I must say that Day & Night 1 of the 2nd Test of our 2024/25 Test Summer was buzzing not just Adelaide Oval but also from our Aussies as well.
Likewise from also the opening day of the opening test even though they did lose the toss, they did extremely well with the ball for a start – albeit a slightly higher score (India all out for 180) alongside a slightly altered bowling attack since Josh Hazlewood wasn’t unable to play in this Test.
Hats off to Mitchell Starc on his six-wicket haul who continues to shine with the pink ball while Scott Boland has no problem filling in Hazlewood’s role as our other starring fast bowler with two wickets on hand.
From India’s end, they decided to change things up with their selection due to their mindset to try and win it in these different conditions, especially with pink ball when playing some at night. Yes, their opening batting shift didn’t go well as expected, although good to see Nitish Kumar Reddy scoring 42 from the lower end at 7 – not bad from a fast-bowling all-rounder there.
They still have some sort of advantage though as you never know what India could do to cause more damage once they come back refreshed from overnight, having saw that coming when Usman Khawaja got caught out last night by Rohit Sharma at slip off Jasprit Bumrah.
And finally, the Aussies had the final say to close out the opening day’s shift & safe to say it’s so far, so good. There’s still more work to do in order to build a big partnership over the next 1-2 days.
We got Marnus Labuschagne eventually up and running currently on 20 whereas how good was SA’s own player Nathan McSweeney proving his worth like a true Opening batter (a bit like Dave Warner but with his right hand) in front of his own state turf as he’s on 38. Let’s hope he gets his 50 very soon before he hangs in there long enough to collect his first Test 100 having done so many times for SA before at Sheffield Shield level.
Watch this space from the Aussies to hopefully eat the 94-run trail, put the pressure back to the Indian bowlers with runs on the board & then convert it into a solid lead when they will resume at the crease this afternoon (Day 2) at 86/1.
