Test 1, Day 4
On-the-fly thoughts on what could be the last day of the Perth Test
There is at least a day's play left in the first Test of the BGT -- but the knives are already out in the Australian media, poised to plunge into several inviting backs.
After day two, the Australian coach was fielding questions about captain Pat Cummins' state of preparedness, both mentally and as a bowler, for the challenge of India.
There were also questions about “body language”. I don’t subscribe to a lot of the nonsense spoken, with po-faced seriousness, about body language, but it needs saying that the Aussies looked uncharacteristically flat on days two and three, when India was piling it on. The combative edge was missing; the fielders went about their jobs with a hangdog air, which I recognize from the times I have been forced to attend parties where I knew no one.
Contrast that with the Indians who, late on day two, came out buzzing. The chatter was non-stop; the keeper and the cordon gee-d up their bowlers, and at one point when Mohammed Siraj took objection to Marnus Labuschagne tapping the ball away just when the bowler was about to pick it up, Siraj gave him a mouthful — and the hapless Aussie number three found himself surrounded by Kohli and Jaiswal, who wandered up from the slip cordon to have their say.
Sledging of the abusive variety, I hate. But at this level, you want players to show they mean business — and to let the opposition know they are in for a fight.
So yeah, lots of questions at the end of day two. And after day three, it feels more like a drive-by shooting with multiple casualties.
Nathan McSweeney gets a pass for now -- he was shoe-horned into the opener's slot and therefore deserves more of a chance to bed himself in.
But Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne are copping considerable flak -- and as play progresses today we will know if Steve Smith has found his eyes (Michael Vaughan assured us before the series that he has), his hands (Cummins told us on the eve of the match that the hands have been duly found and have arrived in Perth), and his feet (on which we await updates).
Then there is Travis Head, in the batting lineup as the hard-hitting enforcer -- but the catch is, enforcers need a firm footing to launch from, and Head's peers in the lineup haven't thus far given him much of a one.
Mitchell Marsh is the batting all-rounder. Only, his body parts -- just recently returned to him after extensive repairs -- need protection, with the result that he bowled a grand total of 12 overs in the Indian second innings out of the 134.3 bowled by the Aussies. Instead of Marsh providing some relief for the frontline quicks, it has in practice worked the other way around, with the all-rounder bowling very short spells and the lead pacemen having to make up.
It is ironic that going into this game, India's batting lineup looked like a patchwork quilt made of mismatched bits of fabric, while Australia was deemed the more "settled", well-prepared side.
And yet it is the Indian lineup that delivered, while Australia collapsed on day one when it had the excuse of the pitch, and crumbled on day three when it had no excuse to offer.
An up and down pitch? Sure -- but it is worth remembering that Australia lost an opener and its number three on the same pitch where, till about 10 minutes earlier, Virat Kohli and Nitish Kumar Reddy had shellacked 77 runs off 54 deliveries without ever looking in trouble.
Not to put too fine a point on it, it is fair to say that Australia was out-batted, out-bowled, and out-captained -- okay, out-thought if you prefer fingers pointing generally rather than particularly -- by India. (Which reminds me, one of those knives I mentioned has bowling coach Daniel Vettori’s name on it. Questions are being asked about how, while the Aussie attack went about their business in a seeming mental fog, and looked bereft of ideas, Vettori was in South Africa to attend the IPL auction on behalf of Sunrisers Hyderabad, the team he coaches in that tournament.)
What struck me most forcefully was not the questions being raised — that was inevitable in the wake of such a decimation — but that the home team seems, judging by the commentary coming out of there, to be wondering where their next option is coming from. See, for instance, this piece by Peter Lalor.
There’s another layer to this. He was criticised in the first innings for a lack of intent, asked if he’d forgotten what the bat was for after he shouldered arms again and again, taking blows to the body. The one thing he HAD TO DO in this situation was try and keep the ball out with his bat, but that was the very thing he didn’t do.
You have not heard the last of this. In any other world he would be sent to a quiet space where he could take a deep breath, recover his confidence in a lower level of the game, but there is no first class cricket left to play. And frankly few options for selectors to turn to should they decide to replace him. Josh Inglis is in the squad, a fine middle order batter, but not one who can slot in at three. Especially when you’ve appointed McSweeney as a make do opener.
(And while you are about it, also read Gideon Haigh on Virat Kohli , and watch how much his century — not the runs, so much as the possible return to form — meant to the Indian team.)
We'll likely return to this theme by and by (and it will be interesting to see what comes out of the Australian media) -- but for now, I'll switch back to updating you on the proceedings as they, um, proceed:
A friend writes in from Perth to say that today is expected to be a relatively cooler day, with temperatures around the 24C mark, and that with less than half an hour for play to start, there is some wind about. Even the weather gods seem to be batting for India.
So what now for Oz? Do they just fold?
They have nothing to lose — the game is gone. And that brings a release of pressure, and with it an opportunity: Dig deep, bat long, make the Indian bowlers work hard for their living and, in the process, find a measure of their batting mojo. A good showing — however futile in terms of the end result — by the likes of Smith, Khawaja, Head, Marsh and others will mean that the team leaves Perth in a better frame of mind, and with a few less questions to answer.
07:56 IST: Usman Khawaja gets himself out:
After Bumrah completed the four remaining balls of his third over, Siraj opted to go round the wicket straight off, bounced one into the batsman and Khawaja hooked at it without being nowhere in proper position. Seemed to me that he was expecting the fuller length ball; the bouncer took him by surprise and he swung almost reflexively. Put it high in the air, and Rishabh Pant took the skier with ease. 17/4 Australia.
08:10 IST: Always fascinating to watch how the really good batsmen keep adjusting their technique on the fly. Yesterday, Virat Kohli cut out his initial forward press, opted to stand mostly on the batting crease and delayed his trigger movement till he was sure of line and length. This morning Steve Smith, whose initial shuffle across the stumps is almost a walk, has cut it all out. Middle stump guard, and very still till the ball is delivered.
08:17 IST: Looks like Smith is beaten on the outside edge by Siraj here, in the 10th over, but that was actually a very good leave. Note where he is standing — not around off, as he is more used to after that shuffle, but very still with the front foot on middle and the bat covering off. This one, in the channel, stood up a bit — Smith started to play the line, saw it climbing and moving late, and let his hands hold their position, allowing the ball to go past.
Bowling change, Bumrah off, after 2.4 overs this morning, and Harshit Rana on.
08:25 IST: DRS gives Travis Head a reprieve.
Fair, I thought, for the on-field umpire to turn Siraj’s appeal down, the ball seemed to hit the pad around middle and leg, with Siraj bowling around the wicket and wide of the crease the angle was always likely to take the ball down leg. It did straighten — as Siraj repeatedly said when he asked Bumrah to go to the third umpire — but not enough. 28/4 after 12.
08:31 IST: Harshit Rana bounces, the ball doesn’t get up as much as you (or in this case Smith) would expect given the length; Smith attempted a controlled pull and ended up taking the ball in the bread basket. The only reason for mentioning this is as a pointer to the uncertain bounce on this track now.
08:40 IST: Not to jinx him, but good to see Travis Head rein in his natural instincts and dig deep. Just occasionally he launches — a flowing cover drive off Bumrah in the previous over, and then this square drive off Rana (who, the very next ball, beats Head, the pads, the stumps, everything, with the sort of delivery he had gotten Head out in the first innings with.) 45/4. It’s now 9 overs since a wicket fell, and that seems a noteworthy event, given how Oz have played thus far.
08:51 IST: Harshit Rana on a shorter length; the ball stays a lot longer than it should have off that length (see point of impact). Big appeal, turned down, reviewed, and DRS shows the ball angling past leg stump. Watch where Smith’s feet are — the front foot is almost on leg stump (it’s actually on middle; this grab is just after the impact, with Smith moving forward for balance). Meanwhile, at the opposite end, India trying spin with Washington Sundar, whose first over showed signs of drift, but no turn yet.
09:03 IST: A lot more to Rana than just bang-it-in. He’s keeping his pace up there, above the 136k mark consistently — but varying his line, now outside the third stump, now attacking the stumps; also varying lengths, the shorter ones mixed in with fuller deliveries attacking the pads.
Washington Sundar, just now, bowling a tad too quick and flat, not giving the ball sufficient air time. Head swings one away from off stump to the square leg boundary. 59/4 Oz.
In the commentary box by the stump mike, Rishabh Pant. Seriously, I’d pay good money for a live feed from the stump mike when India is in the field.
On another note, if Test cricket had impact subs, I’d opt for Ravindra Jadeja just now. He uses bounce well, and here he would be attacking the outside edge of Smith’s bat and the inside edge of Head’s.
09:20 IST: Slip and short square for Sundar to Smith. Not sure what the short square is doing there, though — yet to see the offie turn one in, so hard to see where the inner edge into pads to short square is going to come from. Thus far, Sundar is at best holding one end down.
09:25 IST: Steve Smith out, caught Pant bowled Siraj
Smith had been becalmed on 17 for quite a while now, but seemed composed enough. Took a beauty from Siraj to get rid of him — quick, short of good length, straightening off the seam, forcing Smith to play at it and the ball finds Smith’s edge and a good low catch from Rishabh Pant diving towards first slip. 79/5 Australia, Smith 17 off 60 (belying hopes that he would find his way back into form) and Head, now looking comfortable, on 45 off 61. The pair put on 62 for the 5th wicket, with Head contributing most of it.
Wrote about this earlier; here is the broadcaster showing on split screen Smith’s changed technique. In the first innings, middle stump guard, but at the point of release, shuffling far enough that his back toe is outside off, the front foot is pointing towards cover, and the leg stump is just visible behind his back. In the second innings, back toe anchored to the middle stump and the back foot parallel to the batting crease. Took a really good ball to get rid of him this time.
09:36 IST: Siraj bounces Head; the batsman lets it climb and then uses the toe of his bat to poke it to the boundary behind the keeper to get to his 50 off 63 balls.
Bumrah in a pre-lunch burst; judging by the spread field I thought it was going to be bounce, but the plan looks more to give Head the single and attack Marsh. Short outside off and Head again plays a late, well-controlled poke off the bottom of the bat to third man, two for it.
And, below, to a short one going down leg from Bumrah, Pant pulls off a great take — that was four byes if the keeper hadn’t gone airborne.
09:55 IST Lunch: Australia 104/5 in 30 overs (which, by the way, equals Australia’s first innings total). Travis Head batting 63 off 72; Mitch Marsh 5 off 23. Australia still 430 runs behind, if anyone is counting.
Head has scored more runs than all the other batsmen put together, and is the only Aussie to find the fence (seven times).
The key difference is that the other Aussie batsmen played as if they expected every ball to have their name on it. Head defends when the ball demands it — and occasionally, his defense is not particularly pretty viewing — but just a hint of favorable length, or width, or height, and he climbs into it.
It’s like how Jaiswal batted — and is the best way to bat on a pitch like this. You concentrate on simply hanging around, and sooner or later one ball comes along that you can’t do anything about (vide Smith, for instance).
The session brought 92 runs for two wickets in 25.4 overs.
Back here after lunch (theirs, not mine).
I spent part of the lunch hour listening to the Cricket Et Al podcast by Gideon Haigh and Peter Lalor, recorded after play yesterday. You should, too. (One of the things I like is how unfussy this is — no frills, no fancy equipment, just two veteran reporters having a chat).
10:36 IST: Post lunch, Rana for the first over, bowls one short, the ball doesn’t get up and Marsh swings into an easy pull, fetching the ball from around waist height and depositing it over the midwicket fence for six. Clean strike, that; Rana a bit casual and not really hitting his straps there.
Sundar at the other end, but nothing yet for him here — largely because he is just bowling flat and quick.
Next over, and Marsh again pulls — Rana’s short balls not quite getting up. Padikkal at regular mid wicket seemed not to have picked the ball up. Went up a bit late, the ball brushed his fingertips and burst through. Rana again short, wider of off and this time Marsh with a big stride forward smacks it through coverpoint for four. Seems to be seeing the ball better, too — Rana’s follow up was fuller, on the stumps; it stayed low and Marsh was quick to go low and dig that one out.
10:51 IST: India, post lunch, a touch flat. Sundar sends down a nothing ball — on off, on length, and Marsh comes down the track and lofts him straight back over his head into the stands for six. Marsh was 2 off 23 at lunch; he is now 28 off 38.
11:00 IST: With the ball going soft, Rana having to really bang it in short to get the ball to lift. The field is set on the leg side for the short ball (with a deep third in place for the ramp), but Rana bowls a nothing ball, just back of length outside off, with width. Head cashes in, carving it through mid off with a free swing of the bat.
Inexplicably, the Indians sitting back on their haunches here, waiting for the batsmen to get themselves out. In-out field, the bowlers not consistently attacking the stumps — it is not as if the pitch has gotten any better, the odd ball is still keeping low.
Bumrah back into the attack, taking over from Harshit. 154/5 Australia. Really bangs on in, fifth ball, and even Pant can’t rescue that one like he did the last time.
And then, bingo. Got his line right, just outside off; got the seam dead straight; landed it just on the short side of length and got it to move away. Head looked to drive (rather like Jaiswal in the first innings, front foot not really moving into that shot, weight going back — looked like he shaped to drive off the front foot, then changed to a back foot drive) and the movement finds the edge through to the keeper. Head gone, for a fine 89 (101 balls) and Australia 161/6. Took Bumrah to come back and do what was missing so far — attack the stumps and the edge. 82 off 87 the partnership between Head and Marsh and they looked comfortable before the Indian captain came back on to do the job himself.
And meanwhile…
On the ground, Sundar off after ten fairly unimpressive overs (37 runs) and Nitish Kumar Reddy into the attack. Beauty to start with, good straight seam, just back of length, the ball coming in and climbing as it passes Marsh’s rather uncertain prod. Bowling at around the early to mid 120s, but skiddy and it hits the bat a lot quicker than you would expect of that pace.
11:41 IST: A post or so earlier, was talking of how Nitish Reddy doesn’t set the pace gun on fire, but he hits the bat surprisingly quickly. Marsh just found that out — Nitish bowled in the channel, just back of length; Marsh looked to cut, the ball got to him quicker than he thought it would, and he ended up chopping it onto the stumps. Pity — the batting all-rounder looked good after lunch, quite tight in defense and very positive with his shot play. (47 off 67 with three fours and two sixes). Australia 182/7.
12:20 IST: Between them, Alex Carey and Mitchell Starc have thus far put on 36 off 52, and are still out there. Australia will take it — in this innings, they’ve put on partnerships of 62 (Smith and Head); 82 (Head and Marsh); 21 (Carey and Marsh) and now the Carey-Starc association.
Not earthshaking figures, any of it — but important for Australia to take some heart. Not just the runs, but the fact that the middle order batsmen are finally showing some endurance, some stickability, the determination to make the bowling work for their wickets. It is something to take away from Perth, and build on as they head to Adelaide.
12:29 IST: And what do you know, Sundar gets a wicket — courtesy an outstanding reflex grab by Dhruv Jurel at forward short leg. The ball was pretty innocuous, differing from earlier deliveries only in that Sundar pitched it a bit shorter. Starc must have had a lapse in concentration — rather than play it down, he shut the bat face on it, got the ball high on the bat and Jurel flung his right hand up and out and plucked a blinder.
And with that, tea taken. Australia 227/8, with Carey unbeaten on 30 off 39; Starc gone for 12 off 35 and Australia still needing 307 runs (more realistically, India needing two wickets, with Nathan Lyon and Josh Hazelwood the only Aussies left standing alongside Carey. Here’s the catch, via a screengrab:
12:53 IST: Post tea, Sundar resumes his unfinished over and with his very first ball on resumption, has Lyon playing for turn that wasn’t there. The ball goes straight through to peg back off stump; Sundar gets his second for the game, and Australia now one wicket away from a massive defeat. 227/9
1:19 IST: Done, dusted. Harshit Rana gets the last wicket, bowling Alex Carey with a slower ball that the batsman totally misjudged. A 295-run win — and Australia’s first defeat out of five outings at the Optus Stadium in Perth.
Picking a man of the match between Bumrah (my choice, for that for-the-ages spell late on day one) and Jaiswal is going to be a poser for the adjudication team.
And with that, over and out here. Back with updates when the second Test begins in Adelaide on December 6.
>> Inexplicably, the Indians sitting back on their haunches here, waiting for the batsmen to get themselves out.
The pessimistic take is that Indian bowling is still one great bowler and one bowler is good on odd days . Despite occasional bright spots, the rest are not much to talk of. Bumrah has rarely had bad days except in some 4th innings chases, but if he isn't taking frequent wickets, we may see the sort of cricket that we saw during the Head/Marsh stand more often and for longer periods.
As much as I support freedom of expression, the dhols and other such instruments should be banned when a Test is being played.