On the second day of the third Test in Brisbane, Australia mounted a mid-order fightback to cross 400 against India.
Steve Smith emerges from a slump with a drought-breaking century as Australia post a commanding 405 for 7 on the second day of the third Test against India in Brisbane.Travis Head broke another big century.
Smith shrugged off questions about his place in the team with his hard-earned 101 points, while Head scored a brave 152 points to the delight of most of the 34,227-strong crowd at the Gabba on Sunday. I set it.
“I’m glad I got in, I felt good,” said Smith, who scored his 33rd century in Tests and his first since Lord’s in the 2023 Ashes.
“I missed it for a little while, so I’m happy to reach triple digits again.”
It took Jasprit Bumrah to salvage something from a tough day for India. The pace spearhead took three wickets after tea and ended the day with his 12th five-wicket haul.
Grabbing the new ball, he drove Smith to Rohit at slip, breaking a partnership of 241 with Head, and removing all-rounder Mitchell Marsh (5) and Head in quick succession.
But Bumrah’s bravery made India even more dependent on its star quick.
Recall pacer Akash Deep and spinner Ravindra Jadeja were wicketless, while seamer Mohammed Siraj held his hamstring while bowling in the morning and spent time off the field.
Alex Carey is unbeaten with 45 wins, while Mitchell Starc has seven losses to push Australia over 400 wins.
Challenging wicket
It was Head and Smith’s day, with the former scoring a winning 140 in the pink-ball Test in Adelaide and the latter scoring his 10th century against India.
Smith hit one from deep on his pads, ending his longest 100-hitter streak and bringing the Gabba crowd to their feet. The 35-year-old gave the Australian team a cold look and kissed the emblem on his helmet.
Head soared to triple digits and hit three full tosses from Bumrah in the final minutes before tea time to reach his ninth Test century and cross 150 with almost one run and one ball.
“I’m happy to come out and start again and build a great partnership and contribute to this day,” Head said.
“It’s a great wicket… It was challenging, they bowled pretty well.”
Siraj was rewarded late on as he trailed Australian captain Pat Cummins by 20 points, but he looked far from his personal best.
Head and Smith continued to bat throughout the middle session, unraveling India’s hard work in the morning.
Rohit Sharma’s side took early wickets bowling just 13.2 overs on the rain-hit opening day and shared the points till lunch.
Australia resumed on the 28th without a loss, with Bumrah hitting his seventh ball of the morning as opener Usman Khawaja trailed by 21 runs. In the next over he removed Nathan McSweeney for nine.
Siraj, who was booed in Adelaide for Head’s dismissal, continued his pranks as he marched past the striking batsman Marnus Labuschagne and exchanged bail.
Labuschagne bravely cut them back, but was soon grabbed for 12 runs by Virat Kohli’s slip after a loose drive against relief bowler Nitish Kumar Reddy.
With rain expected for the remaining three days, India have virtually no chance of winning, and realistically they seem to have no choice but to hope for a draw.
