Ind vs Aus LIVE Score, India vs Australia 3rd Test, Day 2: That will be lunch on day 2. Looked like a pretty even-stevens session until Jasprit Bumrah sent Cameron Green back. The visitors will be pleased with the three wickets they got, while Australia will be pleased with the fact that a well set Steve Smith is still out in the middle, and he looks hungry for more.
Marnus Labuschagne missed out his century by 9 runs, but Smith looks determined to notch up the three-digit milestone against one of his favourite opposition. There were a couple of rain breaks in the morning, but Jadeja and Ashwin bowled plenty of overs in tandem, hence there were 30 overs of play possible.
Ind vs Aus LIVE SCORE, India vs Australia 3rd Test, Day 2 Live Score
8:34: 96th over: Australia 280-7 (Smith 99, Starc 2)
Saini bowls to Starc, and this is all action. A wide ball and a big swish, fresh air. A good bouncer that hits the front of Starc’s top glove, up in front of his sternum, and luckily for the batsman doesn’t flick up in the air but goes straight to ground. A length ball that Starc also swishes at and misses as it angles across him, left-handed batsman facing a right-armer. A bouncer down the leg side that Starc is nowhere near. Fifth ball, he pushes into the covers and runs! Gives Smith one whole ball to face…
and it won’t bring a run! Jadeja at forward square leg swoops.
7:58: WICKET !! Bumrah to Paine, out Bowled!!
Cleaned up! That’s a rippah. Just too good for Paine. Very similar to the one that Green got. Good length ball that nips back in at 138.1kph, Paine’s feet go nowhere as he pushes his hands forward, the ball finds the gap between bat and pad to hit the top of off-stump. It might have taken a slight deflection off the back pad.
7:47: 86th over: Australia 249-5 (Smith 77, Paine 0) Siraj to Smith, looking good off the back foot, punching to cover. Two slips, gully, point, cover, mid-off, and we’re back to a more normal off-side field rather than the strategy they employed with the older ball. A maiden over.
7:07:Lunch – Australia 249 for 5
Oh, this has got interesting. With 84.5 overs bowled and a new ball in hand, India have worked their way through half the Australian batting line-up. We’ve got Smith at the crease looking very solid, and we’ll have the captain Tim Paine joining him after the break. The occasional ratty moment from this surface suggests that it will get harder to bat on later in the match. Australia still have the resources to bat big here and get 400 or more, or India could winnow through and keep them to around 300. Game very much on.
7:00: WICKET!! Bumrah to Green, out Lbw!!
Green departs for a duck, and he doesn’t even bother of reviewing it. Sharp nip backer around middle and off, and Green gets beaten on his defence. The ball thuds into his pads around the off stump line and as the ball was seaming into the batsman, it might have gone on to hit the middle stump.
6:51: 82nd over: Australia 246-4 (Smith 74, Green 0)
Siraj the new-ball partner, not Saini, who hasn’t had much work to do in this match: seven overs compared to Siraj in his 21st. Siraj is surprised by the outswing, which carries the ball so wide of the bat that it gets called wide. Then he bowls an in-ducker that Green leaves, not very far from his stumps. Green drives nicely but mid-on dives and saves, keeps him on strike. Siraj swings in at the pads and gets an inside edge into pad, false shot, lbw risk.
6:31: WICKET! Wade c Bumrah b Jadeja 13, Australia 232-4
6:27: 76th over: Australia 226-3 (Smith 60, Wade 7)
Now Vihari’s in the firing line again! He’s at short leg for Ashwin bowling to Smith, and this time Smith sweeps four that may have taken a small deflecting from Vihari’s shin pad down near the ankle. On the bounce, not a catching chance.
5:56: Another rain stoppage, it’s happening for the second time already. The hessian and covers are out as the players rush back to the pavilion. It’s not that threatening though, just looks like a slight drizzle and it won’t be that a long break. Labuchagne missed out on his century as he was dismissed just a while before rain arrived, but Smith has notched up his first fifty of the series. The square is under covers at the moment, so we’ll be back as soon as rain subsides. Stay tuned in for the updates..
5:51: Fifty! Steve Smith 51 from 116 balls
5:49: 71st over: Australia 208-3 (Smith 47, Wade 2)
No dramas for Wade with one ball to come in the over: he steps across his stumps and sweeps it fine for two runs.
5:42: WICKET!!! Jadeja to Labuschagne, out Caught by Rahane!!
The century partnership has been broken! A wicket against the run of play. 93.8kph, bit of extra bounce, not much turn from a length, Labuschagne goes deep in his crease to punch and gets a thick outside edge. Rahane, at first slip, takes a sharp catch moving to his right. Excellent reflexes from the Indian captain and Jadeja has provided the much-needed breakthrough for the visitors. Australia 208-3 (Smith 42, Wade 4)
5:33: 67th over: Australia 192-2 (Labuschagne 82, Smith 42) Jadeja starts with an error after the delay, dropping short and Labuschagne cuts a boundary. He’s into the 80s.
The only Australian batsmen with a Test century against India since the Sydney Test of 2015 finished?
Steve Smith and Glenn Maxwell.
The latter of whom has still never been picked for a Test in Australia.
Labuschagne looking good to add himself to that list.
5:28: Good news, the covers are coming off. Play will restart shortly. The players have taken their positions. Jadeja to resume…
5:17: And it’s raining again
Oh no! The groundstaff rush in, uproot the sticks to cover the pitch. 14 overs until new ball.
Go boys, go! These SCG groundsmen have been earning their money so far this Test! 😅 #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/9ysJpb7del
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) January 7, 2021
5:11: 64th over: Australia 183-2 (Labuschagne 73, Smith 42) Siraj hits Smith on the pad and convinces Rahane to go upstairs, but that struck far too high and was going over. That was a shrug-of-the-shoulders review from the captain, might as well. Looks like Ashwin has taken the moral responsibility of getting Smith out. Continuously chatting with Siraj.
5:04: 63rd over: Australia 182-2 (Labuschagne 73, Smith 41)
Ravindra Jadeja on to have a bowl. Left-arm orthodox, around the wicket to the right-handers, and Jadeja is immediately giving the ball flight. He often bowls quite fast and flat, but not today, wanting to tease these batsmen a little bit. Each finds a single.
4:53: 59th over: 60th over: Australia 178-2 (Labuschagne 70, Smith 40)
Siraj to Marnus now, drives down through mid-on and gets good three runs. Smith is still moving across his stumps. This is just classic Smith in action.
4:50: 57th over: Australia 172-2 (Labuschagne 67, Smith 37)
Bumrah from the other end. Starts with a half-volley and Smith drive it through covers for four. To continue dominating Bumrah, Smith pushes a run to cover next ball. But Bumrah responds to Labuschagne, delivering an absolute beauty with the old ball: angling in, seaming away despite the wear on the ball, beating the edge.
4:39: 56th over: Australia 168-2 (Labuschagne 67, Smith 33)
What a start. Mohammed Siraj starts the day, the fast bowler in his second Test, and he starts in at Smith’s body. Working that angle in. After a few balls Siraj bombs in the bouncer, and it takes off! Smith takes it on. But doesn’t make contact at all. It beats him, zipping through past his bat and past his head. A wake-up ball. Then Siraj goes in at the ribs and it bounces high again! A real spike of bounce, and Smith fends it from under his armpit away through leg slip. India have a leg gully, squarer, rather than that finer position, and so Smith gets away with it and gets a run.
4:26: Play to begin 30 minutes earlier today, at 10:00 am local time. We will start at 10:00 am for each of the remaining days due to yesterday’s lost time
4:17: Hello and warm welcome to you all. It’s day two, how about that. We didn’t get a full day one for the Sydney Test, but we did get 55 overs in after a long rain delay. Which means that play will start half an hour early today and every day forever from now on to make up a bit of that time. Alright, shall we? It’s 166 for 2, and India need incisions.