Glad to hear the Aussies are currently on a roll following the first day of this deciding World Heavyweight Championship like Test match from the Sydney Cricket Ground as they are currently 9-1 with a 175 run trail having already bowled India all out under 200 a while ago for just 185.
Yes, they may have lost the toss to India who elected the opportunity to bat first but hey, at least the Aussies got themselves going with early wickets on the board amid some controversial appeals from the third umpire along the way.
At first, we thought Steve Smith took a catch by lifting the ball off the ground before it went into the fielders hands which should’ve been out but then they said no.
Then this second one – although relieved when the Aussies managed to get rid of Washington Sundar – Indian fans weren’t happy when Pat Cummins heard a knick off the bat before he used the appeal to great effect & he got what he wanted which was ultimately successful.
It wasn’t the first time Pat Cummins uncovered India’s dirty secret having done that to opener Yashasvi Jaiswal a few days ago that led to Australia keeping themselves alive in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy race on the final day’s play of the previous Test at the MCG in Melbourne.
Other than that as said with the controversial appeals as well as the missed dropped catches, they were top notch as always when it comes to their fast bowling group where Scott Boland was brilliant once again with four on hand alongside Mitchell Starc of 3 wickets while Pat Cummins collected two + the catch of the quick scoring keeper Rishabh Pant for 40.
Plus, special shoutout to all-rounder debutant Beau Webster also with two early wicket catches including the dismissal of veteran Virat Kohli. So does our other new cult teenage hero from Kogarah in the St Georges NSW area Sam Konstas, who not only made a couple of stunning catches but also wowed Jasprit Bumrah yet again so far as the opener first ball boundary through square for four.
Let’s hope Sam can continue to shine especially on home turf by building on his debut Test 50 from the Boxing Day Melbourne Test last week going into Day 2 tomorrow as take it easy since it’s Tests not the Big Bash. But he will have to get through this shift with a new partner though in Marnus Labuschagne after Usman Khawaja got out that quick sadly on the last ball of today – also by Bumrah who continues to be lethal as one of the world’s elite fast bowlers of the game.
1 down, 3-4 days to go with Australia currently on the up and India fighting hard to pull up on their own where they can also change this storyline off the kookaburra ball too. So yeah, a big partnership from a big top-order batting performance should be key for the Aussies to be in the box seat and hopefully regain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy through this weekend – that’s all.