OUR FINCH FLOPS
Geelong opener out for third-ball duck as Aussie bats struggle against Indian attack in Adelaide.
HOMETOWN hero Travis Head is preaching positivity as he hunts a dream century and unlikely first-innings lead at Adelaide Oval, having dragged Australia to 7-191 at stumps on day two of the first Test against India.
The hosts’ star-studded pace attack exceeded expectations by restricting India to 250, completing the innings when Josh Hazlewood struck with yesterday’s first ball.
The question was always going to be whether Australia could scrape together a winning score in the absence of suspended superstars Steve Smith and David Warner, on whom they have relied so much in recent years.
Australia crashed to 4-87 and missed a golden chance to hammer home its ascendancy, but Head, unbeaten on 61 in his first home Test, isn’t intimidated by India’s 59-run lead.
“We hung in there . . . India bowled exceptionally well, put us under pressure,” Head said on Fox Cricket.
“We’ve done well . . . it was a fantastic little fightback at the end and it’s going to be a really important first hour in the morning.”
Aaron Finch, out for a third-ball duck in his first home Test, Marcus Harris, Usman Khawaja and Shaun Marsh were swept aside by the tourists.
Head, the first South Australian batsman to play a Test in Adelaide since Darren Lehmann, fought back and his 50run partnership with Pat Cummins was Australia’s most-productive stand.
“It was a tough day . . . we fought really well,” Harris said. “We’re in a decent position.”
There was no chaotic collapse, but also no batsman capable of scoring freely on a day when India delivered 31 maidens and Australia stroked only 17 boundaries.
Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar suggested he’d never seen Australia’s batsmen adopt such a “defensive mindset” at home.
Harris believed Australia’s run rate of 2.17 was a product of several factors. “Obviously, you want to attack all the time but, sometimes, it’s not that easy. The wicket wasn’t overly easy to score on, they bowled really well and set some good fields,” the debutant said.
Ravichandran Ashwin, whose Test bowling average in Australia was an unflattering 54.71 before this game, accounted for left-handers Harris, Khawaja and Marsh. Virat Kohli later handed Ashwin the second new ball but the gun offspinner couldn’t prise out Head or Mitchell Starc.
“I see the game as neck and neck,” Ashwin said. “It is extremely well poised. Every run is going to be gold dust.”
Harris and Khawaja were undone on 26 and 28 respectively by challenging, wellflighted deliveries but Marsh’s sixth-consecutive single-figure score at Test level was more of a gift.
Marsh’s eyes lit up at the sight of a wide delivery floated outside off stump by Ashwin but, rather than crack it through covers, the veteran managed a thick edge that dislodged the leg bail.
Finch attempted to cover drive a ball from Ishant Sharma that deserved more respect and ultimately uprooted two stumps.
“We’ve done well ... it was a fantastic little fightback at the end and it’s going to be a really important first hour in the morning.” TRAVS HEAD