India openers come to party after Aussie lower order fizzles out

Indian bowlers once again put their best feet forward to restrict Australia to 338 before the openers ensured that the match continued to be in balance at the end of day 2 in Sydney Test.

There was a little rain interruption in the first session and soon after the game resumed Ravindra Jadeja removed a dangerous-looking Marnus Labuschagne on 91 before skittling out Matthew Wade cheaply.

However, Steve Smith continued to trouble the bowlers, scoring his first hundred of the series. His was the last wicket to fall after a rocket throw from Ravindra Jadeja caught him short on the second run.

The ploy of taking the new ball as soon as it was available to them worked brilliantly for Rahane and Co as they removed the last five wickets for under 100 runs. 

In reply, India openers started well. Shubhman Gill in particular was once again impressive, bringing his maiden fifty in Tests. The 70-run partnership was broken by Josh Hazlewood when Rohit Sharma popped one back to him. Soon after Rohit’s dismissal, Gill edged one off Pat Cummins allowing Australia to crawl back into the game. However, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane played out the remaining overs to end the day at 96/2.

With India still trailing by 242 runs, Australia will believe that they have the advantage going into the third day.

On the other hand, India’s best bets are already in the middle. If they manage to see out the first session on day 3, the tourists will have given themselves more than a decent chance to stride towards a lead in the match and eventually the series.