The Adelaide audience was thrilled on day two of the pink-ball Test when hometown hero Travis Head blasted India’s attack away with a blazing century. Australia’s first-inning advantage was increased to 157 by Head’s 140 off 141 balls, leaving India with a difficult final two hours to contend with under the floodlights. When they lost half of their team during that time when the pink ball was at its strongest, the visitors fell further behind. India was 128 for 5 at stumps, still 29 runs behind.
After Jasprit Bumrah had removed both Nathan McSweeney and Steven Smith in 13 balls, Head had strolled out to thunderous cheers from his home fans and was in some middle-field danger. Following his successful addition of only one to his overnight total of 38, Steven Smith was caught down the leg side for two runs, while McSweeney stole a Bumrah special behind to Rishabh Pant.
Australia’s batting threatened to black out on the second afternoon after the floodlights had gone out twice on the first day. But Head had other plans, and his unrestrained style ruined the innings. Four of his first nine balls were missing, but it didn’t stop him from playing his strokes. He stuck to his strategy of keeping leg-side of the ball and smashing it into the off-side ground square’s shorter pockets.
When he crashed R Ashwin over mid-off and then over his head for sixes, including a 110-meter monster one over the sightscreen, he also cleared the longer straight boundary.
Head needed just 48 more balls to reach his maiden hundred after scoring his first fifty off 63 balls. In honor of his wife and his family’s recent birth, he celebrated the milestone by rocking his bat like a baby in front of a home crowd of 51,642. The celebration also included an embrace from fellow South Australian Alex Carey.
By now, Indian fans would be tired of seeing Head. He has amassed 1052 runs in 19 innings against India in all forms since 2023 at an average of 61.9, including three hundreds in the 2023 ODI World Cup final and the preceding WTC final cycle.
On Saturday, Head had planned to add 65 with Marnus Labuschagne and 74 with Carey. Prior to the Adelaide Test, Labuschagne had only made 123 runs in his past ten Test innings, 90 of which came in a single knock against New Zealand. Although his innings was as fluid as Head’s, he still needed to get back into form.
Labuschagne took the unpredictable Harshit Rana for three fours in four balls to celebrate reaching his fifty from 114 balls.
Head struck Rana for 41 off 29 balls, showing greater brutality. Whatever descended on Head was essentially irrelevant. Brief. Complete. upon the stumps. off-stump outside.
However, Mohammed Siraj supported Bumrah and gave India considerable authority. When he coaxed an outside edge from Carey and extracted additional bounce, he took his first wicket of the match.
Mitchell Marsh was R Ashwin’s lone wicket, although it was because to some good luck. Marsh didn’t even consider a review after forming to defend a non-turning offbreak from Ashwin and leaving the field before umpire Richard Illingworth had raised his finger.
Head whipped Bumrah for a pair of fours after attacking the second new ball as well. In the following over, he lifted Siraj up for a commanding six over square leg, but Siraj returned the next ball to york Head. Siraj let his emotions run wild and offered Head a farewell that didn’t sit well with either him or his devoted Adelaide audience.
Despite the jeers, Siraj dismissed Mitchell Starc and Scott Boland shortly after tea to finish Australia at 337. Four balls into his period with the second new ball, after experiencing some discomfort that necessitated medical care, Bumrah bounced back to topple Cummins.
After that, Cummins took over with the ball and used a lifter to cramp KL Rahul for seven runs off ten balls. He struck Rohit Sharma’s off stump with an absolute peach just before stumps.
Earlier, Boland had hit Yashasvi Jaiswal for 24 from 31 balls with his opening ball. Josh Hazlewood hopes to return to action for the Brisbane Test, but he has fit in well with the bowling attack and might be an intriguing selection conundrum.
It may have been an anomaly for Starc to not hit with the pink new ball during his first stint, but he returned with the older one and used a hooping inswinger to smash past Gill’s defenses.
But Pant kept on doing Pant things. He rushed out of the crease and created swinging space to smash his opening ball over mid-off for four despite the flurry of wickets. Then, to temporarily offset Australia’s quicks, he unfurled the falling scoop and the reverse pull. With 28 runs off 25 balls, he was still undefeated.
If India hopes to pull off another robbery in Australia, Pant will need to do more of this and Reddy will need to help.
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