ANI
Brisbane
A return-to-form century from Steve Smith and another rampaging ton from Travis Head outshined Jasprit Bumrah’s lone warrior effort, guiding Australia to a 400-run mark at the end of day two of the third Test against India at The Gabba in Brisbane on Sunday.
At the end of the day’s play, Australia were 405 for 7, with Alex Carey (45*) and Mitchell Starc (7*) unbeaten.
Australia started the final session at 234-3, with Steve Smith (65*) and Travis Head (103*) unbeaten.
Smith and Head continued from where they had left in the previous session, smashing an inexperienced Nitish Kumar Reddy and spinner Ravindra Jadeja for boundaries.
Australia reached the 250-run mark in 72 overs.
Head and Smith also completed a quickfire 200-run stand in 252 balls. It was their second 200-plus runs stand against India, with the previous one coming against India in the ICC World Test Championship final.
With a fine boundary past mid-wicket on a Jasprit Bumrah delivery, Australia reached the 300-run mark in 80.1 overs and the scoreboard was ticking really well.
After a gorgeous drive towards mid-on for four against Akash Deep, Smith took a single to reach his 33rd Test century in 185 balls, with 12 fours. This was Smith’s first century in 25 innings - the longest break for him without a three-figure score. The previous longest being 22 innings since his debut to maiden Test century.
However, just three balls after his century, Smith was caught behind for 101 in 190 balls by skipper Rohit in the slips. It was Bumrah who broke the 241-run stand. Australia was 316/4 in 83 overs.
In the 87th over, Bumrah turned the tides slightly in India’s favour, first getting Mitchell Marsh caught by Virat Kohli in slips for five runs in 16 balls and then getting the massive wicket of Head for 152 runs in 160 balls, with 18 fours. He was caught behind by Rishabh Pant. Australia were 327/6 in 87 overs.
Later, the partnership between Alex Carey and skipper Pat Cummins started to frustrate the Indians.
Ultimately, it was Mohammed Siraj which ended the 58-run partnership by getting Cummins for 20 in 33 balls, after being caught behind by Pant. Australia was 385/7 in 97.5 overs.
Carey managed to hang on and took Australia beyond the 400-run mark. He and Mitchell Starc helped the Aussies get through the remainder of the session without any wicket lost.
When both teams returned for Tea, Australia’s score stood at 234/3, with Smith and Head unbeaten with scores of 65(149) and 103(118), respectively.
While the first session was arguably shared by both sides, the second completely belonged to Australia, courtesy of Head’s blistering century.
Smith and Head continued with their crusade of piling up runs on the board as the wicket flattened out over time. The wicket slowly turned into a batting paradise Head took the brunt on his shoulder of swiftly garnering runs.
Scores: Australia 1st Inns: 405/7 (Travis Head 152, Steve Smith 101, Jasprit Bumrah 5/72) vs India.
