Head , Smith score contrasting hundreds as Aussies put India under pressure in 3rd test

 



After a rain washed day one,  Brisbane thankfully had a full days play on day 2 of the 3rd test between Australia  & India . Rohit Sharma won the toss on day 1 & bowled in cloudy conditions.  After around 15 overs of start stop cricket , Australia reached 28/0 with Khawaja on 19 with some crsip pull shots before torrential rains washed out play for the remainder of day 1 .


On day 2 the Indian bowlers shrugged off their day one mediocrity to bowl the right lengths and Bumrah looked menacing again to work over Khawaja (21) and McSweeney (9) as Australia slumped early to 38/2 . Khawaja was caught behind off a nick & McSweeney caught in the slips by Kohli.  


Labuschagne & Steve Smith scratched around  long before Labuschagne (12) after seeing off the main bowlers went for a big drive off 5th bowler Nitish Reddy to be caught smartly by Kohli in the slips and Australia looked vulnerable again at 75/3 .


Travis Head fresh from his 140 at Adelaide was in next and while Smith was struggling to find his bearings getting repeatedly beaten outside off and also surviving a close lbw review , Head started well , looked calm and picked the right balls to score as he showed some patience .


Once the ball started to get older and the bowlers got a little tired, Head started to take full toll with his sparkling drives , cuts , ramp shots and flicks as boundaries  started to arrive thick & fast . Smith too got better with his foot movements and reached a fighting 50 while Head reeled off another dazzling 100 vs India  .  The memories of day one of the 2023 WTC final were coming back for the Indian players & fans . 


They continued their merry ways as Smith reached his long awaited test 100 after 500 odd days since his last as he looked in sparkling touch after reaching his 50 . However  at 101 Bumrah had him edge to slip and the long partnership of 241 was broken . Marsh (5) went cheaply and finally Head departed caught behind off Bumrah for 152 as India made late inroads .


However Alex Carey and Pat Cummins joined in another crucial partnership of 58 before Cummins was dismissed by Siraj for a useful 20. Carey who hit the only 6 of the day , played some sparkling shots to reach 45 at close with Starc for company as Australia reached an imposing 405/7 at close .


Bumrah took his 12th 5 wicket haul in test cricket as India are now left to fight with the bat once Australia ends their innings . With the ball still moving around specially when it is new & some intermittent rain possibilities , it will again be a stern challenge for  the Indian batters in the remaining days . Indian top order has looked extremely vulnerable in this series and so the Aussie quicks will look to exploit the same 3rd day onwards for a possible win  .

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