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AUSvIND, 2nd Test: Australia roar back to level the series

By Mumbai Indians

The pink ball Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 saw plenty of action and entertainment in front of a capacity crowd at the picturesque Adelaide Oval.

Although there was no shortage of some spicy on-field battles – YBJ vs Starc, Boom vs Labuschagne, Siraj vs Labuschagne, Siraj vs Head – it was the Australian cricket team who won the bragging rights to restore parity following a heavy defeat in Perth.

Read on to explore the key moments of the series…

Aussie fast bowlers wreak havoc

Put to field first, the home team couldn’t have asked for a better start when Mitchell Starc dismissed the in-form Yashasvi Jaiswal on the first delivery of the match.

Thereafter, KL Rahul-Shubman Gill stitched a 69-run partnership to help their side recover from the early setback. However, wickets kept falling at regular intervals as the seamers continued to torment the Indian batting unit.

All-rounder Nitish Reddy was the pick of the batters, amassing a gritty 42-run knock laced with three fours and sixes apiece. Watch his seamless strokeplay that made the commentators go, “Well, well, well… welcome the modern batsman… his name is Nitish Kumar Reddy!” 👇

Meanwhile, Mitchell Starc registered 6/48, his best figures in Test cricket. Scott Boland and skipper Pat Cummins chipped in with two wickets each to bowl India out for 180 on the board.

This head-ache just doesn’t seem to vanish

If their pacers can make the pink ball talk, then why should our fast bowlers shy away?

Our Jassi भाऊ got the better of openers Usman Khwaja and Nathan McSweeney after a brief stay at the crease. Steve Smith and Pat Cummins’ scalps took his figures to 4/61, extending his fine run of form.

Nitish Kumar Reddy also provided a breakthrough in the form of Marnus Labuschagne, who scored 64 runs.

Well, no brownie points for guessing who took the game away from Team India. Travis Head, the local favourite, smashed an aggressive 140 off 141 balls, much to the fans’ delight.

Nonetheless, Miyan bhai’s pinpoint yorker finally sent the southpaw back to the pavilion, though not without a few fiery exchanges…

The Australian innings ended at 337/10, gaining a 157-run lead.

Fate had other plans…

To erase the deficit against a potent bowling line-up, a handful of Indian batters did get decent starts but none got going barring the upcoming all-round star 𝐍𝐊𝐑!

The Cummins-Boland-Starc trio kept breaking through our defenses. Keeping the fans on their toes, Rishabh Pant played a couple of dazzling shots in typical Rishabh Pant fashion!

Nitish Reddy, yet again, led the resistance, scoring 42 runs. Unfortunately, India got bundled out for 175 as Pat Cummins bagged a fifer.

With an easy 19-run target in sight, the Baggy Greens completed the proceedings within the first session on Day 3.

The Indian cricket team will now look to get inspiration from their historic triumph at Gabba in their quest to get back to winning ways when they take the field in Brisbane on Saturday, December 14.

 

Brief scores: India 180/10 (Nitish Reddy 42; Mitchell Starc 6/48) and 175/10 (Nitish Reddy 42; Pat Cummins 5/57) lost to Australia 337/10 (Travis Head 140; Jasprit Bumrah 4/61) and 19/0 (Nathan McSweeney 10*) by 10 wickets.