What a fantastic Day 2 we’ve just had that can change everything in a flick of a switch having saw India settled in at first after the Aussies were all out for 474 off the back of Steve Smith’s second straight 100, especially with Pat Cummins somehow found a way to break the Yashavi Jaiswal & Virat Kohli partnership and Jaiswal had to go via run out for 82.
You just couldn’t see the shock look of Jaiswal’s face when he thought he was getting a single but Kohli said no before being given the direct hit and there goes his spell that ended so abruptly whilst trying to secure his 100 since his team’s 1st Test win in Perth.
Then the returning Scotty Boland came back to score two quick wickets to share the workload with courageous captain Cummins including Virat Kohli for 36 and nightwatchman Akash Deep as the Aussies are currently on 164-5 with a 310 run lead over India going into tomorrow. Good to see him back which was much-needed by the way while he can score a couple of runs too at the tail end (No.11), especially when he was doing up and firing two tests ago that led to the Aussies fighting back with the win in Adelaide but then the Aussies dropped him for Josh Hazelwood last week during the rain-hit Gabba and unfortunately it didn’t go well due to his calf strain and Josh is out for the series for a while anyway.
Speaking of our courageous captain, he’s the man who can not just lead with the Kookaburra ball but can also bat a bit where he reaped some handy runs despite being a run short off 50 and also a gun fielder too. I mean, what more can we say other than the fact we’re so grateful to have Pat onboard to try and win back the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series off India.
For now, there’s still unfinished business for the Aussies to get the job done ASAP first thing tomorrow morning for Day 3’s play, then we’ll see if they can stop India from avoiding the follow-on. You’ve got the quick keeper scorer Rishabh Pant out there and so does Ravi Jadeja who can score 50s every now and then with his signature sword celebration and the Aussies wouldn’t want to let it slip away.
Tough one when it’s not rainy right now unlike last week at The Gabba in Brisbane that led to a draw but maybe bowl again in order to finish the match early and go all-in ahead of the series decider for the new year’s Test next week in Sydney.
