IND vs AUS: Pant’s Counterattack And Boland’s Precision Keep SCG Test In Balance

IND vs AUS: The final Test match between India and Australia has been nothing short of a rollercoaster, as both sides faced challenging conditions at SCG. At the end of Day 2, India finished with a 145-run lead in a fast-paced match where 314 runs were scored and 15 wickets fell. As India’s batting faltered and Australia’s bowlers remained relentless, the Test match is perfectly poised for an exciting third day.

India began the day on a high note, taking a four-run lead into the day from their first innings, but things were soon to go awry. The SCG pitch offered a lot of assistance to the bowlers, particularly Scott Boland, whose consistent lines and lengths troubled the Indian batsmen throughout the day.

Opening batsman Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul were dismissed, with both having fallen to Boland’s rapid pace. Neither of them proved a challenge, as the batsmen were given no respite by the persistent Boland and then Indian captain Virat Kohli was caught soon after while attempting to address his inconsistency in facing Boland. Kohli again nicked one to the slip cordon after allowing the delivery by the Australian seamer to dictate his fate once more.

Rishabh Pant Shines Amidst The Collapse

As Indian batting began to fall on its face, wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant took charge of things with his aggressive nature. Pant began his attacking counter-play by dancing down the track and lofting Boland for a boundary off the first ball he faced. Pant’s aggressive strokeplay, throughout the innings, allowed him to reach a rapid 50 off just 29 balls—this was the second-fastest half-century in India’s Test history.

Pant’s alliance with Ravindra Jadeja, who managed to muster only two runs to the stand of 44 runs, went a long way in giving some stability to India. Pant scored some eye-catching shots, including pulling, cutting, and flicking the ball to the boundary, and his counter-attacking style came in handy in countering Starc and the debutant Beau Webster.

Pant continued to play till the final drinks break of the day. It was Pat Cummins who sent him back, slanting one across the Indian batsman and forcing him to edge the ball behind to the ‘keeper. For the fourth time in the series, Pant became a victim to Cummins’ brilliance, consolidating his authority over the Indian wicket-keeper batsman.

Australia’s Counterattack And India’s Response

When Pant went, Australia held back the Indians from scoring any further. Immediately after that, Nitish Reddy was caught by Boland when he struck one straight to mid-off. While the scoring of Indians remained slow, Australian bowlers, in particular Boland, kept finding their way through the Indian middle order, and it was 141/6 at stumps. This made India’s lead at the end of the day be considerable, but still the match remains balanced as a lot is in store yet for this contest to move further.

Excellent Bowling Of India

The day belonged, however, to India’s pacers. The opening hour itself saw Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj set the tone, where Bumrah sent Marnus Labuschagne back to the pavilion after a minor review for a faint edge down the leg. India’s top-order pacers continued to make it difficult for Australia’s to play their usual game, Siraj taking the wickets of Travis Head to give Australia problems.

In the absence of Bumrah after he was suspected to be injured, the younger bowlers of India responded well. A two-wicket burst by Nitish Reddy, where both Cummins and Starc got dismissed, restricted Australia to only 181 runs in their first innings. Prasidh Krishna also played an important role when he took the vital wicket of Beau Webster-the only Australian who showed some resistance with 57 runs.

Recovery By Australia

Despite the early wobble, Australia made some headway in the middle session mainly due to Steve Smith’s survival skills and Webster’s consistent batting. The duo added a crucial 57-run partnership for the fifth wicket. At this stage, Australia seemed to stabilize when Prasidh Krishna dismissed Steve Smith for 33, which put the Aussies in a vulnerable position at 39/4.

With Australia’s middle order struggling, India seemed to have the upper hand heading into the final session. However, Scott Boland’s heroics with the ball made sure that the game remained open, as his excellent figures of 4/42 brought Australia back into contention.

Brief Scores

India: 185 and 141/6 (Rishabh Pant 61; Scott Boland 4-42)
Australia: 181 (Beau Webster 57, Steve Smith 33; Prasidh Krishna 3-42)

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