92 deliveries that rocked the world

Collapses are mysterious but the 92 deliveries bowled by Australia were simply brilliant and proved Josh Hazlewood is an underrated genius.

Australia's Pat Cummins fells India's Mohammed Shami with a bouncer as India is dismissed for 36 runs on the third day of the Adelaide Test

Even now the events of day three in Adelaide are sitting in the “what the hell happened?” column and only now is the enormity of Australia’s achievement — and India’s embarrassment — becoming apparent.

If that day in Cape Town in 2011, when 23 wickets fell as the Australians were rolled for 47, and that day at Trent Bridge in 2015, when they were evicted for 60, are any guide, it will continue to confound for years to come.

How to explain India’s loss?

A good cricket team — which had scored 244 in the first innings — arrived at the ground with a lead of 62 on the first innings and nine wickets in the bank and were beaten before the day was done.

Nothing dramatic happened between days one and three. The pitch got a little faster, the overhead conditions remained perfect, the incidents happened in sunshine and not when the lights came on and the carnival started.

Yes, it was a very low-scoring Test. In fact, the match total of 564 runs was the lowest ever at Adelaide Oval.

However, the Australian innings that wrapped up the game w`as proof runs could be scored on this pitch and on this day. Hell, one batsman who has not been able to find runs found 50, while another who was moved up from the middle order played a handy knock.

Before moving on, it should be noted that the selectors’ decision to retain Joe Burns and open with Wade was proved the right one. They were widely condemned for sticking with Burns, but the old adage that says it is better to give a player one too many Tests than one too few proved correct.

Congratulations and apologies to Justin Langer, George Bailey, Trevor Hohns and the player in question.

Marcus Harris can hold that thought for a bit longer. Will Pucovski should relax and aim for the next series.

Watch Australia v India Test Series Live & Ad-Break Free During Play with the Fox Cricket commentary team. New to Kayo? Get your free trial now & start streaming instantly >

Back to the day. It is clear now that the 92 deliveries bowled by Australia to remove the nine ­Indian batsmen still standing came from some of the best spells ever bowled. At Edgbaston, Stuart Broad was head and shoulders the best on the day. Gideon Haigh observed in the Cricket Et Cetera podcast that it was one of those days where every delivery caught the edge rather than passed by it and every catch was held.

The Australians, however, worked as a cartel.

Pat Cummins finished with 4-21 from 62 deliveries, Josh Hazlewood 5-8 from his 30. ­Mitchell Starc did not pick up a wicket but only conceded seven runs from six overs. Adelaide specialist Nathan Lyon wasn’t needed.

The Indians were allowed no width or respite. None could score and none could survive. Most died trying to hold on, ­although Virat Kohli went trying to break the shackles.

Somebody at the CricViz set-up got the protractor out and established there was .66 degrees of seam and .58 degrees of swing which was mostly in line with the two preceding days and nowhere near what England summoned at Edgbaston five years back.

Swing and seam are negated if the ball is too full and impotent if too short, but if you find the ­Goldilocks length that the ­Australian pair did you will catch the edges rather than passing them by.

CricViz’s Ben Jones focused on Hazlewood, who brought up his 200th Test wicket in the match but a man who flies under the radar. Hazlewood is the most accurate bowler in Test cricket, landing 44 per cent of his deliveries on a good line and length. Three others in the past 14 years have been slightly more accurate but none have had his speed.

Hazlewood’s other defining factor is his release height of 2.17m. Only Jason Holder comes at you from a greater height (2.31m) but he only lands 36 per cent of his balls on a good line and length.

At one stage the boy from country NSW took three wickets in four deliveries. He and Cummins established an unstoppable momentum that sent a death rattle through the Indian line-up. You could see harried batsmen scrambling to get their gear together as their predecessor began the lonely walk back.

Scores of 4, 9, 2, 0, 4, 0, 8, 4, 0, 4, 1 are a chain reaction.

Now that these fly-on-the-wall documentaries have become a fad, stand by for the day somebody captures the chaos in the dressing rooms in a collapse of this magnitude. It must be ­unsettling to be rushed before you even make it to the middle.

That said, the batting was poor in its conception and Virat Kohli admitted it.

“It’s a strange one to be honest because the ball didn’t do much,” Kohli said after surrendering a 1-0 lead in the four-match series.

“They bowled similar lengths in the first innings as well and we were just better in terms of handling it and having a plan.

“We lacked intent because we probably should have just seen where the game needs to go rather than where it has come to until now, and keep moving forward which we were not able to do.

“I think the way we batted allowed them to look more potent than they probably were because they bowled similar lengths in the first innings as well and we batted way, way better.”