Putting behind the massive 295-run loss in the Perth opener, Australia
produced a dominating show in the first two days of the Pink-ball Test
against India at the Adelaide Oval before Pat Cummins’ sensational
five-wicket haul helped the hosts complete the formalities en route to
a comprehensive 10-wicket triumph inside the first session of play on
Sunday.
Having resumed the day 29 behind Australia’s first innings lead of
157, and with half of the side back in the pavilion, India lost their
final hope in Rishabh Pant in the very first over of the day when
Mitchell Starc struck with a perfectly pitched delivery to have the
southpaw nicking behind for his overnight score of 28. India
eventually folded for 175, a little over an hour into the first
session, setting Australia a target of 19, which Usman Khawaja and
Nathan McSweeney knocked off within four overs before the first
interval.
India managed to escape the humiliation of an innings defeat when
Cummins was banging one bouncer after another to get rid of
Ravichandran Ashwin, Harshit Rana, and Nitish Kumar Reddy. Local boy
Travis Head then pulled off a tumbling catch to dismiss No. 11
Mohammed Siraj, who was subjected to boos by the Adelaide crowd on
Saturday for his send-off to Head.
Head, who had slammed a 141-ball 140 in the first innings, didn’t have
to return to bat for a second time in the match as Khawaja and
McSweeney applied the finishing touches for the hosts.
After the drubbing in Perth, there were questions raised at the way
some of the top players fared, but they came back strongly in the
second Test to level the series and set up the tone for a closely
fought series in the remainder of the Test series.
Skipper Cummins, who lacked the rhythm in the opening Test, silenced
his critics by leading from the front in the second innings of the
day-night Test. After having hit the top of Rohit’s off stump with the
new ball under lights on Saturday, Cummins used the short-pitched
deliveries with the older pink ball, which wasn’t swinging or seaming
as much under natural light. As a result, he had Ashwin gloving behind
and Rana popping up a catch to gully with a nasty bouncer.
Reddy offered some resistance to the Aussie attack, especially
Cummins’ deadly spell, and hooked a throat-high lifter over square leg
for six, despite two men out on the leg-side boundary. But when
Cummins angled one across him from around the wicket next ball, Reddy
ramped it straight to fine third.
The Hyderabadi seam-bowling all-rounder eventually finished with 42
off 47 balls, making it the third instance in four innings that he had
top-scored for India in his maiden Test series.
For the sizable weekend crowd at the Adelaide Oval, their adopted son
McSweeney dazzled with two boundaries in the slim chase, moments
before their favourite son Travis Head was adjudged the
Player-of-the-match.
Brief Scores: Australia 337 (Head 140, Labuschagne 64, Bumrah 4-61,
Siraj 4-98) and 19 for 0 beat India 180 (Reddy 42, Starc 6-48, Cummins
2-41) and 175 (Reddy 42, Cummins 5-57, Boland 3-51) by 10 wickets.