India 150 and 172 for 0 (Jaiswal 90*, Rahul 62*) advantage Australia 104 (Bumrah 5-30, Rana 3-48) for 218 runs
Jaiswal approached a brilliant century and finished 90 not out, while a determined Rahul was unbeaten on 62 as India reached stumps at 172 for 0 with a lead of 218 runs.
A remarkable 17 wickets fell on a crazy opening day, but there were long periods of attrition on the second day that produced just three wickets. It was a return to some normality, as a crowd of 32,368 sometimes resorted to waves and Mexican chants for entertainment.
India did not mind playing at a leisurely pace. Jaiswal reached his half-century off 123 balls, the slowest 50 of his short Test career, and Rahul recorded his off 124 deliveries. The unbroken partnership has surpassed the first innings totals of either team.
After an improbable 46-run first innings lead, the fifth-highest for any team that scores 150 or less while batting first, India’s position in the series opener has strengthened considerably as Jaiswal and Rahul batted for two sessions.
Jaiswal left the ball well and looked compact in defense. He had learned his lesson from the first innings and made sure not to put too much pressure on the ball. There was trademark aggression, such as when he hooked Cummins over the slips and hit Starc over deep square leg, but he mostly deployed textbook punches through the sheets and along the ground. At the end of the day he jumped at Nathan Lyon to send him into the stands for a long time.
Australia’s pace attack was unable to replicate its brilliant opening day performance. Perhaps feeling tired of having to retreat so quickly, Australia looked helpless on terrain that seemed to flatten amid sunny conditions. There was still some movement on the surface and occasional inconsistent bounces, but conditions were more benign.
Australia, however, were conservative at times, with fielders in the deep underlining Jaiswal’s dominance, while seven bowlers were used with Marnus Labuschagne unsuccessfully deploying his much-hyped short-ball strategy.
As in India’s first innings, Cummins once again looked slightly weakened in his first red-ball match since the Test tour of New Zealand in March. He closed with figures of 0 for 44 from 13 overs.
Australia did not take their chances and Jaiswal had a chance on 51 when he edged Starc only for Usman Khawaja to drop a difficult chance from deep at first slip. A chance was missed on the next delivery when Rahul backed off too far, but the openers regrouped to continue India’s remarkable turnaround.
When the game started, there was a slim chance that the match would end within two days. Bumrah continued to speed things up with a wicket on his first delivery of the morning as he edged the in-form Alex Carey for 21.
Bumrah’s length and movement off the wicket was a constant threat as he threatened almost every delivery. But it was debutant Harshit Rana who was rewarded for his hostile spell when he dismissed Lyon with a powerful rebound that caught the glove and rocketed into the stands.
At 79 for 9, Australia were in danger of being eliminated for their lowest score against India and surpassing their infamous 83 at the MCG in 1981.
But Starc, who after the first day’s play had declared that the field was not as difficult to bat as the score suggested, held on and found a willing ally in Hazlewood. They made 26, the highest partnership of the innings, in 18 overs for the last wicket.
Starc had to withstand a barrage of short deliveries from Rana as the former Kolkata Knight Riders teammates engaged in a war of words. There was mock applause from the stands as Australia reached 100, a milestone that looked unlikely for much of their innings.
Debutant Nitish Kumar Reddy and offspinner Washington Sundar, who was surprisingly included over veterans R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, came into the attack and bowled steadily during the first period of quiet play in the match. They failed to make a breakthrough as a frustrated India appeared to have to reflect on their approach during the lunch break.
But just before the interval, Starc lost his battle with Rana as he tamely holed out to end a fighting shot. He top-scored with 26 off 112 balls, more than double the next-most deliveries faced of 52 by Labuschagne.
Tristan Lavalette is a journalist based in Perth.
