India Vs Australia, Day Two, First Test: Talking Points

Feb 24, 2017 at 7:16 PM

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India Vs Australia, Day Two, First Test: Talking Points

Dry as a bone pitch, which did not seem a batsman’s delight so far, has been the focus of attention among cricket experts and fans, as the ongoing Test match has seen some incredible performances with the ball particularly from the spinners of India and Australia.

An odd SG ball spun viciously while fast bowlers had also their share as the cherry reversed too and that was icing on the cake.

It’s has been an absorbing Test for Australia as they dominated India on the second Day of the first Test at Maharashtra Cricket Association after Steve O’Keefe spun the visitors in a command in the post-lunch session.

The Day was summed up by probing spells, players writhed in pain, flighted deliveries, miscued hits, missed opportunities and young boys hold onto the ball in the stands after skipper Virat Kohli was desperate to go upstairs for a review which only resulted in a loss of two reviews in before 40 overs.

Adding to the stats, Kohli has 30 unsuccessful reviews in 39 reviews he has gone for so far as captain in Test cricket.

The stumps were drawn when Australia was 143 for four in 46 over with skipper Steven Smith unbeaten on 59 off 117 balls and Mitchell Marsh 21 off 48 balls.

Australia is leading India by 298 runs with six wickets in hand.

Spinners Had A Lion’s Share:

Australian spinner bowled aggressively to pick seven wickets in 24.1 overs after conceding 56 runs.

When Australia came back in their second innings, it was the turn of hosts’ spinners as they picked all four wickets so far.

Ashwin, Jadeja and Jayant sent down 38 overs to pick four wickets after giving away 121 runs.

For the second day, Australian and Indian spinners shared 11 wickets.

Steve O’Keefe – The Man With Perfect Six:

It was the day of left-arm orthodox spinner when he bagged three wickets in an over to swing the pendulum in his team’s favour.

The Malaysia-born 32-year-old bagged his career best of 6 for 35 in Tests after bowling splendidly well while keeping the things straight and simple with the ball in his hand.

O’Keefe picked six wickets in 24 deliveries to put his side in control against Test-ranked Number one team India.

O’Keefe picked the wickets of KL Rahul, Wriddhiman Saha, Ravindra Jadeja, Jayant Yadav, Umesh Yadav

“I was bit nervous in the first spell. Everyone fielded really well to give bowlers a chance. Change of ends did the trick as it spun well. It was a good day against the quality outfit. We would come back tomorrow with an intent to win the game,” said Steve O’Keefe after the stumps on Day Two.

Missed Opportunities:

Indian fielders had missed vital opportunities on Day 2 on the field as they put down four catches on Day Two to give Australia batsman a chance to add crucial runs in their significant first-innings lead of 155.

However, adding to the frustration, Virat Kohli used both the reviews after the first-innings deficit off 155 when Australia extended the lead on a spin-friendly wicket.

Steven Smith’s Fifty:

Unorthodox in style with the bat, but having such demeanour makes Smith the highlight for Australia in the first Test so far.

The 27-year-old skipper scored 59 off 117 runs at the strike-rate of 50.43 while hitting seven boundaries to pile on the misery for the host.

The Dramatic Collapse:

After the probing spells from Australian fast bowlers in the morning session as Mitchell Starc bagged two wickets and Hazlewood a wicket of Murali Vijay before Steve O’Keefe claimed six wickets and Nathan Lyon also claimed a wicket of Ravichandran Ashwin.

India collapsed before being bundled out on 105 while losing last seven wickets for just 11 runs to give Australia a solid lead of 155.

Ravindra Jadeja Mimics Steven Smith:

Courtesy: Star Sports

It was the moment of the day when Steven Smith missed the ball from the left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja only to find the gloves of Wridhimman Saha before Smith shrugged his shoulders in a way to appreciate the ball from Jadeja which pitched and spun.

Jadeja, who is an off-field entertainer too, was quick to imitate Smith by shaking his shoulders which even impressed the standing umpire Richard Kettleborough who was at the non-striker’s end.

Peter Handscomb – The Man With Perfect Hands:

The man under the nose of a batsman took two spectacular catches to dismiss Ajinkya Rahane and Ravichandran Ashwin. Australian fielding has been good on the Day Two.

After showing a presence of mind, Handscomb held onto a dying ball off the bowling of Steve O’Keefe in 33rd over when Rahane was batting on 13 off 15 balls to see India scorecard as 95 for 5.

Flames Beyond The Boundary Interrupts The Game:

The incident happened when India was batting when LED junction box caught fire.

As the smoke billowed from the box which seemed to be connected with the electronic hoardings beyond the boundary line, the game was interrupted when India were 66 for three with Ajinkya Rahane and KL Rahul batting in the middle.

The Pune groundstaff, later on, doused the flames when the fire extinguisher was brought in from the store.

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