IND vs AUS: 2nd Test, Day 1 – Talking Points
India and Australia kicked off the second Test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy on February 17, Friday at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. The hosts won the first Test within three days by an innings and 132 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the four-match series, moving one step close to the World Test Championship final spot.
India walked into the second Test with a similar intent, but the visitors looked in good touch too. Compared to their first innings outing in the Nagpur Test, Australia managed to do a much better job with the bat, but senior players David Warner and Steve Smith struggled again. India’s spin-bowling duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja continued their top form and led India’s bowling attack.
As for Australia, Usman Khawaja and Peter Handscomb did a good job with the bat as Australia finished Day 1 of the second Test at 263 runs in 78.4 overs. Indian openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul started India’s innings with the bat a few minutes before the end of the day’s play. India ended the day on a commanding note at 21/0 in nine overs as the openers finished will look to put up a strong partnership when they begin the proceedings on day 2.
Here are the talking points from Day 1:
Indian spinners dominate, again
Jadeja and Ashwin shared a total of six wickets between themselves, picking up three wickets each. Jadeja kept striking at regular intervals to hand his side the crucial breakthroughs. R Ashwin outperformed him in the 23rd over when he dismissed Marnus Labuschagne and Steven Smith within three deliveries. While Ashwin dismissed Alex Carey after picking up the first two wickets, Jadeja dismissed Khawaja, Pat Cummins and Todd Murphy.
Khawaja and Handscomb’s valiant half-centuries
Opener Usman Khawaja had a forgettable outing in the first Test. This time, he anchored Australia’s innings by scoring a crucial 125-ball 81. Even after losing four partners at the other end, he kept going to keep his team’s scorecard ticking. Handscomb, too, played a key role and took charge of scoring runs till the end. He remained unbeaten for a 142-ball 72, helping Australia get a chunk of runs towards the end.
David Warner’s nightmare tour continues
Australian opener David Warner, just like in the previous game, failed to put up a performance. It took him 21 deliveries to score his first run and open the account. But just like the Nagpur Test, Mohammed Shami got the better of him. Shami dismissed him in the 16th over to hand India the first breakthrough.
Mohammed Shami leads the pace attack
Mohammad Shami finished with a total of four wickets to his name as he wreaked havoc on the field while leading India’s pace attack. He picked up the first wicket for India by dismissing Warner, and also dismissed Matthew Kuhnemann, Australia’s last man standing, to put an end to the visitors’ first innings. Shami also added the wickets of Travis Head and Nathan Lyon and completed a four-wicket haul.
