BGT | Big Smith ton and late Kohli-Yashasvi scalps leaves Australia with momentum on Day 2

Starting the day at 311/6, Australia needed a partnership to get a solid foothold in the game. But with Smith batting at 68, and a steady Pat Cummins at the other end, Australia were far from done. Starting off with a new ball that was only five overs old, India piled on the pressure from the get-go but the Aussies held on with Cummins playing the role of aggressor bringing up his 25 in just 28 deliveries. The hosts went past the 350 run mark in a Akashdeep over that yielded 15 runs thanks to two fours by the Aussie skipper. As the former skipper brought up his fifth century at the MCG and 11th against India, and the hosts going past 400 runs, the vistors seemed to be running out of ideas. Just after the duo brought up a century stand, Ravindra Jadeja broke the partnership by getting rid of Cummings, who missed out of a fifty by one run. As the players went in for Lunch, 27 overs in the day's play had yielded 143 runs at the cost of just one wicket. 

India came back into the second session with a purpose and after Jadeja, three balls into the session, accounted for Starc's wicket, four balls later Akash Deep sent the dangerous Smith packing for a well made 140. The last wicket still added another 19 runs before Bumrah completed his four-fer dismissing Nathan Lyon for 13 runs. In response, India decided to move skipper Rohit Sharma back to the top of the order but the decision did not help as the Indian star was dismissed by Cummins on the last ball of the second over. The incoming Rahul, though, looked quite comfortable at the crease as he, along with Jaiswal, helped India get to 50 runs without any more hiccups. However, just when India would have hoped that they had gained a foothold in the game, the last ball before Tea broke the partnership as Cummins’ unplayable jaffa sent the Karnataka batter packing with the scoreline reading 51/2.

Jaiswal and Kohli began the rebuild after Tea and as the ball lost its shine, the duo started playing a more attacking brand of cricket. Jaiswal, in particular, looked like he was back to his best as he brought up another half century in 81 deliveries. On the fifth ball of the 41st over, Jaiswal cut Boland for a boundary behind square to bring up the 100 run partnership for the duo. However, on the very next delivery, a horrible mix-up saw both batters at the non striker’s end as Carey whipped off the balls at the other end to send the dangerous Jaiswal to the hut for a well made 82. A couple of overs later, Boland accounted for Kohli before doing the same to Akashdeep, who was sent in as a nightwatchman, to leave India reeling at 159/5. India got through the remainder of the day without any more damage with the scoreboard reading 164/5.

Almost

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Selfless

Revolution

Brutal

Simple

No run

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