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Australia cruelled by wasted starts with the bat

10th December, 2018
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10th December, 2018
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A litany of wasted starts by the Australian batsmen was at the heart of their loss to India in the first Test in Adelaide.

This was a poor batting performance overall by Australia yet not of the collapse-heavy type we’ve become accustomed to in recent years.

Australia were not blown away in either innings – they batted for nearly 100 overs in the first dig and then 118 overs the second time around.

What cruelled Australia was the fact six members of their top seven made good starts – only Aaron Finch failed twice – yet none of them went on to make a match-defining score.

The difference between the teams, in the end, lay with Cheteshwar Pujara the only batsman in the Test who played such a knock with his pivotal 123 in the first innings.

India were sliding towards oblivion until Pujara rescued them with a bloody-minded innings which completely changed the momentum of the Test.

Meanwhile, Marcus Harris (26 and 26), Travis Head (72), Shaun Marsh (60), Tim Paine (41), Peter Handscomb (34) and Usman Khawaja (28) all got themselves well set before failing to exploit that good platform.

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Marsh and Paine yesterday both threatened to drag Australia back into the Test.

Marsh was patient, calm, tight in technique and positive in his footwork against both pace and spin.

The West Australian was particularly impressive in the way he countered star Indian spinner Ravi Ashwin.

He looked in complete control at the crease until quick Jasprit Bumrah got a delivery to seam away from him from around the wicket. To be fair to Marsh that ball which kissed his edge was a wonderfully skilful piece of bowling by Bumrah.

Australian batsman Shaun Marsh

Shaun Marsh is a bizarre answer to an unknown question. (AFP PHOTO / William WEST)

But Paine had no such excuse. He had a brainfade in attempting to pull Bumrah, who at just 178cm tall skids the ball on to batsmen at 145kmh-plus.

The short Indian is one of the more difficult bowlers to pull in world cricket because of the way his deliveries hurry on to batsmen. Paine learned that lesson as he was late on a sharp short ball from Bumrah, succeeding only in skying it to Indian wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant.

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The Australian captain has done an excellent job since returning to the Test team during the last Ashes, keeping neatly and averaging 37 with the bat.

The only criticism which could be levelled at him is that, despite passing 20 a total of 11 times in that period, his highest score has been 62. Had he managed to push on yesterday, rather than donating his wicket, Australia may well have given India a real scare.

But Paine certainly is not the problem with this current Australian batting lineup. It is the job of the top six to put their side in strong positions and again in this Test they failed to do that.

Debutant Harris looked quite good in both innings before getting out in disappointing fashion.

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In the first innings he pushed half-heartedly at a half volley from Ashwin and inside edged a catch to silly mid-off. Second time around he was sucked into an adventurous cut shot by Mohammed Shami and edged through to keeper Pant.

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Handscomb’s grafting knock of 34 from 93 in the first innings ended meekly when he tried to guide the ball to third man in one-day cricket style and gave Pant yet another catch.

It must be said that the Indian attack did play a part in most of these dismissals of set Australian batsmen. The visiting bowlers operated with rare accuracy, denying the Australians scoring opportunities and prompting some of these loose strokes.

Australia will need to find a way to cope with this smothering pressure from the India attack because it is unlikely to cease at Perth, where conditions are expected to be even better for bowling.

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