The Perth Test pitch is a minefield

Australia are in a strong position in the second Test after getting an even spread of batting contributions on a precarious Perth Stadium pitch offering sharp seam movement and major variations in bounce.

On a day when the new pitch played a lot of tricks, with some balls shooting through at shin height and others exploding up at the batsmen’s heads, Australia did well to edge to 6 for 277 at stumps.

The perilous state of the deck was highlighted when well-set Marcus Harris was dismissed by an innocuous delivery from a part-time spinner made unplayable by the surface.

Batsman Hanuma Vihari, who had taken just 22 wickets in eight years of first-class cricket, rolled out a gentle off break with his second ball.

Landing slightly short of a length it was the kind of delivery a batsman would reasonably expect to come through at about bail height.

Instead it leapt off the pitch in extraordinary fashion, leaving Harris fending at just below shoulder height as the ball lobbed off his glove to slip.

Harris had earlier seen the other side of this Jekyll and Hyde pitch when a short-of-a-length delivery from Indian quick Mohammed Shami shot through at just above ankle height. On many other occasions the Indian pacemen got deliveries to bounce far higher than the batsman could anticipate.

It’s not just variable bounce – there is also extravagant seam movement on offer in Perth. With the second new ball Umesh Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah got several deliveries to turn like Shane Warne leg breaks.

One Bumrah delivery to Pat Cummins seamed away by an incredible 25cm – more than double the width of a cricket bat. Another seamed by 22cm past the edge of Tim Paine and then flew over the wicketkeeper’s head for four, despite being well pitched up.

Then, as if to underline its unpredictability, the Perth pitch sent the last ball of the day skidding at ankle height into the front pad of Cummins, who narrowly avoided being LBW.

Australia may well have been dismissed before tea had India not bowled so poorly in the first session. Perhaps overexcited upon viewing the green pitch, the visiting seamers bowled far too short before lunch.

As a result, Australian openers Marcus Harris (70) and Aaron Finch (50) were able to leave too many deliveries. While Finch’s half-century was scratchy, Harris’ knock was sublime.

In defence he played the ball late, under his eyes and with soft hands. In attack he was decisive and discerning.

Playing just his second Test, Harris was impressive in the way he waited for the Indians to stray into his hitting zones before unfurling his most adventurous strokes.

It took a ridiculous delivery from Vihari to dismiss him. One of the most subtle yet significant features of Harris’ knock was his strike rotation. Regularly he dead batted the ball into gaps and then scampered through for a single.

Marcus Harris of Australia raises his bat on reaching a half century (AAP Image/Richard Wainwright)

The same could not be said of first drop Usman Khawaja. The left hander has always been over-reliant on scoring boundaries and India have brutally exposed that weakness.

Khawaja, quite incredibly, has scored 41 runs from 205 balls in this series. Because Khawaja does not naturally look for singles, when he is being denied boundaries by good bowling it is easy for dot balls to pile up and pressure to mount.

That was just what happened yesterday as he crawled to 5 from 38 balls before trying to release the tension with a cut shot, succeeding only in edging behind.

When Peter Handscomb followed suit, edging a cut, Australia had lost 4-36 to slump to 4-148. India were cock-a-hoop and the pitch was their best mate.

Then Travis Head (58) and Shaun Marsh (45), two of the most heavily-criticised batsmen in the country, halted India’s momentum with a pivotal 84-run stand.

By the time Marsh was out trying to cut Vihari Australia had moved to 232, which already looked like a competitive score on this tricky pitch.

Head also fell to a needlessly-aggressive shot, caught at third man attempting to blast the second new ball through the off side. That should not distract from the fact that, just seven innings into his Test career, Head has now played three hugely valuable knocks in challenging circumstances.

First he made 72 from 175 balls on debut to help Australia save the first Test against Pakistan in the UAE. Then he again made 72 – more than double Australia’s next-highest scorer – in the first Test against India after coming to the crease at 4-87.

While those two knocks were patient, grafting efforts, Head yesterday played with greater flair. It was a reasonable approach on a pitch where no batsmen could ever be truly comfortable.

If Australia can add another 50 runs to their total this morning, and edge up to 330, India will have a mountain to scale.