling delivery, which the opener could only glove to Alex Carey.
Scott Boland struck with his first ball, dismissing Jaiswal, also caught behind, for 24 just when the batter was looking dangerous. A subdued Virat Kohli, who made 11, also fell to Boland in similar fashion. Shubman Gill made a fluent 28 before he had his stumps rearranged by Mitchell Starc, while Cummins bowled counterpart Rohit Sharma (six) to leave India reeling.
Pant played a couple of outrageous shots — sending the ball to the rope while tumbling himself — much to the amusement of the 51,642 fans.
It was a tough wicket to bat on and at certain stages, they bowled really well. Nice to take my luck where I got it and put the guys in a really good position fast-forwarding the score. At the moment, the game’s got moving pretty quickly, but feels like we’re in a great position. Travis Head
65.60
Head’s batting average against India in Tests since 2023. He has accumulated 656 runs in 11 innings against India, with two centuries and two fifties. In contrast, against other opponents in the same period, he scored 701 runs in 23 innings at an average of 30.47, with a century and four fifties
11.83
Rohit Sharma’s batting average in Tests for the 2024-25 season is the second lowest for a captain in a Test season with a minimum of 10 innings while batting in the top-six. Rohit has been dismissed for a single digit in eight out of 12 innings this season, the joint second-most for a captain
Shami to play last 2 Tests of Australia series
New Delhi: Senior India speedster Mohammed Shami is set to compete in the last two Tests of the ongoing series against Australia. While the Brisbane Test (from December 14) could be touch and go for the Bengal veteran, it is a foregone conclusion that he will be seen in Melbourne on Boxing Day (December 26) in the fourth Test. A source close to the cricketer said that the NCA “fitness certificate” will come very soon. “Shami’s India kit has already been dispatched to Australia. He will complete Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 assignment and then leave,” the source said.
