Key events
20th over: Australia 42-2 (Labuschagne 3, Smith 2) Straight away Smith, who is batting way outside leg stump, is taking a big step back and across to negate the swing. His first ball from Akash is a straight-out play and miss as he’s beaten on the inside edge. Akash is aghast. Smith takes a run through midwicket from Akash’s third ball to get off his duck. Labuschagne takes a single and Smith does likewise to close out the over.
19th over: Australia 39-2 (Labuschagne 2, Smith 0) Steve Smith is at the crease and Jasprit Bumrah is on a tear with two wickets already this morning. His first ball is a trap – a legside lure that Smith chases. Risky! That’s what cooked his bacon in the last Test but he still goes for it. A leg bye ensues.
WICKET! McSweeney c Kohli b Bumrah 9 (Australia 38-2)
Bumrah strikes again! McSweeney snicks off to Kohli at second slip and the visitors are suddenly on fire at the Gabba. Nine runs off 49 balls for the rookie opener in his third Test. Poor footwork and Bumrah angled it in and the edge was healthy and lethal. That won’t quiet the calls for NSW young gun Sam Konstas to get a shot as Australia’s opener.
18th over: Australia 38-1 (McSweeney 9, Labuschagne 2) Finally Akash makes McSweeney play… and he edges! But it’s low and wide of slip and scuds to the boundary rope. In one streaky stroke McSweeney just doubled the total it took him 44 balls to compile. Shackles sprung, he runs a single to celebrate. Labuschagne gets off the mark with a dodgy clip to fine leg, inside edging a straight one onto his pad and taking two. Akash had 0-3 from five overs but now has 0-10 from six.
17th over: Australia 31-1 (McSweeney 4, Labuschagne 0) Here comes Marnus. Can he pick up where he left off in the second Test? That strong knock led Australia to victory and saved a career which hung by a thread after two very ugly dismissals in the opening match. He gets behind the first few as Bumrah straight away attacks his pads.
WICKET! Khawaja c Pant b Bumrah (Australia 31-1)
Khawaja goes! Beautiful bowling by Bumrah who banged it in at 137kph on a fourth-stump line and drew a feathered edge. India have first blood on day two and again the visitors have exposed Khawaja who has got himself into a fatal habit of jumping to meet the rising delivery. That one was full and angled and it caught Australia’s veteran opener indecisive with minimal footwork. He played… and lost.
16th over: Australia 31-0 (Khawaja 21, McSweeney 4) It’s Akash’s birthday but Nathan McSweeney is getting all the gifts. Six dots in this over but not one of them made the batter play. India need wickets and McSweeney, already a formidable astonewaller, isn’t going to chance his hand if he doesn’t have to.
15th over: Australia 31-0 (Khawaja 21, McSweeney 4) First runs! And it’s a handsome back foot swish through covers by Khawaja. Two runs. Bumrah was a tad short yesterday and he starts day two in the same vein. No sign of seam movement or swing so far. Bumrah squares up Khawaja on the next – good comeback by the master quick who starts his seventh over with 0-10. Big shout on the third as Khawaja misses a straight one but the edge was audible for mine. Maybe Jasprit was just warming up the tonsils. He finishes with a flourish, beating the batter with two zingers to close. Game on!
14th over: Australia 29-0 (Khawaja 19, McSweeney 4) It’s Akash Deep’s birthday today and he gets a four-ball over first-up to celebrate. His first ball is… wide. So is his second. Two sighters for McSweeney – what a gift for a batter who’s starting the day with four runs from 33 deliveries and a strike-rate of 11. Fifth ball is a no ball. Last one is a leave. So ends an over that took 22 hours to complete.
Here we go, folks…. buckle ‘em up and batten ‘em down!
As players prepare to take the field under increasingly blue skies here at the Gabba, it’s nice to hear Melbourne’s own Hunters & Collectors (street name: “Hunners”) providing the soundtrack for this summer’s thali feast of cricket…
Brisbane isn’t the only city complicating Test cricket with the unpredictability of its weather patterns. England and New Zealand are fighting out the final Test of their series in scorching heat and high wind. Here’s how Ali Martin saw day one in Hamilton.
With the series square at one-all and the Border-Gavaskar Trophy now down to a – weather permitting – three-Test shootout, both teams are eyeing the bonus prize of a spot in the World Test Championship, most likely against ladder-leaders South Africa.
Yesterday’s rain gave us plenty of time to ponder the permutations if weather intervenes in this contest.As Martin Pegan sees it:
India are the most at risk of paying a price if rain ruins this contest with the two-time WTC runner-up needing to win all three remaining Tests against Australia to guarantee qualification to another final. If Australia regain the Border-Gavaskar trophy for the first time since 2014-15, they would almost certainly return to the final after beating India in the 2023 decider. Australia could still qualify for the final if the series against India is drawn 2-2, with two Tests in Sri Lanka to play early next year.
Our own Geoff Lemon had plenty of time on day one to mull over where both teams’ fortunes lie based on the flip of a coin…
Preamble
Angus Fontaine
Good morning cricket fans and welcome to day two of the Guardian’s live coverage of this third Test between Australian and India for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Angus Fontaine here for the first chunk of play (touch wood) before Jonathan Howcroft takes you through to stumps.
First things first: it’s ISN’T raining at the Gabba. It’s cloudy and it’s windy. It’s hot and it’s humid. Hell, there are even some skinny streak of blue overhead. But there’s NO RAIN. So all things going well, play will resume an hour early today with action to get under way at 9.50am local time (10.50am AEST).
The forecast for today is the best for the week ahead. Things aren’t looking so bright for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. “Showers and thunderstorms are possible during the next few days, however no significant rainfall is expected,” the Bureau has told us.
But let’s live for today and get ready for what umpires have deigned to be a minimum 98-overs of cricket. Rain condemned us to a measly 13.2 overs bowled by India on day one, all in the first session, as 81 millimetres was dumped on Brisbane in what meteorologists are dubbing a “rain bomb”.
That torrent triggered flash-flooding across Queensland and sparked fears the city could be in for floods as catastrophic as the record-breaking deluges of 2022. But it didn’t dampen Australia’s spirits as they sought to cash in on India captain Rohit Sharma’s curious decision to win the toss and bowl on a Gabba ‘green top’.
Despite the persistent showers, opening pair of Usman Khawaja (19 not out) and Nathan McSweeney (4 not out) kept their powder dry, compiling their highest opening partnership of the series and going to an early lunch safe and snug with the scoreboard at 28-0.
From the little we saw, India’s bowlers were a touch short, allowing three-Test rookie McSweeney to hang tough again after his excellent 39 in the second Test, as he left Jasprit Bumrah judiciously and eked singles where he could.
Meanwhile, his normally dour senior partner Khawaja showed impressive intent, leaning back and unfurling a couple of the lovely boundary strokes we’ve come to expect from him. Australia fans will be hoping for more of this on day two.
