Head fights after Ashwin’s strikes ‘Test well poised, every run is gold dust from here’
ADELAIDE TEST Off-spinner takes three but an unbeaten fifty from Australian steadies hosts on Day 2
ADELAIDE: Travis Head hit a stubborn half-century to keep Australia in the hunt on Friday after their top order slumped under sustained pressure from India’s bowlers, leaving the first Test in Adelaide finely poised.
Batting on his home ground, Head kept his cool in the humid conditions to be 61 not out at stumps on day two, with Mitchell Starc unbeaten on eight.
His efforts helped steer Australia to 191/7 in reply to India’s 250.
Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin bowled beautifully to take three wickets, while Ishant Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah grabbed two each.
It was Head’s second 50 in his third Test, with the Adelaideborn 24-year-old playing the sort of gutsy innings that his more experienced teammates couldn’t match.
All of Australia’s top four were back in the pavilion without passing 30, with Aaron Finch (0) and Shaun Marsh (2) notable failures.
It once again reinforced how much Australia are missing Steve Smith and David Warner, who remain banned over their part in the South Africa balltampering affair.
“It was nice to do a job for the team and it will be an exciting day on Saturday,” said Head.
Debutant Marcus Harris, who made 26, said: “It was a tough day, it wasn’t easy to score. I think we’re in a decent position.”
India resumed on 250/9, but they were unable to add to the total with tailender Mohammed Shami out for six on the first ball of the day, caught behind by Tim Paine off Josh Hazlewood, leaving Bumrah unbeaten on 0.
Hazlewood finished with 3/52. Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon all took two wickets each.
HORROR START
In reply, Australia got off to a horror start with Finch’s credentials as an opener again called into question after he was spectacularly bowled without scoring on only the third ball he faced.
A lovely delivery from Sharma took out his middle and off stumps after getting an inside edge as Finch attempted a drive.
Harris looked in good nick and unruffled by the occasion, hitting three fours in his solid 26.
But he was undone by a drifting ball from Ashwin, getting an edge to Murali Vijay at silly midoff and ending a 45-run partnership with a slimmed-down Usman Khawaja who was back after knee surgery.
Ashwin’s off spin was causing problems and Marsh needlessly slashed at a wide delivery in the first over after lunch, dragging it onto his wicket.
The woeful shot extended his dire recent Test form and left Australia in trouble at 59-3. Marsh has now slumped to six consecutive single-figure scores, failing to step up in the absence of Smith and Warner.
Khawaja, whose Test preparations were disrupted after the shock arrest of his brother this week for allegedly framing a loverival with a fake terror plot, was Ashwin’s next victim.
Wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant took an excellent catch after a turning ball flicked off Khawaja’s glove. He was out for 28 on a review decision.
A gritty knock from Peter Handscomb, brought into the side for all-rounder Mitch Marsh, ended on 34 soon after tea with Bumrah breaking what was shaping as a handy partnership with Head. 6 0 S Marsh b Ashwin 2 P Handscomb c Pant b Bumrah 34 T Head batting 61 T Paine c Pant b Ishant 5 P Cummins lbw b Bumrah 10 M Starc batting 8 Extras (lb 9, b 6, nb 2)
Total (7 wickets; 88 overs)
FOW: 1-0, 2-45, 3-59, 4-87, 5-120, 6-127, 7-177
Bowling: I Sharma 15-6-31-2, J Bumrah 20-9-34-2, M Shami 16-6-51-0, R Ashwin 33-9-50-3, M Vijay 4-1-10-0 ADELAIDE: Far from getting excited after having Australia in a spot of bother, India off-spinner R Ashwin said Friday the first Test is “extremely well poised” and every run in the remaining days will be worth its weight in gold.
“I thought we really bottled them up, soaked them up and put on pressure from both ends,” said Ashwin, the most successful visiting bowler with figures of 3/50.
“We don’t isolate it as a fast bowling or spin bowling pack. We identify it as a bowling unit together because one cannot exist without the other. It was another perfect attrition day for us,” he said at the post-match press conference.
“I bowled an extended 22-over spell even before and after tea to make sure that we do not give away more runs. I see it as neckand-neck in the game. Whoever can get momentum from hereon has the edge in this Test. I think it is extremely well poised. Every run is going to be gold dust from here.”
About the pitch condition, he said, “I thought there was a bit more stickiness on Thursday and the speed has definitely come down. When we were batting I don’t think it was as slow as it was today. I think the wicket has slowed down considerably and I don’t expect it to quicken up more either. I think it’s going to slow down more.”
Ashwin refrained from predicting if the pitch will deteriorate more. “I don’t know what’s going to happen because it is a drop-in wicket. Because of the amount of grass I don’t see the footmarks widening as much as they did the last time (in 2014). If anything has to be done, you have to do it on the fourth or fifth day. We need to see how much it grips.”
Ashwin felt that the drift he was able to get did the trick for him.
“There is not a lot happening off the straight or fizzing through (off the pitch), nothing like that. I was getting drift both ways, in and out, and I was able to control both that drift and get the batsmen holding their feet inside as well as outside the stump and hence hold them.
“That’s how we got Usman Khawaja out and Shaun Marsh out as well. That’s something that worked in my favour because of the drift, the ball going away and coming back in. It happens in Melbourne too. So I am backing on that to give me some really good results,” he said.
Asked about bowling to the Australian left-handers, in particular Shaun Marsh, whom he has dismissed five times now, Ashwin said, “There is a certain pattern that we saw through his videos before we got into the game. It was a sort of initial set-up that we wanted to do. Today the plan worked and not in the fashion that he dragged it on.”
By bowling slower and fuller, Ashwin unlocked Australia’s middle order with intelligence and skill. On nature of Adelaide pitch We don’t isolate it as a fast bowling or spin bowling pack. We identify it as a bowling unit together because one cannot exist without the other.
On bowling in partnerships