Australia v India: Pujara run out after epic day one century
India’s Cheteshwar Pujara played a brave lone hand in stifling heat on day one, before a brain fade ended his innings | WATCH
- Run out mars brilliant knock
- Brain fade hurts India
- Khawaja screamer removes Kohli
- Hazlewood breaks through
Welcome to coverage of the first Test between Australia and India at the Adelaide Oval. India reached 9-250 at stumps after winning the toss.
Andrew Faulkner 7pm: Brilliant ton hauls India back from brink
An intriguing, see-sawing and highly entertaining first day of the Border-Gavaskar series has ended with India 9-250 after Virat Kohli chose to bat first at Adelaide Oval.
Stumps were drawn when Cheteshwar Pujara (123 from 246 balls, with seven fours and two sixes) was brilliantly run out by a direct hit from Pat Cummins at mid-on.
After first saving his side from embarrassment, Pujara then guided them to a competitive total.
And after holding the innings together with dogged defiance for most of the day, he was expansive late in the last session, meting harsh treatment on Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood in particular.
Perhaps the pick of the shots was a cut over the point fence — one of seven India sixes for the day.
India will resume day two with Mohammed Shami on six and Jasprit Bumrah yet to score.
Each of the Australian frontliners took two wickets on a hard day for bowlers.
They lost their focus in the final half hour but who could blame them on a day that topped 40C in Adelaide.
Match blog — how day one unfolded:
6.30pm: Pujara falls late
Cheteshwar Pujara is dismissed on what turns out to be the final ball of the day. He pushes a Josh Hazlewood delivery to mid on, where a diving Pat Cummins fields and throws down the stumps at the non-striker’s end in one motion. Pujara (123) is out by a mile and his wicket ends day one at 9-250. A brilliant knock.
Andrew Faulkner 6.15pm: Ton of class
Pujara has his 100 and he’s done it in some style, dispensing with most of the 90s to go from 89 to 101 in just three balls.
The No.3 first hooked Hazlewood over the long, fine, boundary beneath the Hill.
The six powered him past 5000 Test runs, and the four from the next ball he faced — pulled to the square rope — took him to 99.
The following over he pushed Starc through midwicket to bring up his 16th Test hundred.
With five overs remaining, the tourists are 8-230.
Terrific innings from Pujara or “Steve†as the Yorkshire men called him as they couldn’t pronounce his first name Cheteshwar ! Congrats on a great 💯 ðŸ‘
— Shane Warne (@ShaneWarne) December 6, 2018
5.48pm: New ball is taken
We’ve completed 80 overs so Tim Paine exercises his right to claim the new rock. India are 7-206 and some late pace might be enough to end the innings tonight. Mitchell Starc begins his 16th over.
Andrew Faulkner 5.45pm: Pujara v the Aussies
The tourists have passed 200 as Pujara eyes what will be a famous hundred.
The master No.3 is 85 with 10 overs left in the day. Thanks to him, a disastrous 4-41 has become a passable 7-206.
Ishant Sharma has joined him at the crease after Ashwin’s more than handy 25 ended when he was caught by Handscomb at second slip from Cummins’ bowling.
The Australians have missed a couple of half, or sharp, chances but all seven Indian wickets have fallen to catches.
The official attendance is 23,802, which appears a good result given the oppressive heat. When India last toured four years ago, the day-one crowd was 25,619.
5.20pm: Wicket!
It’s a hot day out in the middle but right-arm quick Pat Cummins hasn’t wavered. He squares up Ravi Ashwin and has him edging to Peter Handscomb at second slip. A vital 62-run partnership is broken as Ashwin (25) departs. Ishant Sharma is the new batsman.
Andrew Faulkner 5pm: Stubborn resistance
Pujara (64) and Ashwin (15) have mounted a plucky rearguard to take the Indian innings deep into the last session.
The pair has added 44 runs to take the score to an almost respectable 6-171 with more than an hour’s play left.
Pujara has batted since the second over of the day, defying the Australians for 177 balls.
Ashwin has followed his partner’s lead to bat with determination and great skill, especially in his handling of Lyon.
The wicket is flattening into a plum batting surface so the hosts will be satisfied keeping India to anything under 250.
4.35pm: Khawaja can’t repeat his highlight
Cheteshwar Pujara has been very watchful in his epic knock, but he lets fly at a Mitchell Starc delivery and just gets away with it.
A thick outside edge barely eludes a diving Usman Khawaja at gully and finds the boundary, moving the batsman onto 60.
Khawaja is unable to produce another miracle catch but he looks good for a guy returning from a knee injury.
Nathan Lyon is probing the defences of Ravi Ashwin, looking for a way through. Ashwin has a Test ton to his name and a batting average of around 30. His team will need every one of those and more in this innings.
4.10pm: Final session underway
Mitchell Starc starts us off again in the post-tea stanza. Pujara works the paceman off his pads to complete a gritty half-ton. It’s a sensational effort, off 153 balls with four boundaries, amid the carnage of India’s otherwise insipid showing.
Andrew Faulkner 3.50pm: Visitors on the ropes
The tourists have staggered to tea with a sickly 6-143 on the board but after being 4-41 it might have been a lot worse.
After electing to bat, it’s a dreadful result but they only have themselves to blame.
Only the last Australian victim, Pant, didn’t succumb to a brain fade.
Although Pant did survive a succession of rash shots in his 38-ball 25 (two fours and a six).
The left-hander lived dangerously only to feather a perfectly pitched Lyon delivery that bounced and spun out of the embryonic rough.
At tea the impressively resolute Pujara is 46 from 141 balls and Ashwin is five from 18 balls.
Much depends on this pair as the Indian tail is prone to rapid collapse.
3.42pm: India battle to Tea
Cheteshwar Pujaraand Ravi Ashwin steer the visitors to the tea break on 6-143. The last 10 overs have reaped 25 runs for the loss of one wicket. India will need Pujara to hang in and garner some support if India are to post a competitive total on a flattening deck.
3.20pm: Wicket!
Nathan Lyon strikes again, removing Rishabh Pant caught behind for 25 off the faintest of edges. India are now 6-127 with No.3 Cheteshwar Pujara (35) playing a stubborn lone hand.
3pm: A quick drinks chat
Fox Sports commentator Adam Gilchrist uses the drinks break in the second session to sneak in a few questions to Australian fielder Travis Head via the flying fox video camera. Head reveals the plan of attack for the rest of the day against the Indian batting and lauds the captaincy of Tim Paine. Interesting stuff.
Oh wow, drinks interview with Travis Head via flying fox cam. That;s innovative
— ðŸ Johnson Shark do do do do do do ðŸ (@suthodan) December 6, 2018
Andrew Faulkner 2.40pm: A brain fade
Nathan Lyon has broken a steadying partnership to plunge India back into deep trouble in the second session.
Sharma, 37, succumbed to a brain fade even more egregious than those of his four fellow batsmen in the first session.
The batsman holed out to Harris in the deep the ball after he was nearly caught by the same man in the same place.
Such was the batsman’s muddle-headed thinking, it’s worth repeating: Harris caught Sharma twice in two balls — the first was over the line, the second wasn’t.
To repeat the shot the very next ball was the height of madness — especially as Sharma and Pujara had done such a good job of steadying the innings.
Sharma showed there was no need to take risks when he followed through on a cover drive to deposit Cummins, no less, over the extra cover rope.
Approaching drinks in the second session the tourists are 5-94, with Pujara on 23 (95 balls) and Pant on four.
Pujara has been a picture of good sense and concentration — everything his fellow batsmen have been not.
2.25pm: Wicket!
A shocker from Rohit Sharma. He survives close call at deep square leg, slogging Nathan Lyon out to Marcus Harris, who takes the catch but ends up over the rope, resulting in a 6. Next ball Sharma tries to repeat the dose but skies it to the same fieldsman. The batsman is out for 37, Nathan Lyon has his first wicket and Harris has his first Test catch.
2.10pm: Over the top
Rohit Sharma isn’t going into his shell. He plays an audacious shot off the bowling of Pat Cummins, calmly lofting a 145km/h delivery over cover and into the stands for 6. Cummins and the Aussie fielders can scarcely believe it. Brilliant.
I noticed Phillip Hughes’ image on the wall of the SACA change rooms.
— Peter Lalor (@plalor) December 6, 2018
A nice touch. pic.twitter.com/i3Gw3FSiGS
1.41pm: Second session begins
Pat Cummins resumes after the lunch break, bowling to Rohit Sharma. It’s hot in the middle — the official temperature is hovering at 39C, so Tim Paine is likely to rotate his pacemen through short spells.
Andrew Faulkner 1.15pm: Explosive opening session
Day cricket has made a bold and triumphant return to Adelaide Oval in an opening session of the highest quality.
After winning the toss, the tourists are 4-56 at lunch with Cheteshwar Pujara on 11 (62 balls) and Rohit Sharma 15 (23 balls) after a dominant display by the local pace attack.
Mitchell Starc (1-8), Josh Hazlewood (2-17) and Pat Cummins (1-12) have bowled as well as they did at any time of their feted Ashes series last summer.
But just as concerning for the Indians is the drift and spin found by Nathan Lyon (0-18) from the River End.
The opening session had it all. Rahane’s six over long on was later bettered by a Sharma pull over the square leg rope — a mean feat given Cummins has been operating in the mid-high 140km/h range.
Khawaja’s catch will be talked about for decades, if not longer, and the Australian fielding has been first class.
The only blemishes on a magnificent session were the four false shots that led to four Indian dismissals — no-one has fallen to an unplayable delivery.
The lamentable Indian shot selection was puzzling given their intense preparation for the series.
1pm: Aussies on top at lunch
India crawl to 4-56 after the first session of the first Test. Rohit Sharma has 15, with a boundary and a six, while Cheteshwar Pujara is on 11. Josh Hazlewood (2-17) is the pick of the bowlers.
Andrew Faulkner 12.43pm: Loose shots sink India
The tourists are in deep trouble approaching lunch on day one at Adelaide Oval.
After 22 overs they are hanging on grimly at 4-42, with Pujara on 11 and Rohit Sharma yet to score.
Rahane is the fourth Indian batsman to fall flashing outside the off stump.
The Indian vice-captain looked in good touch — he hoisted Lyon over the wide long-on fence to post the first six of the Test summer — so his downfall was another lost opportunity for the tourists.
He prodded at a Hazlewood outswinger to edge to Handscomb at second slip.
The Australian pacemen are showing all their class in an impressive display in the heat.
Hazlewood (2-17) dismissed Rahane in his first over of a second spell that followed an unerringly accurate — and fast — five-over spell from Cummins (1-6).
12.33pm: Wicket!
Josh Hazlewood has his second scalp of the morning, that of Ajinkya Rahane (13) caught at second slip by Peter Handscomb. India in desperate trouble now at 4-41.
12.10pm: Lyon into the attack
Much of Australia’s hopes this summer will rest on the effectiveness of off-spinner Nathan Lyon, and he is brought on to deliver the 14th over. Lyon nearly removes Rahane at short leg but Peter Handscomb can only get his fingertips to a sharp chance.
Andrew Faulkner 11.50am: Wicket!
Usman Khawaja has taken what will be remembered as the catch of the summer to get Virat Kohli, no less.
Khawaja leaps full length to his left in the gully to clutch a one-handed screamer to get Kohli for three.
The wicket comes in Pat Cummins’s first over after he replaces Starc at the Cathedral End.
Kohli’s wicket has reduced the stunned tourists to 3-19 in the 11th over.
The Indian skipper played a rising ball well away from his body. The thick edge appeared bound for the third man rope before Khawaja’s spectacular intervention.
Andrew Faulkner 11.45am: India’s rock removed
Mitchell Starc will be delighted to remove India’s rock at the top of the order, Murali Vijay.
The leader of the Australian attack lands a key blow for his side, especially as Vijay had been looking untroubled in the first half hour’s play.
His half-hearted drive to a ball that holds its line outside off stump is a surprise given his watertight defence and judicious leaves.
Vijay feathers a ball to Paine to bring Kohli to the crease with his side 2-15.
Starc had been a fraction short before finding Vijay’s edge but perhaps the length unsettled the opener.
11.30am: Wicket!
This time it’s Mitchell Starc, who has Murali Vijay caught by wicket-keeper Tim Paine for 11. India are now 2-15 and both openers are back in the pavilion.
Andrew Faulkner 11.15am: Wicket!
Josh Hazlewood strikes in his first over to get KL Rahul (2) caught in the cordon. Rahul wafts at a wide and full ball that he succeeded only in thick-edging to Aaron Finch at third slip.
It’s an abominable choice of shot given the amount of swing and bounce on show this morning. Operating from the River End, Hazlewood has swung the ball away from the right-handers, while Starc is hooping it in from the Cathedral End.
The ball is carrying beautifully to Paine and the quicks are bang on target to pile the pressure on the Indian top order.
After three overs the tourists are 1-5.
11.10am: Wicket!
Josh Hazlewood strikes — taking the wicket of KL Rahul, caught at third slip by Aaron Finch after aiming a loose drive down the ground. Rahul departs for 2 and India are 1-3.
11.01am: Play is underway
Australia’s left-arm pace spearhead Mitchell Starc opens proceedings, bowling to right-hander KL Rahul. Fellow right-hander Murali Vijay is at the non-striker’s end.
Starc to start from the Cathedral End. With whatever breeze there is at his back. #AusvsInd
— Andrew Faulkner (@AndrewFaulkner9) December 6, 2018
10.55am: More line-up news
India will play Rohit Sharma at No 6
— Peter Lalor (@plalor) December 5, 2018
10.45am: ‘Runs on the board always handy’
THE TOSS: India wins the toss and will bat “looks like a pretty nice hard wicket with a good coverage of grass on it ... runs on the board always handy,†says Virat Kohli.
— Peter Lalor (@plalor) December 5, 2018
Andrew Faulkner 10.35am: India win the toss, will bat
Virat Kohli has won the toss and has chosen to bat first. Tim Paine said he would’ve batted if he had the choice.
And so for all the tumult, all the disappointment and everything else that followed the scandal in South Africa, a remarkably familiar Australian team is about to take the field.
Contrary to the widespread reports about Australia’s “new-look” team, the XI today is without only three players from the corresponding Test last year.
The three outs are self-evident. The three ins are Aaron Finch, Marcus Harris and Travis Head.
So there’s eight players in today’s side that played in the 120-run win over England here last year.
OK, there’s no covering Steve Smith and David Warner, so Australia’s challenge is to post enough runs to put India under pressure.
That’s why the selectors have opted for six specialist batsmen, which in turn heaps more pressure on their blue chip bowling attack.
But India has done the same, in picking Rohit ahead of Vihari.
Australia: Harris, Finch, Khawaja, Handscomb, S Marsh, Head, Paine, Cummins, Starc, Lyon, Hazlewood.
India: Rahul, Vijay, Pujara, Kohli, Rahane, Vihari, Pant, Ashwin, Shami, I Sharma, Bumrah.
10am: Picture-perfect arena
Fine and hot at the Oval. Big crowd outside. Gates opening now. #AUSvsIND pic.twitter.com/W3X4Lg7cvt
— Andrew Faulkner (@AndrewFaulkner9) December 5, 2018
Peter Lalor 9.30am: Toss crucial in Adelaide
It is hot and getting hotter in Adelaide. The toss is critical.
Australia does not want to find itself in the field. It’s excised its all-rounder and does not want to flog the four key bowlers.
Equally it will not be great for the tentative batting line up to cook themselves today. They’ll be burning anxious energy as it is, and a long day in a hot field can often result in a short following day at the crease.
Dazed, damaged and hastily reassembled, Australian cricket fronts its public for the first time this morning since the incident.
Like a man who had fallen from a great height, it has slowly lifted itself from the ground, shaken its head and attempted to move as it once did.
India, however, arrives in the most robust of health. Seven of the squad of 12 named yesterday have previous experience at Adelaide.
One Australian remains from the last time the two sides met at what is one of Australia’s great Test venues.
It’s hot. So hot they’ve cancelled the roof climb excursions the stadium conducts. They’re predicting the mercury to hit the high 30s and the dry northern heat to wrap the warmest of blankets around proceedings.
The one surviving member of the 2014 contest, Nathan Lyon, has good memories. He took 12-286 in that game, swinging it in Australia’s favour when India threatened to run down a sizeable total.
Indian captain Virat Kohli has even better memories. He has three centuries at this venue, including the one he scored on debut in MS Dhoni’s team back in 2012.
The Indian captain has an average of 98.5 in these parts.
Australia has Marcus Harris on debut as an opener. Aaron Finch, a man arguably not suited to such heights, brings two Tests’ experience to his position.
AUSTRALIA SQUAD: Tim Paine (c, wk), Josh Hazlewood (vc), Mitch Marsh (vc), Pat Cummins, Aaron Finch, Peter Handscomb, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Peter Siddle, Mitchell Starc, Chris Tremain
INDIA SQUAD: Virat Kohli (c), Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Prithvi Shaw, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant (wk), Parthiv Patel (wk), Ravi Ashwin, Ravi Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar
First morning of the Adelaide Test. Bit excited. â¦@australianâ© pic.twitter.com/TkwWFCi3cu
— Peter Lalor (@plalor) December 5, 2018
6.50am: Harris, Finch can thrive, Rogers says
There’s no reason one of Australia’s most inexperienced opening partnerships in the nation’s Test history can’t click instantly, according to Chris Rogers.
Marcus Harris and Aaron Finch will open the batting in Australia’s four-Test series opener against India, which starts in Adelaide today. Harris will be on debut while Finch is playing his first Test on home soil, having been recently presented with his baggy green in Dubai.
Australia haven’t fielded a more inexperienced opening pair, in terms of Tests innings, since 1979.
That combination of Bruce Laird and Julien Wiener was more mature than their numbers suggested, with the former having played two years of World Series Cricket.
Harris has opened with Finch in the Big Bash League (BBL) but not the Sheffield Shield, where the latter has generally batted in the middle order for Victoria. Rogers’ 41 partnerships with David Warner produced a total of 2,053 Test runs, the fourth highest total by an Australian opening pair.
Much was made of the alliance given their contrasting personalities and batting styles but there was no questioning their results.
“It can click straight away. If you get the right synergy with someone, it can be there almost from as soon as you start,” Rogers said yesterday.
“I’m not sure there is some mythical connection between two openers … they’ve shared a change room a lot, so I reckon they’ll have a pretty good connection already.”
Harris suggested Finch’s presence would settle him.
“If he’s running between the wickets like he does in the Big Bash, I’d want to have my long spikes on,” Harris said after he was named in the Test squad.
Rogers, who like Harris kicked on after shifting from Perth to Melbourne, also faced India on Test debut and urged the 26-year-old to enjoy the occasion.
“The first Test is almost the one you can’t remember, because everything happens in such a blur,” Rogers said.
“The outside influence is a lot bigger for that first game, even things like trying to sort tickets for family and friends.
“What I like about Marcus is the fact his tempo has been really consistent, he seems to shape his innings in a pretty similar manner every time. “That’s what a good opening batsman does.” Captain Tim Paine said Harris thoroughly deserved his chance. “He’ll play his shots but he has also really improved his defence,” Paine said.
Gideon Haigh 6.30am: A battle of two worthy underdogs
This summer’s Border-Gavaskar Trophy starts with a novel feel as a contest that seems to involve two underdogs, writes Gideon Haigh in The Australian today.
“Each team, one suspects, would like the other to be regarded as favourite, easing the burden of expectation, affording them slightly greater licence. Each team has a disconcertingly good case,” Haigh says.
“India sit atop international cricket’s Test ladder but in an era where quality is being stretched thin by the game’s various mutations this year they have lost six of eight Tests on the road.
Australia, depleted, rank fifth, but in this decade have lost only five and won 27 Tests on home soil.”
Read the full story here.
6am: Australia v India — key match-ups
Here are the key head-to-head clashes that will shape the Australia v India Test series, which begins today at the Adelaide Oval.
VIRAT KOHLI V AUSTRALIA
Who can stop King Kohli? The Indian skipper was in phenomenal touch last time his side toured Australia and the hosts don’t have Steve Smith to counter his weight of runs this time. Statistical analysis suggests Australia’s best hope of dismissing Kohli is with full-pitched seaming deliveries but the margin for error is extremely slim against a batsman who has mastered the cover drive like few before him. One of cricket’s fiercest customers, the world’s best batsman is certain to also interrogate Australia’s gentler new approach to on-field relations.
AARON FINCH V THE NEW BALL
There are plenty of reasons to be confident Finch is up to being a Test opener in Australia. He thrived on debut in the UAE. He acquitted himself well, batting on a green pitch at No.3 in Victoria’s Sheffield Shield clash with Queensland. And he has undoubtedly added patience to his naturally attacking game. But facing the new ball on Australian decks is a daunting challenge and Finch had limited success when trialled as an opener for Victoria earlier in his career. Big responsibility as the senior opener alongside debutant Marcus Harris despite having only played two Tests himself.
RAVICHANDRAN ASHWIN V LEFT-HANDERS
Offspinner Ashwin’s record against lefties is fearsome — he averages less than 20 against left-handed batsmen in Tests. And he’ll have no shortage of targets with Australia’s top six set to feature Harris, Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh and Travis Head. Ashwin has struggled down under in the past but has worked hard to adapt his game to Australian conditions, even putting himself through an extra net session on India’s rest day ahead of the first Test. An improved performance from the star spinner could go a long way towards India retaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
CHETESHWAR PUJARA V NATHAN LYON
With so much focus on Kohli, it’s easy to forget the man batting above him averages almost 50 in Test cricket. The tourists can’t leave it all to their skipper and Pujara, batting in the pivotal first-drop position, will be desperate to improve a middling record in Australia. The ever-patient veteran doesn’t tend to give his wicket away cheaply but will undoubtedly be wary of facing Lyon. Australia’s greatest-ever offspinner has dismissed Pujara more times (seven) than any other Test batsman.
Additional reporting: AAP
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