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15 overs: Australia 53-4 (Smith 17, Webster 1) Australia struggle in Sydney. Smith chokes Prasidh Krishna again. Krishna is playing his third Test for India and has 65 wickets and just two wickets so far. But he’s tall, hungry, and fast, driving them down at about 90 miles per hour. Smith doesn’t care. He leans back and casually pulls him straight up six times! Now he went in the opposite direction, leaning into the last ball and heaving it over the offside ring for his fourth time. Smith needs 21 runs to reach 10,000 test runs.
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14th over: Australia 43-4 (Smith 7, Webster 1) Webster dominate! He attacked Siraj hard and the ball went off the tip of the cue and landed just short of third slip. close! Now the big all-rounder from Snug has taken one at cover and missed the mark in Test cricket. Siraj swings the ball harder than Austin Powers. He beat Smith in the fourth, but the Australian No. 4 got revenge in the next book and made it a three-point lead.
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13th over: Australia 39-4 (Smith 4, Webster 0) Australia soar at the SCG! Beau Webster comes off as a substitute in his first Test innings. But the first new student, Prasidh Krishna, joined Steve Smith. His first ball exploded off the pitch, backing towards Smith and cannonballing into his hands. That was the worst! Smith left the rest a little upset.
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Wicket! Head c Jaiswar b Siraj 4 (India 39-4)
The head has arrived. Head walks the first pitch. Head edge…head go! What an end for Mohammed Shira! A reward for great fast bowling. Head did what Head is supposed to do, swinging off his toes off the first ball and scoring the most glorious four. Siraj put the next one wide and full. A jagged ball came back to the header who was fielding and he caught the thick edge and it flew into the slip cordon and Jaiswal, who had dropped three catches in Melbourne, took his second catch in three balls. Ta!
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Updated on 00.23 GMT
Wicket! Constas c Jaiwal b Siraj 23 (Australia 35-3)
Constance show is over! Beautiful bowling by Siraj. He tossed the ball wide and Constas went for it but it swung away and the ball went to Jaiswal in the gully. Jaiswal took a sharp chance. Australian fans are disappointed and depressed, but India are on a roll!
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Updated on 00.21 GMT
11th over: Australia 35-2 (Constas 23, Smith 4) Constas ramps to Bumrah! It came flying down the middle, over the slip, and bounced twice before hitting the rope. The crowd roars. Kid Dynamite isn’t here. Bumrah saw him coming at second and took it outside. Constas doesn’t back down. He hit the third one and was hit in the ribs. There was another RBI in the fourth, but it didn’t connect, and he instead scored a run with a top edge over the infield. Smith stayed away until the end and won four byes on fine leg. The end of an eventful event!
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10 overs: Australia 26-2 (Constas 18, Smith 4) Siraj is swinging! That left Constas late and drew thousands from the cordon. Constas stands tall, mouth twitching, watching two scrambled seam deliveries pass by. He was waiting for a wide shot and Siraj took a look down fine leg and fired the fifth one. Australian Trail by 159.
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Updated on 00.05 GMT
9th over: Australia 25-2 (Constas 17, Smith 4) Constas cracks a four! We saw that shot in Melbourne where it comes down to Bumrah and drives across the ground. He hits the next one too, from the bottom end to the skinny leg.
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8th over: Australia 16-2 (Constace 12, Smith 4) Steve Smith comes on. He was dismissed needing 38 runs to reach 10,000 Test runs, and Bumrah’s quick single made him 37. This time he confronted Siraj and punched him three times on the ground. A quick start for Smudge! It was a painful experience for Siraj, who tore his finger while trying to stop the urge. Blood on the ticket gate. And now it’s almost out of stock! Constas cut it off from his hip, and Smith departed, but Constas drove him back. Smith had to sprawl to make ground. A direct hit would have killed him. Constas scores another run and goes wide over the gully.
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Wicket! Labuschagne c Pant b Bumrah 2 (Australia 15-2)
Tick, tick, tick… Bumrah! He’s done it again. With some brilliant bowling from India’s No. 1 man and Marnath, the snails start returning to the pavilion. It was a pearl in a ball, and I lifted it up as I bit into it, kissing the edge along the way. Sure enough, Snicko showed static electricity and Labuschagne disappeared. Australia runs into trouble early on the second day!
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Updated on 00.19 GMT
7th over: Australia 15-1 (Constace 11, Labuschagne 2) Bounce back to Bumrah! Labuschagne suppresses it well. He will be undone by the next production. It was a big appeal, but the referee didn’t raise his finger. India seems very confident and is going to send it upstairs for review…
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6th over: Australia 15-1 (Constas 11, Labuschagne 2) Constas loses! Nice outswinger from Siraj. Next is the middle and leg wobble seam delivery setup. Constas stops him. The fourth ball was wide and wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant tumbled and landed on the ball to prevent a bye. He can’t stop it! Constas swung the ball again and cracked it through the two covers.
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5th over: Australia 11-1 (Constace 9, Labuschagne 2) Here comes Jasprit Bumrah. Marnus Labuschagne is on strike. He blocked the first car, stepped out to the second car, and the two of them drove off. It was a good start for Marnus. Bumrah forces him into the next attack. This SCG pitch still has plenty of one-bounds left from the day. Bumrah is clocking up to 135 kmph while looking for his 32nd wicket of the series.
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Updated on 23.43 GMT
4th over: Australia 11-1 (Constace 9, Labuschagne 0) Conceded from the first ball! Siraj deflected into the pads and Constas clipped him square for two. This will calm down the child’s nerves. The next two innings, the fastball met the fastball. India was in good spirits this morning and no one was louder than Virat Kohli at first slip. Constas blocks one and leaves one with that Elvis rip curl. It’s far away!
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The players are on the field and we are about to start the game. Australia’s Sam Constas will take on India’s Mohammed Siraj at Paddington End.
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This is the 112th Test between these cricketing greats. Australia have won 47 matches, India have won 33 matches and there have been 30 draws. There was one draw, and one of the heroes of the 1986 thriller was Dean Jones, who went down in history as one of the bravest players of all time, pitching 210 innings in 45-degree heat in Madras/Chennai. I’m leaving it behind.
Shannon Gill has these fascinating characteristics about Deano:
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More than 47,000 fans turned out at the Sydney Cricket Ground yesterday and lines are still snaking today, especially in hopes of seeing Sam Constas bat.
We don’t know if India shares Australia’s love for the Sundance Kid from Kogarah. Whether he’s batting like a boy in the backyard, squealing on the field or playing in front of a crowd, the 19-year-old is winning hearts in the way only a loud-mouthed teenager can.
Here’s how Constas started his innings yesterday. This child’s stone…
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Updated on 23.25 GMT
Feel free to send me an email while you’re playing that day. Yesterday, The Globe talked about the validity of Steve Smith’s catch on Virat Kohli, the stability of Rishabh Pant’s Hector protector, and whether Usman Khawaja’s last-minute slump was to blame or Sam Constas’ lip service. Some strong opinions piled up in my inbox from all four corners of . Because Jasprit Bumrah stood up and called out the Jafa who took Australia’s first wicket.
While you’re online, donate to the McGrath Foundation with this Pink Test.
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The first day was arm wrestling, but it almost turned into a bar brawl. Here’s how that dramatic final moment unfolded…
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For those of you who joined us late, here’s how Jeff Lemon looked at opening day…
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preamble
Angus Fontaine
Hello all cricket fans. Welcome to the second day of the fifth and final Test between Australia and India in Sydney, where the skies are blue and the fish are jumping.
The first day was extremely hot. India’s batsmen were battered on the spicy Sydney green tops, but they got better. They scored 185 runs and no batsman scored more than 40, but they suffered just as many bruises. Australia’s bowlers struggled relentlessly, with Mitchell Starc picking up three wickets in 18 overs, followed by Pat Cummins with two. The quiet hero was Scott Boland, who took 4-31 from an excellent 20 overs with eight maidens.
As we’ve come to expect from both of them, there was plenty of drama and controversy. Boland catches Virat Kohli’s edgy first ball, Steve Smith grabs the gripper under the catch and flicks the ball up to Marnus Labuschagne, causing chaos…the third umpire… I only noticed that a blade of grass was touching the ball.
Another flashpoint came in the final moments of the day when Jasprit Bumrah lost his cool against a stalled Usman Khawaja at the striker’s end. Sam Constas, who thrilled the crowd throughout the day with his two catches and over 2000 selfies, threw a little shade in Bumrah’s way to support his partner and the two advanced on each other. The referee got a stopper on the faceoff, but the bear was being pecked. Bumrah charged well with the devil’s ball and caught Khawaja’s advantage, leaving Australia at 9-1 at the stumps.
I left it like that. How will we start today? Constas is seven not out after skipping down and sending Bumrah’s first ball of the innings to the boundary. The mysterious boy has big goals today. Will he be able to survive and grow like he did during his time at MCG? Or will India regain momentum as they need a win to win the series?
Place it on a batten and secure it with a buckle. We’ll find out at 10:30am AEST.
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