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The bump and wag of a captain’s tail have given Australia hope of victory in a day and night event on the line after two eventful days at Adelaide Oval, where India is 9-9. 1 and 62 runs ahead.
Tim Paine led from the front with an undefeated 73 on Friday, producing arguably his biggest blow since helping Australia salvage a draw against Pakistan after the Cape Town cheating scandal.
A 32-run endurance between Paine and Marnus Labuschagne (47) was shamefully the hosts’ biggest partnership.
Ryan Pierse / Getty Images
Tim Paine made an important contribution with the bat.
Paine, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon and Josh Hazlewood rallied their team from 111-7 to 191, but it was still Australia’s lowest first-inning total in a day and night event.
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Paine released a nosedive catch, giving Mayank Agarwal a life in two during a hectic flurry of six over after the inning change.
Pat Cummins was entrusted with the new ball and messed with Prithvi Shaw’s stumps, while undefeated night watchman Jasprit Bumrah faced 11 deliveries.
Ryan Pierse / Getty Images
Pat Cummins celebrates the conquest of Prithvi Shaw.
“It’s certainly not our best performance, but you have to give India credit, they played very well and put us under pressure,” Paine said.
“We couldn’t get any momentum, get some partnerships.
“We have to pursue what we have to pursue.
James Elsby / AP
Jasprit Bumrah and Virat Kohli celebrate Australia’s Joe Burns wicket.
“Whether it’s a big or a small score, we know it will be a challenge.”
Virat Kohli will be pleased with his chances of setting an imposing target, but India could already be in a much more dominant position, having granted pardons to Paine, Labuschagne and Starc.
Paine was 26, and Australia in deep trouble at 113-7, when Agarwal dropped a catch deep.
Labuschagne fell on the 12th and 21st, by Bumrah and Shaw respectively.
RICKY WILSON / THINGS
Spark Sport’s new cricket commentator Sonia Gray
Paine regained his half-century on 70 balls, scoring with a degree of freedom that contradicted every other inning of the game.
The wicketkeeper raised his test batting average to 33.4 in the process, leaving Adam Gilchrist as Australia’s only stumper with a higher average.
The Paine side started day two with a bang, needing just 22 minutes and 4.1 overs to capture four wickets and roll the tourists for 244.
James Elsby / AP
Australia’s Mitchell Starc finished with four wickets after helping clear the tail on the second day.
Starc, who was granted an exemption from SA Health because he had been isolated at his home in Sydney’s northern suburbs before flying to Adelaide, cleared his tail to enhance his reputation as the world’s best pink bowler.
Australia’s top six hitters failed to take advantage of the advantage created by their bowlers.
Bumrah changed momentum in an inspired opening spell, causing a 95-7 collapse when he caught out-of-form hitter Joe Burns and makeshift starter Matthew Wade lbw amid a gorilla blitz.
Kohli grabbed a superb catch to end Cameron Green’s first hit at the 11th, giving Ravichandran Ashwin a third scalp after the supporting player eliminated Steve Smith and Travis Head.
Umesh Yadav claimed Labuschagne’s all-important scalp early in the night session, churning out a ball that stayed incredibly low and caught the pound-pound batter.
