Smith, Marsh tons put Oz on course
SMOOTH START Skipper and middleorder batsman dominate India A bowlers to tick boxes on opening day of Australia’s Test tour
MUMBAI : Skipper Steven Smith and Shaun Marsh struck centuries, sending an ominous message that Australia will be a tough nut to crack in the fourTest series starting in Pune on February 23.
Put into bat by India ‘A’ in their only three-day game before the series, Australia posted 327 for five on Day One at the Brabourne Stadium on Friday.
Smith (107 off 161 balls) and Marsh (104 off 173 balls) retired after reaching the three-figure mark. Smith smashed 12 boundaries and six while Marsh hit 11 fours and one six. At stumps, Mitchell Marsh and Matthew Wade were on 16 and seven respectively.
There was no change in David Warner’s approach as he looked to attack from the beginning. He set the early tempo with four boundaries, but pacer Navdeep Saini got the leading edge as the left-handed batsman looked to pull a short delivery.
The Haryana pacer struck again, removing the other opener, Matt Renshaw. Having batted patiently for 11 off 41 balls, Rehshaw poked at a short delivery, and edged to wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan.
Smith and Marsh steadied the innings with a 156-run third wicket stand. The India A bowlers tried every trick to get the Australian duo, but they hardly gave them a chance.
Ahead of the India tour, the Australia players had been advised to develop the sweep shot if they had to succeed in India, after the way former opener Matthew Hayden dominated the bowling in the iconic 2001 series. Although India rallied to win 2-1, but the big lefthander was outstanding, standing outside the crease to negate the spinners as he amassed 549 runs at an average of 109.8.
Smith and Marsh though hardly deployed the sweep shot, and neither was troubled by the Indian attack. Both took the cautious approach and looked to spend as much time as possible in the middle.
Apart from Warner, none of the Aussie batsmen looked in a hurry to score runs — an approach they are expected to adopt during the Tests.
Smith brought up his century with a crisp cut off off-spinner Akhil Herwadkar, shortly before Australia put up 200 on the board. The Australian skipper retired as Peter Handscomb joined Marsh after tea break.
Marsh, however, was not as fluent as Smith. He gave India ‘A’ bowlers a chance to dismiss him, but Saini dropped a straightforward chance at midwicket off Herwadkar’s bowling when he was on 88.
The sweep shot was on display the first time when Marsh used it against Herwadkar to reach his century. Saini, who suffered cramp in his groin while bowling his 11th over, was the only India ‘A’ bowler to impress with figures of 12.4-4-27-2. Ashoke Dinda, who completed the remaining two deliveries of Saini’s over, bowled some probing deliveries but was unable to get a breakthrough.
K Gowtham, the Karnataka off-spinner, suffered an injury after the lunch break and was sent for a scan. To prevent the Aussies from reading chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav, who is part of the Test squad, was released from the squad on the eve of the match. Sri Lanka’s chinaman spinner Lakshan Sandakan had troubled the Australian batsmen last year during a threeTest series in the island nation.
Australia 327/5 (Steve Smith 107 retd out, Shaun Marsh 104 retd out; Navdeep Saini 2/27) MUMBAI: Preparation wise, Australia have left no stone unturned to get all their bases covered ahead of their four-Test series against India starting February 23.
It has now boiled down to selection for playing XI for the first Test in Pune. And going by Friday’s selection for the three-day tour game against India ‘A’ at the Brabourne Stadium, it is clear that Shaun Marsh will be among the five-specialist batsmen.
It was a contest between Usman Khawaja and Marsh for the middle-order berth which the latter sealed with a fine 104 (retired) on Day One as Australia posted 327/3.
Marsh and his skipper Steve Smith (107 retired) posted a 156run third-wicket partnership. Marsh may not have the experience of playing in Tests in India, but his record in the subcontinent is a reason that makes him a clear favourite.
While Khawaja had a disappointing tour of Sri Lanka last year, Marsh had scored two centuries against Sri Lanka and has been hugely successful in Indian Premier League. “It’s just a good place. It’s a really great challenge,” said Marsh about successful stints in the subcontinent.
“I’ve played a lot of cricket over here, whether it is one-day cricket or IPL cricket or Test cricket in Sri Lanka. So, I feel comfortable out there. I know it’s going to be a good challenge, and I just want to enjoy it,” said Marsh after the first day’s play.
In India, Marsh has scored 155 runs in five ODIs, 180 runs in eight T20Is and 2213 runs in 61 IPL matches.
Marsh said the challenging conditions in India excite him. “It’s a place where I’ve always enjoyed coming and playing. This Test series is going to be a really good challenge for us as well, coming up against a quality opposition. It’s going to be a great series for everyone,” he said.
Although the conditions and the quality of spin attack were nowhere close to what the Australians would experience in the Tests, Marsh said he is well-prepared to tackle the quality Indian spinners on turning tracks.
“They’ll take spin like Sri Lanka did the last year. It spun over there. So, we know what wickets we’re going to get. It’s just about being ready for it and players having a really strong game plan and sticking to it. Just challenging each other, it’s going to be good fun,” said Marsh.