India ended Day 2 of the 3rd Test on 96 for 2 after bowling out Australia for 338 in Sydney. A total of 10 wickets fell in the second day’s play coupled with some brilliant batting display from batsmen from both teams. There is still a lot of cricket left as India trail by 242 runs at stumps. More about the day 3 report in detail below.
Resuming day two on 106 for 2 Australia went on strongly with their business of building towards a strong total. Steve Smith (131) and Marnus Labuschagne (91) added a 100-run stand to start the day for Australia before a flurry of wickets fell for the Aussies. Then again Mitchell Starc (24) added an important 32-run stand to take the Aussies past 200.
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Steve Smith brings his 27th Test Ton
Ravindra Jadeja was the most successful among all Indian bowlers picking up four for 62. His wickets included Labuschagne, Matthew Wade (13) and Pat Cummins, and Nathan Lyon on ducks to not allow them to post a huge total in the end. Jadeja also hit the bull’s eye to halt Smith’s innings at 131. This was Smith’s 27th Test ton and his eighth vs India.
Shubman Gill Scored His Maiden Test Fifty For India
In reply to Australia’s first innings total, India started off on a good note. Shubman Gill (50) and Rohit Sharma (26) added 70 for the first wicket. This was Gill’s maiden Test fifty after scores of 45 and 35* in his debut Test in Melbourne.
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He hit as many as eight boundaries during his knock and played with good intent and positive footwork. Gill’s innings was cut short by his KKR teammate Pat Cummins who looked the best of all the Australian bowlers. Rohit Sharma during his knock became the first batsman to hit 100 international sixes against Australia.
The Australian bowlers were put on the backfoot by the opening stand of Gill and Rohit. However, two quick wickets just after lunch brought them back into the game. Indian skipper Ajinkya Rahane (5) and Cheteshwar Pujara (9) are unbeaten at stumps. The duo just scored 10 runs in the last 10 overs of the Indian innings thereby giving the Australian bowlers enough room to stage a comeback.
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Earlier Steve Smith became the quickest to reach 27 Test tons in international cricket. He reached the feat in 136 innings. This is also his eighth Test ton vs India, equalling Windies great Viv Richards. Moreover, Steve Smith averages 79.22 in Sydney and this century is proof of his class and ability as a Test batsman.
Brief scores:
Australia 338 (Marnus Labuschagne 91, Steve Smith 131; Jasprit Bumrah 2-66, Navdeep Saini 2-65, Ravindra Jadeja 4-62) lead India 96/2 (Shubman Gill 58) by 242 runs.