The first day of the second Test at Adelaide began and ended on a good note for the Australians. Mitchell Starc dismissed Yashasvi Jaiswal, who somewhat ridiculed the Australian quickie by saying you’re bowling slow in the first Test, for a duck first ball of India vs Australia 2nd Test Day 1. While Starc was the tormentor by scalping six wickets and helping Australia bowl out India for 180, Nathan McSweeney and Marnus Labuschagne took the host to 86 for 1 after the early loss of Usman Khwaja.
Border-Gavaskar Trophy India vs Australia 2nd Test Day 1 Highlights
India skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bat on a pretty good batting surface at Adelaide Oval. The pink ball Test Match saw changes in the Indian XI that won the 1st Test at Perth. Rohit Sharma, who missed the first Test owing to the birth of his second child, came back, while ace spinner Ravichandran Ashwin replaced Washington Sundar. Shubhman Gill also came back to the XI. On the other hand, Australia made one change as Scott Boland came in place of Josh Hazlewood.
Starc Strikes First Ball, Yashasvi Departs for a Duck
Mitchell Starc set the stage on fire by trapping Yashavi Jaiswal on the first ball of the game. Jaiswal could not get his bat to a delivery that swung late. What a cracking start for Michell Starc and Australia. Shubhman Gill struck two back-to-back boundaries in that over. Gill continued to hit boundaries even as Starc was probing both him and KL Rahul, who was walking off after nicking an away-going delivery to the wicketkeeper Alex Carey, got a reprieve as Scott Boland overstepped.
Rahul continued to struggle with the pink ball darting around. He hit his first boundary off Starc in the India vs Australia 2nd Test Day 1 at Adelaide. Although the partnership fetched India 69 runs, Rahul never looked confident and was finally out for 34. The opener failed to get on top of the bounce as he edged it to Nathan McSweeney at gully.
Australia Scalp Two More Wickets in the First Session
Australia scalped two more wickets of Virat Kohli and Shubhman Gill to make the first session theirs. Virat, like in the first innings of the Perth Test Match, could not get his bat out in time and edged it to Steve Smith in the slip Cordon off Starc. Soon, Gill, who looked promising, was trapped leg before wicket by Scott Boland for 31. The first session of India vs Australia 2nd Test Day 1 saw visitors losing 4 wickets for 82 runs.
Rohit Sharma Out Early in Second Session of India vs Australia 2nd Test Day 1
Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant came out to bat in the second session to revive India. However, Boland trapped Rohit Sharma LBW for just 3, leaving India reeling at 87 for 5. In came Nitish Reddy and he along with Pant took India past 100 before the latter got a snorter from Pat Cummins that rose awkwardly to hit the shoulder of his bat and went to Marnus Labuschagne at wide gully. Pant scored 21.
Then followed a useful 32-run partnership between Nitish Reddy and Ravichandran Ashwin. Both looked confident while defending and playing strokes. However, Mitchell Starc bowled a yorker to which Ashwin could not bring his bat down in time and was found plumb. He hit a run-a-ball 22 with three fours. Starc knocked over Harshit Rana to register a fifer. India were looking down the barrel at 141 for 8.
Nitish Reddy Starts Slamming Aussie Bowlers
With wickets falling around, Nitish Reddy decided to take matters into his hands by slamming the Australian bowlers for fours and sixes. However, Jasprit Bumrah could not last long as he edged one off Pat Cummins to Usman Khwaja at first slip for a duck. Nitish Reddy, in an attempt to hit a six at long on, gave a high catch to Travis Head at mid-off off the bowling of Mitchell Starc, who claimed a 6-wicket haul. Nitish scored 42, hitting three fours and as many sixes. India were all out for 180.
India vs Australia 2nd Test Day 1, Session 3 – Khwaja Departs Early; McSweeney, Marnus Bat Out
Usman Khwaja started the proceedings with a boundary off Bumrah in the first over. However, Bumrah and Siraj continued to test McSweeney and Marnus with seam and swing. If not for a dropped catch by Pant off Bumrah, India would have got rid of McSweeney. However, Bumrah dismissed Khwaja soon as the Australian opener edged it to Rohit Sharma who dived to his right to take a catch in the slip cordon. Khwaja scored 13.
McSweeney and Marnus had to battle hard as the Indian bowlers extracted more seam movement than their Australian counterparts. However, they did not attack the stump much as Australia reached 86 for 1. Nathan McSweeney and Marnus Labuschagne remained unbeaten at 38 and 20, respectively.
