Day-Night Test: Starc leads Australia's dominance, Reddy shines for India
Australia dominated Day 1 of the second Test against India at the Adelaide Oval, which is a Day-Night affair. Mitchell Starc dented the visitors in the first two sessions with a career-best six-wicket haul. Despite a fighting 42 from Nitish Reddy, India were limited to 180/10 after batting for 44.1 overs. Australia have responded strongly as they were 86/1 at stumps. Here is the day report.
Starc's early strikes leave India reeling
Starc announced his arrival in the match by sending Yashasvi Jaiswal back for a golden duck with his very first ball. He then broke the 69-run stand between KL Rahul (37) and Shubman Gill (30) by sending back the former. The pacer continued to breath fire as India were folded for just 180. The total would have been even lower had Reddy not stepped up.
Reddy's resistance rescues India
Amid the batting collapse, Reddy was the only Indian to breach the 40-run mark. His 42-run knock from 54 balls was laced with three fours and three sixes. Reddy scored an impressive 19 runs in an over off Scott Boland, who is one of Australia's top bowlers. The over produced 21 runs in total.
Reddy averages 60.50 in this series
Reddy scored 41 and 38* in the first Test at the Optus Stadium. And now, he managed 42 in his first Day-Night encounter. Across three innings, he has 121 runs at 60.50. As per ESPNcricinfo, Reddy has raced to 900 runs in First-Class cricket at 22-plus.
Fourth fifer in Day-Night Tests
Starc finished his spell with 6/48 across 14.1 overs, his career-best figures in the format. Meanwhile, this was his fourth fifer in Day-Night Tests. No other bowler has more than two fifers in this regard. Notably, the pacer is is also the leading wicket-taker in pink-ball Tests. As per ESPNcricinfo, he has raced to 72 wickets from only 13 matches at an average of 17.81. No other bowler has even 50 wickets in Day-Night Tests.
Maiden fifer vs India
This was Starc's maiden Test five-wicket haul against the Indian team. Having played 20 games against the team, Starc has raced to 57 wickets at 35.49. Overall, he has raced to 367 Test wickets at an average of 27.53. His career features 15 five-wicket hauls and two 10-wicket match hauls. 226 of his wickets have come at home at 26.
Summary of the Aussie bowle
As mentioned, Starc bowled 14.1 overs for his 6/48. He bowled two maidens. Pat Cummins managed 2/41 from 12 overs (4 maidens). Boland clocked 2/54 from 13 overs. Mitchell Marsh bowled four overs, conceding 26 runs. Spinner Nathan Lyon was handed a solitary over.
Here's how Australia responded
Australian openers Usman Khawaja (13) and Nathan McSweeney (38*) negotiated the new ball well before Jasprit Bumrah trapped the former in the 11th over. McSweeney was then joined by Marnus Labuschagne (20*) as the duo showcased immsence character amid challenging conditions. They recorded an unbeaten half-century stand as the hosts finished the day at 86/1. They are trailing by just 94 runs now.
Bumrah joins Kapil and Zaheer with this record
The dismissal of Khawaja made Bumrah the third Indian pacer to take 50-plus wickets in a calendar year in Tests. Bumrah joined the likes of Kapil Dev (twice) and Zaheer Khan to attain this milestone. It must be noted that the Indian ace averages under 16 this year, having played 11 games. He is also the leading wicket-taker in the format in 2024.
How did the Indian bowlers fare?
Bumrah was India's only wicket-taker as he finished the day with 1/13 across 11 overs. Mohammed Siraj (0/29) and Harshit Rana (0/18) were disciplined though they failed to strike, having bowled 10 and eight overs apiece. While Ravichandran Ashwin bowled a solitary over, Reddy leaked 12 runs in three overs.
