Recent Match Report – 3rd Test Australia vs India 2020

David Warner falls cheap on return, but Steven Smith seems to have put his problems behind him

Strains Australia 166 for 2 (Labuschagne 67 *, Pucovski 62, Smith 31 *) vs India

Half centuries of Marnus Labuschagne and debutant Will Pucovski gave Australia a lot what they had desperately missed in the first two tests, where 200 was their highest round total. The two quashed R Ashwin’s threat, set up a century-old position and established the platform for Steven Smith to return to the races and put Australia in a strong position. With an unbeaten 67, a 13th score over 50 in his 28th innings, Labuschagne led Australia to a solid 166-2 on stumps after the first two sessions were heavily truncated due to the weather.

As in Adelaide and Melbourne, lost catches played a part in how the sessions went – the two Rishabh Pant posed certainly pushed India over the back foot. Both lives were for Pucovski, on 26 and 32, and he went on to score 62 before being trapped by fellow debutante Navdeep Saini.

Shortly after Smith came in at 106-2, India brought Ashwin back – the spinner had represented Smith twice in the series in the space of 23 balls. The tension was palpable; Ashwin desperately wanted to give it a try, and Smith anxious to come out and knock Ashwin to the ground and mark his authority. Smith was almost sent off on the 26th when he fell and was beaten in the flight, but the ball cut its pads and passed the stumps. And, four times later, there was an animated call for a bat-pad capture. Smith seemed to be doing fine, and Ajinkya Rahane asking for the review after the 15-second deadline likely saved India a criticism.

The bulk of the Australian work was done in the second wicket-free session, when the ball was new and Labuschagne and Pucovski were still fresh in the crease. An exciting first hour unfolded with India’s rapids hitting precise lines for their two slides and side-leg fields which included a silly mid-race for Mohammed Siraj. But the batsmen saw the bowlers pass with watchful eyes and patient leaves, oblivious to the scoring rate. Ashwin, shown on the 14th, was the first to create a chance by mixing things up – floats, flatters, stolen Orthodox deliveries with a drift that even had a certain bend – when he induced a Pucovski outer edge. , but Pant put it down and Ashwin’s spell ended at 5-1-7-0.

Three times later, Pucovski received a glove on a short ball from Mohammed Siraj who took it big and Pant ran to catch it in a loop, but at first he couldn’t hold on while he was diving, then could not put his gloves under. the ball in time while desperately catching it again. Pucovski also landed a third life out of 39 when he went for a third inning but Labuschagne sent him back and he was only saved by Jasprit Bumrah’s imprecise throw after slipping into the outfield.

Now the two beaters had their eyes in it, the ball was not new and the sun had cleared the clouds. After a phase of 18 consecutive points, Labuschagne jumped on Ashwin when he threw too short or outside. When Ashwin was precise, Labuschagne carefully closed his bat’s face with gentle hands, and skillfully evaded the short leg and leg slip repeatedly. In the last over before tea, Pucovski greeted Saini with a fierce cut and powerful pull for four in a row to uplift their half-century as they scored 46 points in the ten overs before the break to boost the point rate. .

Pucovski, however, only lasted ten deliveries after tea, when Saini got the better of him, but Australia quickly broke through triple digits with their second batch of 50 races exceeding just 58 deliveries after the first took one. took 140. Labuschagne dug and punished Siraj at full deliveries for four to cross 50 as Smith collected three fours in the span of four deliveries off Bumrah and Saini to run at 13 of 11 which set the tone for his innings that came to 31 by stumps.

Earlier, Rain had eaten a lot of over after allowing just 35 minutes of play in the first session after Australia chose to beat. The hosts were bolstered by the return of David Warner, who was clearly less than 100% in his race between the wickets. He was uncertain on the outside too, and one of those led to his dismissal when he flashed twice in a row and on the second attempt he had a big advantage to fall for 5 off. Siraj. It was Warner’s lowest home score since November 2016, also the last time he scored in single digits in a test on Australian soil.