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Australia have one hand on the World Test Championship trophy after a clinical team bowling performance left India with an all but impossible mountain to climb after just two days’ play.
After Steve Smith completed his century and some free hitting from Alex Carey saw Australia set an imposing first-innings 469, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Scott Boland, Cameron Green and Nathan Lyon picked up one wicket apiece to leave India reeling at 5/151 at stumps, still more than 300 runs behind.
A no-ball from Cummins to spare Rahane from falling LBW was the only blemish across 38 superb overs, with the expensive Starc producing the ball of the day to remove Virat Kohli, Boland miserly as ever across 11 metronomic overs that can only enhance his claim to hold his spot over Josh Hazlewood for the first Ashes Test, and Lyon striking late to remove the dangerous Ravindra Jadeja on 48.
“From having to face Scott in the nets recently he’s bowling very nicely,” Smith said. “The angles he provides and his ability to hit the stumps from slightly shorter than some of our other bowlers is a big plus.
“Shorter guys are a bit skiddier, so if there’s any seam movement it gives the ball more chance to move and still hit the sumps.
“The skills he possesses are magnificent. He’s turned up every time he’s had an opportunity. Whether he’s leaving any of the big three out, I don’t know. But he’s certainly a quality prospect.”
Resuming unbeaten on 95, Smith will seldom reach three figures with more ease than for his 31st Test century: gifted two juicy half-volleys on leg stump by Mohammed Siraj for his first two balls of the day, the veteran gleefully dispatched both to the mid-wicket boundary to reach the milestone.
One could only assume this was a late birthday present from Siraj, with Smith having turned 34 a week ago to the day.
Doubtless the gift of a century would have delighted Smith just as much as anything he could have received from friends and loved ones.
Travis Head, though, wouldn’t find things quite so fruitful early; though given enough time to bring up a well-deserved 150, his Test best of 175 would remain out of reach, gloving a short ball down the leg side to wicketkeeper Bharat to end the fun at 163.
Head’s fall would precipitate a mini-collapse for Australia, albeit with a healthy scoreboard already; four wickets would fall in the next 42 runs, with Green (6) far too loose in his drive off Mohammed Shami and edging to slip, Smith wafting outside off and losing his off stump to Shardul Thakur, and Starc unwisely choosing to take on sub fielder Axar Patel with a suicidal single straight to mid-off.
But while much of the focus will be on his dismissal, falling LBW to Jadeja after yet another unsuccessful reverse-sweep, Alex Carey had already provided just the counterattack Australia needed to keep India on the back foot, a 51-run stand with Cummins ensuring a commanding first-innings total.
Creative from the start, with an early boundary coming via a French cut off Umesh Yadav, Carey’s enterprising batting was positively Gilchristian; backing away and carving a full offering from Siraj through backward point for another four the most obvious example.
Having fallen to a reverse-sweep repeatedly during a frustrating tour of India, it would be that shot again to deny Carey a half-century on his England Test debut, and again lead to suggestions he should consider shelving the stroke entirely.
While none of Cummins, Lyon or Boland could offer much resistance once Carey fell, the three would all soon get their chance to shine with their preferred skill: the captain the first to land a telling blow.
With Sharma looking set to explode with some crunching early strokeplay, dispatching Starc with a fierce pull shot off just the second ball of the innings, Cummins abruptly ended the threat to pin his opposite number in front, Sharma’s choice to flick rather than defend coming back to bite him.
At least, though, he would perish playing a shot: the same couldn’t be said of Shubman Gill (13) and Cheteshwar Pujara (14). The former watched in horror as a brutal nip-backer from Boland cannoned with laserlike precision into his off stump, while the latter couldn’t have been paying too much attention if he thought a similarly confident leave off Green would fare any better.
Lifeless for much of the first day as India’s quicks toiled to remove Smith and Head, the Aussies were coaxing life from its depths, Starc finding sharp bounce to catch a surprised Kohli on the gloves for Smith to take a sharp overhead catch at second slip.
At 4/71, with the entire top order removed, another World Test Championship final defeat began to loom large for the favourites.
That seemed to be 5/87 when Cummins trapped Ajinkya Rahane in front, recalled for the one-off Test for his first match in 18 months; however, a persistent no-ball problem flared up at the worst possible time, the captain’s fourth overstep of the day easily his costliest.
Together with a freewheeling Jadeja, who conspired to ruin Boland’s figures with a swivelled six among eight boundaries in a 51-ball counterattack, the pair looked set to steer India to stumps for no further loss, and the faintest hopes of a revival.
Enter Lyon; just nine balls into his first spell, the wily off-spinner found turn and appreciable bounce to extend his superb career record against left-handers, the previously rampant Jadeja only able to edge to a gleeful Smith at slip to end his stay on 48.
Mitchell Starc celebrates the wicket of Virat Kohli. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
Sent in to see out the day, Bharat may have counted a pair of nasty blows off first Boland and then Starc as a mercy; it ensured he’d need to see out just three overs to reach the close unbeaten on 5, with Rahane safe at he other end on 29.
They’ll need to add plenty more when play resumes on Day 3, however, for India to have any chance of fighting their way back into a Test that already seems squandered.
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