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Day 1 2024, MCG Boxing Day Test: Sam Konstas’ debut 50 including a string of good consistent top-order performances puts the Aussies on the front foot v India

by Sports Benches

A 19-year-old star was born in the making this morning at the MCG in Melbourne with a debut Test 50 – his name is Sam Konstas, who plays for the New South Wales state side, Sydney Thunder and St George’s Cricket Club in Hurstville.

Wow, wow, take a bow! Love the way he took out one of the best bowlers against Jasprit Bumrah (still a huge threat as India’s frontline fast bowler who picked up three wickets so far) with quickfire & explosive shots flying everywhere including runs on the board too that we always see in white-ball cricket. It’s a shame he couldn’t go at least a bit further through lunch when a simple block landed on his pad and Ravi Jadeja was right on the money unfortunately with that LBW and that was his spell for a sound 60 runs.

I’m sure his rapid rise will continue to soar as fingers crossed for Sam scoring his first Test 100 soon enough – he’s like the right-hand version of the recently retired Davey Warner to me! Although be very careful of who he bumps into next time, especially when playing against the world’s best as Sam should continue to be Sam – having been bumped into a fracas by Virat Kohli.

Other than that, it’s been a brilliant batting day while India made up some lost time towards the end of the first day today.

Thankfully, the Aussies finally won the toss after all this time also prior to the start of play this morning – as they are currently 311/6 going into Day 2 of 5 tomorrow AM.

We had a plethora of our Top 3-4 batters scoring good half-tons like other opening mainstay & Konstas’ new batting partner Usman Khawaja (57), Marnus Labuschagne (72) over at No.3, and don’t forget Steve Smith as well next up at 4 who backed up another great shift so far & is still out there on 68 alongside skipper Pat Cummins. 

Shoutout to wicket-keeper Alex Carey also following his quick score of 31 when we needed most with extra runs on the board before behind by Rishabh Pant. 

However, not so much from Travis Head unfortunately despite his concussion issues after being sent straight back upstairs (0 off 7 balls); so does Mitchell Marsh who was also sent straight back yet again for only peanuts (4 off 13). 

Maybe they could do a Nathan McSweeney (who was given the axe for Konstas) by giving Beau Webster a chance then? There’s nothing to lose if that’s what’s best for the Baggy Green where he can bowl both seam and spin & no doubt this could be their secret weapon when they usually played two spinners in the past but probably not in recent times.

What the Aussies need to do from there is score a bit more as they can with another Steve Smith masterclass 100, then bring the bowlers out to take the power games off India with the cult hero Scott Boland back in the XI by going one better in this five-test Border-Gavaskar Trophy series.

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Day 5 of the 3rd Test Review: Aussies tried the best they can to meet catch-up but still more persistent rainy weather decided its fate at The Gabba with the draw

by Sports Benches

Update as of Day 5: Game is drawn now thanks to yet another rain delay that left little opportunity for the Aussies to close out the match. Yes, they might have finally bowled India all out for 260 before they fell off so quickly when they’ve batted the 2nd time & declared right on the spot after the Aussies had enough; but then the rain came to say it’s too late. Hence, the series remains tied at 1-1 apiece Test with two more left to play for going into Thursday next week for the annual Boxing Day Test showdown at the MCG in Melbourne.

What does the Aussies have to do to keep themselves focused on the right track & not let India take way the series trophy that they haven’t had for a long time? 

I know Josh Hazlewood has been the glue of that “Fast Bowling Cartel” cohort over the past decade alongside Mitchell Starc & Pat Cummins but better still, should’ve kept Scott Boland and hold Hazlewood back at the next right time like the New Year’s Sydney Test instead of rushing back to like now. Unfortunately, that didn’t go well when he suffered a calf strain while warming up first thing yesterday as he won’t be back for a while – don’t know when but not for the rest of this series.

With the batting, not bad considering how good we were other than the sugar rushed Day 5 spell they had to put in ahead of the declaration. Although Travis Head wasn’t feeling good earlier today due to a tight quad issue on his thigh, let’s hope it won’t be too serious since he has been the saviour to our batting card. But not much of a chance now for Nathan McSweeney to nail down his spot as Test Opener at least for now unless he goes back to Shield level with South Australia & scores consistently big over the next 12 months if he continues to get sent back for peanuts. 

There’s a few others waiting in-line to make their first steps with the Baggy Green like the 19-year-old sensation Sam Konstas from NSW & St George (Hurstville) in Sydney Premier Cricket – we will find this out towards the end of 2024 for sure before it’s stay or go time for McSweeney who does in fact hail from Queensland. 

For now, still long way to with still lots to play for as anything can happen in this Border-Gavaskar Trophy. And shoutout to Ravi Ashwin by the way on his decorated International career following his retirement post-game as he won’t be taking any further part from now, even though there’s still a bit of play left in this series. It won’t be the same without him from someone who has been India’s primary spinner for a long time as we wish him the best of luck.

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Day 3/4 of Test 3 Review: Australia continue to take wickets where possible but India had the last say at times ahead of the fifth and final day tomorrow at The Gabba

by Sports Benches

Off the back of a successful Day 2 spell from the bat by the Aussies including Alex Carey’s stunning 70-run smash as their primary keeper (and also last man out prior to the change of innings), they weren’t bad yesterday on the field & the red kookaburra ball with early wickets when India had the chance to reply at the crease – despite elements of yesterday’s play being held up by that continuous Brisbane rainy weather at The Gabba. 

They walked into Day 4 earlier today knowing the Aussies still had a job to do which they did for the most part but not up to their full potential unfortunately, even though they’re only had one wicket to try and force India to follow on before it was too late. Not even the sad injury news by Josh Hazlewood during the warm-up session delivered a crushing blow and he won’t be back for quite a while now due to his calf strain that he pulled up there. 

Instead, we saw some amazing moments by the Men In Blue like KL Rahul’s 82, Ravi Jadeja’s 77 when he paused a bit to celebrate with the sword like he always do every time he reaches 50, and the very lower-order partnership between Jasprit Bumrah and Akash Deep – whom both of them scored really quickly to get past these tired bowlers over at No.‘s 10 and 11. 

The good is though that the Aussies can finish this little job for yet another try first thing tomorrow morning at Day 5. But then the race is on over the next final 6-7 hours in order to bat again for a bit if they can pile up the runs quick smart and then declare right on the spot to try and win the unlikeliest of chances of going 2-1 up in this five-test Border-Gavaskar Trophy series ahead of the Boxing Day Test at the MCG (Melbourne) next week. 

But right now amid a series of rain delays over the last few days, looks like we will see out a draw for this one – unless Australia plays it smart as said above (an outside chance) or India bowls them out quickly once again before looking to bat big & bring it home (extremely unlikely).

Better still, this is the contest and standard we love watching from both sides when it comes to the long-running Test Cricket format at the end of the day.

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Day 1/2 of the 3rd Test Review: The Aussies overcome early fall with a statement batting day thanks to Travis Head once again including Steve Smith at The Gabba in Brisbane

by Sports Benches

We thought the Aussies were doomed right from the start this morning like it was so far in this five-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy series when our Top 3 batters have already been kicked out that early when we didn’t see much of Day 1 yesterday due to heavy rain. Well, fair enough to India who always keep on winning tosses; although they decided to go things so differently by bowling/fielding first rather than the bat. But hey, so we’re grateful for Travis Head who saved our day once again with another 100 off the back of his hometown heroics when he tamed the pink ball last weekend (2nd Test) at Adelaide Oval. 

Then he was joined by Steve Smith not long later having not made a big knock in a long while & he’s done just that to silence the critics who thought he is done at Test level but not just yet. Now that is courageous stuff from the Aussies as they’re currently on 405-7 with keeper Alex Carey (geez he’s been scoring oh so quick!!) currently on 45 alongside fast bowler Mitchell Starc at the tail end on seven & sure he can add the runs a bit like before.

Whatever happens towards the end of their first batting shift, let’s hope they can bowl India as early and quickly as they can in the hope of setting up a 2-1 series lead ahead of the Boxing Day test at the MCG in Melbourne come December 26.

Yes, like to give a shoutout to Jasprit Bumrah also over in the Indian dressing room with his five-wicket haul. But still, it’s been a turbulent day on the field with the seamers taking up the heavy work despite their good start. Don’t know what went wrong there when India were so good in the first test a few weeks ago at Perth and now they seem to have lost it. Not even some  selection changes have helped either as they better be ready to score at least 300-400 tomorrow once the change of innings have been made for Day 3 of 5.

For now, there’s a bit more cricket other than Tests with the T20 Big Bash League actually starting right now to kick off the new six-week season – perfect time to go out once the long school holidays are in during the summer. The opening game will be five-time champions Perth Scorchers who just welcomed the visiting Melbourne Stars side at Optus Stadium. 

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1st Test India vs Australia Day 4 Review: Indians thrash Aussies to get the series lead

by Admin

Written by Shenol M. Wilson

Another day, another interesting results for the cricket fans as the fourth day of the India vs Australia first test unfolded for us. Moving on to the day, India had a significant advantage over the Australia as they had a lead over 520 runs to fight with the Aussies.On the other hand, Australia had only 7 wickets in hand in order to chase this mammoth target.

It was not a very good start for the Aussies to begin the day as experienced Usman Khawaja was dismissed by Mohammed Siraj for just 4 runs. However, ever reliable Travis Head was able to get some sort of stability into the inning by building up 50 runs partnership with Steve Smith.

Unfortunately they were not able to capitalize on it as Mohammed Siraj was able to get the next wicket when the Australian score board was just on 79 runs.

Thereafter, Mitchell Marsh joined with Travis Head to have an aggressive approach to take the momentum back gain to them. They were able to build up a good partnership over 80 runs before ever reliable Indian captain Jasprit Bumrah dismissed Travis Head for 89 runs. Travis Head played beautifully for his 89 runs with classy shots and was able to become the highest scorer for Aussies in the match.

Alex Carey who is in form coming up to the test summer then tried to build up a partnership but it was limited to just 21 runs as Mitchell Marsh was dismissed by Debutant Nitish Kumar Reddy for 47 runs surprisingly. Alex Carey was then left with the bowlers to get this massive target achieved but it was nearly impossible according to cricket statistics. Mitchell Starc tried his best to hold a side as he was able to build up 40 runs plus partnership with Alex Carey before he was dismissed by Washington Sundar who claimed his first wicket for the match.

Getting into form Washington Sundar claimed his second wicket of the match by dismissing his opponent sole spinner Nathan Lyon for duck Thereafter it was just matter of time before the last wicket and after some resistance Alex Carey was dismissed for 36 runs by Debutant Harshit Rana who bowled impressively well throughout the inning. It was his fourth wicket of the match on surely favorable conditions for him.

At the end of the inning and match, Aussies were bundled out for just 238 runs for their second inning and it was really a poor performance by Australia on their home soil considering India came up to the Australian soil after getting defeated by New Zealand in India’s home soil by 3-0 margin.

Finally, India were able to win the match by 295 runs and was able to claim the biggest win in Australian soil in terms of runs. Player of the Match award was given to the Indian Captain Jasprit Bumrah who bowled exceptionally well by getting total of 8 wickets in the match which included 5 Wickets for 30 runs in the first Inning and 3 for 42 runs in the second Inning.

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India vs Australia First Test Day 3 Review: India grab the moving day Advantage in Perth

by Admin

Written by Shenol M. Wilson

It was a unique build up for the First Test Day 3 in this very interesting Test match between India and Australia which will have a lot of effect in deciding the fate of the Test series. First day was a dream day for the bowlers, specially the seamers and the second day was it was a paradise for the Indian Batsmen.

Coming up into the day, experts were even curious to know what the pitch or surface will have on offer as it was creating surprises all the time. India was on a very strong position with a considerable lead on a low scoring match so far and with ten wickets in hand.In addition weather was also not supporting the Australia’s cause as it was very hot and humid with temperature going around 35 degrees Celsius.

Starting the day, India were able to get a good start to add on to the overnight score before KL Rahul was dismissed by Mitchell Starc for 77 runs. Devdutt Padikkal tried to steady a partnership inform Jaiswal but was dismissed by Josh Hazelwood who was very well disciplined in his bowling throughout the innings.

Experienced Virat Kohli then came into the middle and was able to have a steady run with Yashasvi Jaiswal who was able to get 161 runs at his first test Test appearance in Australia. Jaiswal was able to create a remarkable inning and he became the fourth youngest player to get century for India in Australia. However as he was dismissed Indian lower middle order Batsmen Rishabh Pant and Dhurv Jurel was dismissed in quick succession as both of them were able to get only 1 run.

However, taking on the responsibility again to shoulders, the ever reliable Virat Kohli came up with another century as he was able to get exactly 100 runs by being not out and he was given some sort of a support by Washington Sundar and Nitish Kumar Reddy by getting 29 runs and 38 runs not out respectively.

Talking about the Aussie bowlers, surprisingly Nathan Lyon was the highest wicket taker as he was able to get 2 wickets for 96 runs as all the other main bowlers contributed with one wicket each.

Coming up for the fourth inning of the match at the end of the day, Aussies did have a massive target before them as India was able to create a massive lead of 533 runs as India declared their second inning at 487 runs by losing only 6 wickets. 

Debutant Nathan McSweeney started the inning with experienced Usman Khawaja, but was not able get a very good start as McSweeney was dismissed for a duck by Jasprit Bumrah. 

Night Watchman Pat Cummins was not able to do his duty as he was dismissed by Mohammed Siraj for just 2 runs. At the end of the day to close the day out, Bumrah was again able to get the wicket of Marnus Labuschagne who doesn’t seem to be in form for a while.

At the end of the day, Australia was in a poor position losing 3 wickets for just 12 runs. Coming up for the fourth day, they will have a massive target of 522 runs more to achieve with only 7 wickets in hand.

The win probability do show that India has a chance of 96.5% to win the match but you never know what can happen in cricket if Aussies bat carefully over next 2 days. Finally things are getting ready for an exciting two more days of quality cricket and you do not want to miss out on it.

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Test Cricket: India dominate Day 2’s play v Aussies both bat & ball with both openers still standing led by Yashasvi Jaiswal who is not far from his possible 100 on 90 not out

by Sports Benches

Gotta say Day 2’s play was all about the best of India both bat and ball with both of their opening batters still not out after a great long afternoon’s worth of fun in the middle. Okay, that opening session from the AM may showed a bit of strength by the Aussies to hold on at the tail end thanks to Mitchell Starc who was their top scorer of 26 over at 9. 

But again, there’s not much time they could do to turn things around when India would have already have wrapped their 1st innings haul right before the lunch break for 104 after just 50 overs.

From there, it was up to the Indian batters to steer well clear ahead of the Aussies and looks they are with great intent when their opening partnership looks as solid as a rock. 

Hats off to youngster Yashasvi Jaiswal (left-handed) who has been amazing with his shot selection every time he knows to pick these right areas – he’s currently on 90 with KL Rahul also excellent at the other supporting end with his own 50 & he’s on 62. 

India are currently on 0-172 with a 218 run lead going into Day 3 tomorrow as would be great if Jaiswal and Rahul score both of their own 100s & they wouldn’t worry a single bit to bring their bowlers to guide them home sometime between the next 3rd session tomorrow & Day 4 Monday.

Meanwhile, it’s been a hugely underwhelming and heavy-hitting day for the Aussies other than showing a bit of strength by their tail enders. 

There was hope they can finish the Indian 2nd innings total real fast like they did earlier during Day 1 yesterday but it’s a shame these missed catches cost them so dearly and they finished off Day 2 with no wickets on hand. 

They better come back real fast to quickly dismantle the whole lot first thing tomorrow morning & do whatever it takes to meet that run target. But it’s up to the bowlers to restrict as low as possible first, then we may as well see a stunning comeback if they do so as they possibly can on what Test Cricket is all about to kickstart this five-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy Series. 

The Aussies better have this done by using it or else forget about this to lose it & move on with this 2nd Day/Night Adelaide Test.

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Test Cricket: Bowling won Day 1’s play for both teams with India still leading top spot and the Aussies now thin on options with the bat after their unexpected top-order fall

by Sports Benches

Could you believe how the opening day turned out of the new Test summer against India? It was unreal through a whole seven hours worth of on-pitch work but couldn’t see that coming there when things can turn so fast in such short time.

We began the morning run (afternoon over in the Eastern states) with India winning the toss, chose to batted first and then lost their way up to a lowly 150 whereas Australia were outstanding with the ball & also on the field hands down thanks to their still stronghold bowling attack.

But when the Aussies got their chance to bat in the middle though in between tea and the late afternoon session, they too unfortunately unable to capitalise with lots of single and bare double digit figures — and somehow looks like India is still hanging in there up front at 67-7 going into Day 2. Shoutout to Jasprit Bumrah on another amazing bowling spell including a test debut to remember from Harshit Rama after he bowled out Travis Head. 

That doesn’t mean the Aussies have no reason why they cannot turn things around with keeper Alex Carey being the last best batter standing on 19 alongside fast bowler Mitchell Starc on 6. Let’s hope a 50 from Carey would do it to hopefully bring their bowlers back to more quick damage to the Indian batters if the Aussies can’t meet the 83 run trail sometime tomorrow. 

And last but not least, also want to give a shoutout to Nathan McSweeney, who also began his Test career today with some quickfire runs on the board as Test opener, with Usman Khawaja after an amazing impact – especially at Sheffield Shield level.

It’s a shame he was unluckily being picked on by Bumrah for 10 over his successful LBW review that was sadly fair by the umpire but he’s 25 and still has lots of time to make a David Warner like impact off his right hand though over the next few days & weeks to come – one to watch from our batters.

For now, looks like we will see more early quickfire moments on Day 2 tomorrow after a bowling dominant contest, with India set to bowl the Aussies out possibly under 100. Then the 2nd innings is on this time to maybe slow things down a bit to build a big score in the hope of going 1-0 up in the five-match (up from four now) Border Gavaskar Trophy series.

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