A bruised Australia pummelled the field back into the five-match Test series against India with a ten-wicket triumph on the last day at Adelaide on Sunday which saw them take over the position in the WTC rankings. The hosts became busy losing in the series opener in Perth to a weakened Indian team that crushed the pride of the earlier WTC champions. With them reclaiming the lead in the World Test Championship (WTC) standings.
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The hosts had crumbled to a comprehensive defeat by a depleted Indian side in the series opener in Perth denting the pride of the reigning WTC champions.
But the mighty Aussies, led by their stand-in captain Pat Cummins, rose to a challenging occasion and thrashed a full-strength India, which included the main players Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill into the side, within two and half days to make it 1-1 in the series. Mitchell Starc threatened with the pink ball and dismantled India with his first innings 6-48 venue, where the Australians are now unbeaten 8-0, in the day-night test. the lead in the World Test Championship (WTC) standings.
The hosts had crumbled to a comprehensive defeat by a depleted Indian side in the series opener in Perth denting the pride of the reigning WTC champions.
However, led by their inspirational captain Pat Cummins, Australia steamrolled a full-strength India, reinforced by the return of their captain Rohit Sharma and batter Shubman Gill, in a little over two days to level the series at 1-1.
Mitchell Starc menaced with the pink ball and broke India’s back with his first innings 6-48 at the venue, where Australia now have a perfect 8-0 record in day-night tests.
Browned off his victims from Perth centurions Yashasvi Jaiswal and Virat Kohli. While Cummins was aggressive in the air in the second inning and took 5-57 to clean up the lower order, it was Head again, this time in the Test, who made match-defining 140 off 142 balls. in the World Test Championship (WTC) standings.
The hosts had crumbled to a comprehensive defeat by a depleted Indian side in the series opener in Perth denting the pride of the reigning WTC champions.
However, led by their inspirational captain Pat Cummins, Australia steamrolled a full-strength India, reinforced by the return of their captain Rohit Sharma and batter Shubman Gill, in a little over two days to level the series at 1-1.
Mitchell Starc menaced with the pink ball and broke India’s back with his first innings 6-48 at the venue, where Australia now have a perfect 8-0 record in day-night tests.
His victims included Perth centurions Yashasvi Jaiswal and Virat Kohli.
Cummins led by example in the second innings, claiming 5-57 and scything through the lower order, but it was India nemesis Travis Head’s nearly run-a-ball 140 that proved decisive.
Head had fifties in match-winning fashions in the WTC finals and the earlier 50-overs World Cup last year, and it was the sight of the left-hander dominating India’s bowlers again.
“It is one of those momentum swings again,” Cummins said on Head’s knock at the batter’s home ground.
“What was hilarious this could have been any man’s game when he went to bat and he just removed it out of their hands.”
Australia will also be content with how opener Nathan McSweeney went in only his second test, let alone his courageous 39 in the first dig.
The third on the list Marnus Labuschagne also appeared to be getting back into form with his sedate 64.
Upon receiving torrents of criticisms from the defeat in Perth, the comprehensive triumph in the fourth test match will do wonders for morale back in the home team’s changing room before they travel to Brisbane for the third and final test starting December 14.
“Last week, we lost a test match, and a week later the criticism, we were being perhaps the worst test team ever,” stated Labuschagne.
“This week, it has got to day three and the series is level at 1-1, so we understand how we are going in there.”
Run Drought
The tourists’ humiliating loss at Adelaide will bring down the high spirits that had greeted the Indian camp after Perth.
Rohit continued his run drought, he was dismissed for three and six while he was promoted up the order again. The Indian captain now has only one fifty-plus score and eight scores in single figures, and in the recent test series, he was dismissed for a duck in the test match against New Zealand at Pune. signs of ending, even after he dropped down to the middle order where he scored three and six.
The India captain now has just one half-century and eight single-digit scores, including a duck against New Zealand in Pune, in his last 12 test innings.
It was a pathetic show by Indian batsmen in Adelaide where they only managed to give a chasing pack like Australian bowlers a paltry total of 288 runs in two and half days, coming from 81 overs with none of the Indian batsmen getting a fifty.
Still, in the absence of Mohammed Shami who is playing domestic cricket in India after recovering from an ankle injury but is not fit for tests yet, Indian bowling seemed too dependent mostly on Jasprit Bumrah.
The thinking for India will be to replace the No.4 Rohit Sharma with opener KL Rahul in Brisbane.
“We’re quite looking forward to it,” Rohit said of the third test.
“All we want is go on out there and consider what we did well here in Perth, and what we did wrong in the earlier time that we was here.”