Australia couldn’t survive to stumps after profitable the toss and electing to bat first in Delhi, bowled out for 263 on day one of many second Test in opposition to India.
Usman Khawaja and Peter Handscomb registered fifties whereas Indian seamer Mohammed Shami was the decide of the bowlers with 4 wickets.
After his shock axing in Nagpur, Travis Head earned a recall, whereas Queensland spinner Matthew Kuhnemann grew to become Australia’s 466th males’s Test cricketer after receiving his dishevelled inexperienced.
The hosts had been 0-21 at stumps, nonetheless trailing by 242 runs.
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WARNER ‘IN A LITTLE BIT OF TROUBLE’
David Warner’s Test profession is hanging by a thread after one other failure with the bat on Friday.
The veteran opener scratched his means in direction of 15 earlier than falling sufferer to Shami within the sixteenth over – the Indian seamer delivered an absolute peach from across the wicket, getting the ball to nip away from the left-hander, who feathered a catch by means of to wicketkeeper Srikar Bharat.
It was Warner’s highest rating of the sequence so far, having registered 1 and 10 within the sequence opener in Nagpur.
Warner’s susceptibility to tempo from across the wicket has plagued the 36-year-old since Stuart Broad tormented him all through the 2019 Ashes sequence. His lack of Test runs in India can be trigger for concern – he has mustered 414 runs in 19 innings at a disappointing common of 21.78.
Speculation about Warner’s spot within the Test aspect erupted earlier this summer time, however the New South Welshman silenced his critics with an emphatic 200 in opposition to South Africa within the Boxing Day Test on the MCG.
Unfortunately, that marathon knock is beginning to look extra like an outlier relatively than a long-awaited return to type – it stays his solely Test century during the last three years.
Besides the exceptional double-century in opposition to the Proteas, Warner’s most up-to-date Test knocks are 15, 10, 1, 10, 3, 0, 28, 21, 48, 5, 24, and 5, 10* and 25.
“I think he’s in a little bit of trouble, David Warner,” former Test all-rounder Brendon Julian stated on Fox Cricket.
“I know he missed out on the first Test match and he made that great 200 at the MCG. But I don’t know. I just think second innings, is he under a little bit of pressure here?”
Australian legend Allan Border continued: “And you’ve still got to produce, even though he’s built up a lot of coupons.
“All the talk would’ve been about how he copes with the spin bowlers in India. Everyone is vulnerable. You’ve always got to keep producing.
“It’s just looking like he’s a yard behind the ball to me.
“If you walk out in the second innings and get rolled and lose the Test match, all of a sudden the selectors think, ‘We might have to start planning for the future a bit more’. And given his last Tour of England was a horror, they might be thinking, ‘This is the time’.”
It stays unlikely that nationwide selectors would drop Warner in India contemplating his expertise and uncooked expertise, however murmurs about his place within the Test aspect will solely develop in quantity except he rediscovers some type within the second innings.
Australian captain Pat Cummins threw his full assist behind Warner forward of the Delhi Test.
“You saw this year at the Boxing Day Test when he puts pressure back on the opposition he’s pretty hard to bowl to. You don’t get as many good balls, so he knows that. I’m sure that’d be part of his plan,” Cummins informed reporters on Thursday.
“He has been batting really well here. Even in the lead-up I thought he was fantastic.
“I know there’s a lot of talk about spin bowling through the middle, but with that new ball it’s sometimes the hardest time to bat as well.”
Warner was not on the sphere when the Indian innings bought underway late within the night session, with a Cricket Australia spokesman revealing he was feeling unwell following repeated blows to his physique whereas batting.
KHAWAJA’S SIX-YEAR INDIA REDEMPTION
Khawaja was the hero for Australia on day one of many Delhi Test, peeling off a gritty 81 — his highest Test rating in opposition to India — to make sure the guests posted a defendable complete within the first innings.
It was something however a flawless innings from the veteran left-hander, who was aided by a few fortunate DRS calls and a dropped catch at quick leg.
Khawaja briefly thwarted India’s elegant bowling assault at Arun Jaitley Stadium earlier than falling sufferer to Ravindra Jadeja within the afternoon session, trying a reverse sweep that was caught fantastically by KL Rahul at level.
It was only some years in the past that Khawaja was pigeonholed as a batter incapable of scoring runs within the subcontinent. After a profitable dwelling summer time in opposition to South Africa and Pakistan in 2016/17, Khawaja was dropped forward of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in India a few months later, with Australian selectors preferring all-rounder Mitchell Marsh.
The Queenslander was recalled for the primary Test in opposition to Bangladesh in 2017, however axed as soon as once more after registering scores of 1 and 1 in Mirpur. Khawaja out of the blue averaged 14.62 after 5 Tests in Asia with a excessive rating of 26.
National selectors would have been tempted to drop Khawaja once more forward of the 2018 Test sequence in opposition to Pakistan within the United Arab Emirates, however Australia’s high order was determined for knowledgeable gamers following the ball-tampering saga.
Khawaja’s career-defining 141 in Dubai proved a turning level – since that heroic knock in opposition to Pakistan, he has averaged 79.08 with the bat in Asia, peeling off three centuries and 5 fifties in 9 Tests.
The 36-year-old’s redemption in Asia resides proof a younger cricketer shouldn’t be branded a home-track bully after a handful of failures within the subcontinent.
HANDSCOMB ‘STRANDED’ AFTER SELECTION MASTERSTROKE
The Australian selectors have copped loads of criticism during the last couple of weeks, however credit score the place it’s due — recalling Peter Handscomb has confirmed a masterstroke.
The Victorian scored an aesthetic 72 not out within the first innings in Delhi, combining with captain Pat Cummins for a 59-run partnership for the seventh wicket to frustrate India’s bowlers within the night session.
It was Handscomb’s first Test fifty since September 2017, ending a 14-innings streak of low scores in Australian whites.
Handscomb is coming off a prolific dwelling summer time within the Sheffield Shield, accumulating 571 runs at 81.57 in 5 matches for Victoria, headlined by an unbeaten 281 in opposition to Western Australia at Junction Oval.
After 4 years out of the Test aspect, Handscomb earned a Test recall forward of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, scoring a affected person 31 within the first innings of final week’s sequence opener to stem the circulate of wickets in Nagpur.
But Friday’s knock in Delhi was validation for nationwide selectors, who had taken of venture on Handscomb with their courageous horses-for-courses choice.
The right-hander was affected person within the center, hardly ever dropping focus or misjudging a supply. He revered the nice balls and pushed the unhealthy ones into gaps within the area, rotating the strike with ease.
“This is a very, very important innings for Peter Handscomb’s Test career … well played,” former Australian batter Mark Waugh stated in commentary.
“This has been such a solid innings. He’s put a high price on his wicket, he’s protecting that castle like its vital.”
Handscomb oozed class on day one, and Australia can be tempted to raise him up the batting order within the second innings, notably contemplating he was left stranded with the tail.
“I would think about swapping Handscomb and Head in the order,” commentator Gerard Whateley stated on SEN.
“Head doesn’t need time, he will attack, Pete is a grafter and he will be stranded here again.”
SHOULD AUSSIES HAVE ABANDONED ‘BLUEPRINT’?
Did Australia make a mistake choosing three strike spinners for the Delhi Test? For a quick second on Friday morning, it actually appeared that was the case.
For the primary time since 2017, Australia chosen a trio of turners for a Test match – Kuhnemann was handed his dishevelled inexperienced to turn into the nation’s 466th males’s Test cricketer, accompanying Nathan Lyon and Todd Murphy within the beginning XI. Cummins was the lone seamer, with all-rounder Cameron Green unavailable for choice with a finger damage.
Ahead of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Cummins and coach Andrew McDonald emphatically declared that Australia couldn’t decide three strike spinners except Green was match and obtainable to bowl, however after assessing the situations at Arun Jaitley Stadium, Australian selectors took of venture.
“It’s a bit unusual going the three spin and one quick. We feel the pitch here, the conditions, we feel that spin will dominate the game once again,” nationwide selector Tony Dodemaide informed reporters on Friday.
“From what we understand this pitch has been used three times already this year and there’s already substantial cracking in the areas where most of the game is going to be played. That’s the reason for going for the three spinners.”
However, Dodemaide and the choice panel could have been questioning their determination after watching the opening half-hour unravel in Delhi.
Shami and Mohammed Siraj unearthed a stunning quantity of bounce with the brand new ball on Friday morning, with the wicket providing loads of help for the quicks. It was a stark distinction to final week’s pitch in Nagpur, the place short-pitched bowling was a rarity.
Warner was troubled by Siraj on a number of events, hitting the veteran opener on the helmet and the elbow to go away the left-hander in noticeable discomfort. The 36-year-old finally departed for 15 after Shami bought a supply to nip away off the floor, kissing the skin edge and carrying by means of to wicketkeeper Srikar Bharat.
Shami, who completed with 4-60 from 14.4 overs, returned within the afternoon session to take away Travis Head, edging the ball in direction of second slip the place KL Rahul claimed a sensible catch. Once once more, the supply had seamed away noticeably from the left-hander.
However, the Delhi wicket will behave very otherwise over the weekend, with the dry pitch anticipated to take loads of activate days three and 4.
The deck was already aiding spinners within the morning session on day one, with Ravichandran Ashwin’s dismissal of Marnus Labuschagne turning previous the within edge.
Six of Australia’s wickets fell to spin — Lyon, Murphy and Kuhnemann will likely be licking their lips on the prospect of bowling on this deck within the fourth innings.
Former Test batter Matthew Hayden declared he didn’t approve of the Australian XI in commentary, however confessed it was the “right team for these conditions”.
“There’s been a blueprint for Australia, and it’s always been to play three quicks, a good quality spinner and an all-rounder,” Hayden stated.
WORRYING LBW TREND EMERGES
Why can’t Australia’s batters get their pads out of the way in which within the subcontinent?
It’s changing into a worrying pattern for Australia’s high order, with 19 wickets falling to LBW of their two most up-to-date Tests in Asia.
During final 12 months’s second Test in opposition to Sri Lanka, 9 of the 20 dismissals had been leg earlier than, with debutant Prabath Jayasuriya wreaking havoc on a turning pitch in Galle.
And that pattern continued in Nagpur final week, the place 10 Australian wickets had been LBW within the Border-Gavaskar Trophy sequence opener in opposition to India. Khawaja, Peter Handscomb and Matthew Renshaw had been every trapped on the pads in each innings at Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, completely outclassed by Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.
“The last couple of Test matches in Asia, which was Sri Lanka and obviously Nagpur, got out a lot to LBW, got out a lot missing on the inside,” Julian stated on Fox Cricket.
Border continued: “It’s a common problem with all our batsmen. You’re just expecting the ball to turn consistently and occasionally pitches will do that.
“On spinning wickets they’re the most dangerous balls, the ones that go straight on. That’s the one you’ve got be really playing for and if it turns past the outside edge, then so be it.
“We’ve got to be a bit more aggressive as in the use of the feet and really watch the ball out of the hands as close as you can.”
Marnus Labuschagne fell sufferer to LBW on Friday, however in all equity, it was a superb supply from Ashwin, who bought the ball to spin viciously off the deck and beat the right-hander’s inside edge.
In the night session, Cummins performed throughout a Jadeja supply, additionally trapped on the entrance pad.
— with Andrew Jackson
Originally revealed as Usman Khawaja’s six-year redemption whereas David Warner ‘in a little bit of trouble’ — Day 1 Talking Points
Source: www.news.com.au
