Indian bowlers give Australia anxious moments before Smith’s rearguard action rescued them
Captain Steven Smith put himself on course for his third successive century but India bowled reasonably well to restrict Australia to 259 for five on the opening day of the third Test to leave the match on an even keel here on Friday. Electing to bat, Smith again proved to be the main tormentor for the visitors as he anchored the innings to remain undefeated on 72 at stumps on an absorbing first day of the Boxing Day Test at the MCG.
The Australians lost David Warner (0) early but staged a recovery through Chris Rogers (57) and Shane Watson (52) with a 115-run partnership for the second wicket. The hosts then lost three quick wickets to allow the Indians to claw back into the game. From a shaky 184 for four, the home team reached 259 for five, mainly through the watchful effort of their captain and Brad Haddin, who remained not out on 23. Pacers Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Shami stuck to a tight line and length to grab two wickets apiece while an equally impressive Ravichandran Ashwin took one wicket.
Strike bowler Ishant Sharma was impressive in his spells but ended the day without any wicket. Australia were put on the backfoot as soon as the match began as their danger-man Warner got dismissed for a duck off Yadav in the second over itself. The visitors, however, failed to capitalise on the initial gains as Shikhar Dhawan, who took a low catch at the slips to dismiss Warner, put down an easy one when Watson was on 37 four overs before lunch. Australia went into the lunch on a comfortable 92 for one.
India recovered from a poor first session to pull things back and produced their best bowling display of the series, restricting the hosts in the other two sessions of play. Smith, who came out to bat at number four at the fall of Rogers' wicket just after the start of post-lunch session, held one end together to ensure that Australia ended on a fighting score. The 25-year-old skipper was in tremendous form having scored 375 runs from the first two Tests with two hundreds and one half century. Post-tea, Smith looked to continue his fine run of form and help Australia dominate the last session in the company of Shaun Marsh (32 runs off 83 balls). But the visitors had other plans, continuing their good work and removing Marsh within 12 balls of play resuming in the final session.
Mohammad Shami (2/55) was the bowler, continuing his recovery from a poor morning session, as left-handed Marsh edged behind to keeper-captain MS Dhoni. Debutant Joe Burns (13) then walked out to a thunderous response but did not last long at the crease. He was dismissed by Umesh Yadav (2/69) in the 71st over, again caught behind. The Indian attack zipped through their overs, thanks in part to the tremendous effort put in by Ashwin (1/60) on a day one pitch. The bowlers, in tandem, kept the run-scoring in check and stuck at regular intervals, never letting the Australian batsmen dominate in the last two sessions. Burns had stayed long enough to bring up the 200-mark for the hosts in the 66th over, while Smith had reached his 10th Test fifty in the 71st over. He faced 96 balls, and hit four fours as well as a six, crossing 1000 runs in the calendar year on the way.
India delayed taking the second new ball, looking for more spin as Murali Vijay (0/14) turned his arm over. But with eight overs remaining in the day's play, Dhoni did opt for the new cherry and handed it to Ishant (0/54) and Yadav. Smith and Haddin then negotiated those overs without any damage, bringing up the 250-mark in the 84th over in the process. Earlier, Rogers and Watson had begun the post-lunch session looking to extend their 92-run partnership from the morning session and further frustrate the Indians. They began where they left off, bringing up the 100-mark in the 30th over as also their century-stand.
In the very next over, left-handed Rogers went on to score his third successive fifty of the series, his eighth overall in Tests. He reached there off 113 balls, with five fours. At the other end, Watson overcame his poor run of scores and scored his first Test fifty in nine innings, off 74 balls, hitting four boundaries.The duo looked good for plenty more when Shami struck against the run of play. Rogers was caught behind in the 37th over after the bowler had regained his composure after a poor display in the morning session. In the very next over, Ashwin removed Watson, trapping him lBW as he went for a sweep-shot. The two bowlers then bowled a consistent spell, putting pressure on the two new batsmen at the crease.
In fact it was the first sustained pressure-spell from the Indian attack this series, with Ishant and Umesh Yadav also keeping things tight. But Smith and Marsh settled down to keep the scoreboard ticking, picking up the odd boundary when the opportunity presented. Just before the tea break, they helped bring up the 150-mark in the 52nd over, and then their 50-run stand six overs later. India too made two changes, bringing in Shami for Varun Aaron. Rohit Sharma was dropped to make way for debutant lokesh Rahul, who will be batting at number six.