India take control
The home side hold all the cards after day one of the first Test in Nagpur. The first day of the four match series could hardly have gone much better for the hosts, bar the loss of KL Rahul to Aussie debutant Todd Murphy an over before the close. They find themselves just 100 runs adrift with nine wickets in hand. The desiccated pitch doesn’t look likely to get easier to bat on, any sizeable first innings lead could well be crucial.
Australia were undone by both pace and spin, Shami and Siraj making early inroads to reduce the visitors to 2-2 before Ravindra Jadeja piped up to take five wickets on his return to Test cricket. Ravichandran Ashwin racked up his 450th (and 451st) Test wickets and Skipper Rohit Sharma looked in imperious form with the bat, scorching a chanceless fifty off just 66 balls. His Australian counterpart, Pat Cummins, was woefully out of sorts with his first efforts with the ball on what was a largely ponderous fielding display for the visitors.
The report from the ground has just landed and we’ll be back tomorrow to OBO day two. Thanks as ever for the emails and comments, goodbye!
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Here’s that first Test scalp for Todd Murphy:
Todd: one out #INDvsAUS https://t.co/r1rSKF3Q6b
— Ali Martin (@Cricket_Ali) February 9, 2023
STUMPS: India close day one on 77-1 in response to Australia's 177
Sharma survives a loud lbw appeal in the final over, Lyon on his knees imploring but to no avail. Where have we seen that before I wonder? (Sorry, must remain impartial) Sharma got himself outside the line and then off strike with a push into the leg side. Ashwin pats back the rest of the final over and day one of this Border-Gavaskar series is done, it belongs firmly to India.
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WICKET! KL Rahul c&b Murphy 20 (India 76-1)
Todd Murphy gets the breakthrough and his first Test wicket! A ball that grips and turns forces Rahul into the error, a drive plinked back into the clutches of the bespectacled debutant! The Aussies swarm the tyro spinner and it’s hair tousles and back-slaps all round. A lovely moment for Murphy and an important one for his side, who desperately needed something in the wickets column.
22nd over: India 76-1 (Rohit 55, Ashwin 0)
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21st over: India 74-0 (Rohit 55, KL Rahul 18) Shadows lengthen in Nagpur, we might get through another couple of overs before the close. Sharma pounces in the fading light, driving powerfully for three down the ground before sweeping elegantly for four to bring up a 66 ball fifty. A masterclass so far from ‘The Hitman’. Not content with that he drives the next ball from Lyon majestically through the gloaming for another boundary.
20th over: India 62-0 (Rohit 44, KL Rahul 17) Murphy is keeping a lid on things, bowling nicely if not looking particularly threatening. The TV coverage throws up a graphic showing that the Aussie spinners have spun the ball more than their counterparts. Yes, I’m scratching my head too.
20th over: India 60-0 (Rohit 43, KL Rahul 16) Weird. Just the one over for Cummins then as Lyon replaces him. Four overs for 27 from the Aussie skipper. Lyon sends down a maiden, the last ball of which is a pearler, skidding past a groping Rohit.
19th over: India 60-0 (Rohit 43, KL Rahul 16) Murphy plugs away, just a single. All a bit flat from an Aussie POV.
#RohitSharma showing wonderful touch, fine technique and deep resolve. Batting gloriously
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) February 9, 2023
18th over: India 59-0 (Rohit 42, KL Rahul 16) Someone get Matty Hayden a snack, and Pat Cummins for that matter. After mentioning gravy earlier the big ‘Dos calls Cummins’ comeback over ‘buffet bowling’. He’s not wrong either. Very out of character for Cummins who serves up another easy half-volley to a lip-licking KL Rahul. He then finishes his over with an innocuous delivery shunted down the leg side that a sprawling Alex Carey does well to haul in.
17th over: India 55-0 (Rohit 42, KL Rahul 12) Murphy whirls away and there’s just a single off it. All a bit flat from Australia, they need to make something, anything happen here. As if on cue, Cummins brings himself back on.
16th over: India 54-0 (Rohit 42, KL Rahul 11) Lyon drags down and Rahul picks off the single to bring up the fifty partnership for the opening pair. Too easy. Lyon over compensates and goes too full, Rohit doesn’t miss out and steers the ball away for another four.
15th over: India 49-0 (Rohit 38, KL Rahul 10) KL Rahul punches a shorter ball from Murphy away for a couple and Rohit picks him off for a single off his pads. This has been assured stuff from India. Ominously so if you are an Aussie supporter. The pitch seems to be more benign, or rather the Aussie bowlers have made it look that way so far.
14th over: India 46-0 (Rohit 38, KL Rahul 7) Good contest between Lyon and Rohit. The spinner beats his man with a couple that grip off the surface and Rohit decides enough is enough, trotting out of his crease and smearing a length ball for six!
13th over: India 39-0 (Rohit 32, KL Rahul 6) Todd Murphy continues after a slurp, he’s accomplished if unthreatening so far.
“Evening James/all, Gervase Greene here in Sydney, just around the corner from Pat Cummins’ very nice place. Further to Peter Salmon’s point (3rd over) on Travis Head’s non-selection, I can (maybe) understand not picking someone because he can’t play spin, or can’t play in India, or both. But if so, what’s he doing on a tour to India?”
12th over: India 38-0 (Rohit 32, KL Rahul 5) Lyon keeps it tight with a maiden and that is drinks. Australia still searching for the breakthrough, no dramas yet for India.
11th over: India 38-0 (Rohit 32, KL Rahul 5) Murphy has more than a whiff of Graeme Swann in his twirling action and he can be proud of his first few balls, landing them nicely and drawing KL Rahul forward on the defensive. And breathe, Todd. A couple of singles off it (and a front foot no-ball, but I’m being charitable).
Todd Murphy is coming on for his first bowl in Test cricket. What a moment for the youngster, his family have flown in to witness it too.
10th over: India 36-0 (Rohit 32, KL Rahul 4) Lyon makes Rohit look uncomfortable for the first time, squaring him up and fizzing one past his edge.
9th over: India 35-0 (Rohit 31, KL Rahul 4) Rahul picks up an edgy two through the slips as Boland sends down another miserly over, he’s giving his captain some much needed control out there.
8th over: India 33-0 (Rohit 31, KL Rahul 2) Rohit is looking in dangerously good nick here, it is lovely for the neutral (ahem) but If I was Australia I’d already be starting to get the screaming abdabs. Lyon overpitches by a fraction and Rohit pounces, driving down the ground to collect four more.
Not a lot according to Rohit Sharma #INDvAUS https://t.co/UFcdCKgmcB
— Andrew McGlashan (@andymcg_cricket) February 9, 2023
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7th over: India 27-0 (Rohit 26, KL Rahul 1) Boland repays the faith with a maiden.
Pat Cummins has gone for more runs in his first over at Nagpur than Scott Boland has conceded per wicket taken in his Test career
— Ben Gardner (@Ben_Wisden) February 9, 2023
Stats I guess.
6th over: India 27-0 (Rohit 26, KL Rahul 1) Lyon whirls away and KL gets off the mark with a push down the ground for one. Cummins has taken himself out of the attack and Boland is given another go. Big Pat’s opening three overs crunched for 23 runs.
5th over: India 26-0 (Rohit 26, KL Rahul 0) Pat Cummins is having a bit of a shocker here, he loses his line again, serves up a full half-volley and Rohit duly picks him off for an effortless boundary. Another leg side ball is flicked away for four, Cummins shakes his head and India fly to 26 for none, each and every run notched by India’s skipper.
4th over: India 16-0 (Rohit 15, KL Rahul 0) Boland is whipped out of the attack after just one over and here comes Nathan Lyon. A nice bit of drift and grip from the shiny pated ‘Gaz’. Sharma up to the task, he sweeps for a single.
3rd over: India 15-0 (Rohit 15, KL Rahul 0) Cummins find his metronome after that expensive first effort and sends down a maiden.
Peter Salmon emails in with the express intention of ruffling a few, err, scales.
“Jim, early call I know, but AUSTRALIA JUST LOST THE ASHES. Head was our best chance to counter Bazball, and the selectors have just wilfully scrambled his brain. Expect him back in the next Test, unable to play his natural game, and out for a string of low scores. Dropped by third Ashes Test, and Stokes holding the urn aloft. You read it here first.”
We did Peter, and I for one will definitely remember.*
*But maybe drop me a line at the end of July too?
The fantastically named Reverend Frinton Bojangles is in touch:
“As an England fan, have to acknowledge how good that was - 162-5 to 177 all out is world class…”
Very droll, Rev. Speaking of England, our man in Havana Hamilton, Ali Martin, has the latest from the men’s Test camp in New Zealand:
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2nd over: India 15-0 (Rohit 15, KL Rahul 0) Scott Boland is sharing the new ball with his skipper, his first delivery is driven for two down the ground by Rohit but after that the miserly seamer sharpens up and shows his worth with five probing deliveries on off stump.
1st over: India 13-0 (Rohit 13, KL Rahul 0) Hold onto your stovepipes, India are off to a flyer. Cummins’ first ball flies off a half leave from Rohit and India get underway with a boundary off the first ball of their response. Nothing streaky about the next two though, Cummins strays onto Sharma’s pads and is flicked away nonchalantly for successive boundaries. Don’t bowl there Patty!
Okay doke, out come Rohit and KL Rahul for the India reply. Pat Cummins has a shiny new one in his mitts, play!
I think it was the carrom ball.
Why aren't these TV commentators rolling on the floor frothing about that ball from Ashwin to Boland. Somehow they're just calmly discussing the bowling figures and having thoughts about the pitch
— Barney Ronay (@barneyronay) February 9, 2023
Australia all out for 177
Ashwin toys with Boland for a few balls before thudding one into his off stump. Tail duly mopped. That’s yer lot.
WICKET! Handscomb lbw b Jadeja 31 (Australia 176-9)
Jadeja has five on his return to Test cricket and the key wicket of Handscomb is snaffled. A missed sweep from the tall batter sees the ball scud into his pad slap bang in front of all three stumps. “Time for India to mop up the gravy” drawls Matthew Hayden on the tv commentary. Scott Boland, in his first overseas Test, is the Aussies’ last man. Ah Bisto.
63rd over: Australia 176-9 ( Lyon 1, Boland)
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62nd over: Australia 176-8 (Handscomb 30, Lyon 1) It’s a mirror image of the last over, Ashwin keeps Handscomb honest with five dots before tossing one out wide that Handscomb dabs away for a single.
Classic two-card trick from @ashwinravi99 - you can see why he’s second fastest to 450 Test wickets ##INDvsAUS pic.twitter.com/61GBRaoi2V
— simon hughes (@theanalyst) February 9, 2023
61st over: Australia 175-8 (Handscomb 30, Lyon 1) Jadeja into his work after the break. I spent the twenty minute interval being forced to put on every pair of shoes in the house by a very demanding twenty month old. Never has the word ‘slipper’ been uttered with such force. Jadeja ties down Handscomb but the batter manages to nurdle a single off the final ball to keep strike. Right, I need to find a quiet spot to concentrate out of sight of the footwear tyrant…
60th over: Australia 174-8 (Handscomb 28, Lyon 1) Nathan Lyon pads one away and jogs down the other end. Other than that it’s all quiet on the wicket and runs front. And that is tea. An absorbing session, I suspect both sides will feel they are in this game, with Handscomb still battling away for Australia. If he can get them north of 200 on this testing surface then you suspect they will be quietly happy, especially as they found themselves at 2-2 at the start of the day. Off to brew up, back soon!
Oh and do get in touch with your thoughts, theories and nonsense – fling me an email or find me on the twitters:
India v Australia: first Test, day one – live with @Jimbo_Cricket https://t.co/cNBXahC2fA
— Guardian sport (@guardian_sport) February 9, 2023
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WICKET! Murphy lbw b Jadeja 0 (Australia 173-8)
Oh no! A duck on dayboo for Murphy. Jadeja spears one into his pads and the fielders rise and holler. A confident cackle. The umpire raises the digit of doom, the DRS shows there was no edge and the ball would have taken out middle stump. Cricket can be a real pi***er eh?
59th over: Australia 173-8 (Handscomb 27, Lyon 0)
Out strolls the debutant Todd Murphy, can he survive the ten or so minutes till tea? I confess I’ve never seen him bat.
WICKET! Cummins c Kohli b Ashwin 6 (Australia 172-7)
Beauty! Ashwin gets one to straighten and Cummins pokes out at it, sharp catch by Kohli in the slips. The wickets keep a’tumblin after lunch for Australia. It’s a wicket-maiden for Ashwin, and his 451st Test wicket.
58th over: Australia 172-7 (Handscomb 27, Murphy 0)
57th over: Australia 172-6 (Handscomb 27, Cummins 6) Anything you can do… Jadeja hurtles through a maiden, that was something like 45 seconds. It felt quicker.
56th over: Australia 172-6 (Handscomb 27, Cummins 6) Ashwin rattles through a maiden, giving Jadeja a run for his moolah.
55th over: Australia 172-6 (Handscomb 27, Cummins 6) Jadeja, an OBO scribes favourite worst nightmare, comes back into the attack. He hums through his overs so rapidly it is hard to keep up. He beats Handscomb with a ripper that turns sharply off the straight and past the edge. Ooof! another one takes the glove and flies past slip. Over and out.
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54th over: Australia 168-6 (Handscomb 23, Cummins 6) Pat Cummins strides out to the middle to join Handscomb and is off the mark with an outside edge that trickles away for four. Another guided defence brings the Aussie skipper two more. Every run feels crucial in this first dig.
That was Ashwin’s 450th Test wicket, mind-boggling numbers eh?
Among bowlers with 450 Test wickets, only Glenn McGrath and Muttiah Muralidaran have better averages, and only Murali has reached the milestone in fewer Tests.
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) February 9, 2023
A true great of the game.#INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/ejVbzr1XnA
WICKET! Carey b Ashwin 36 (Australia 162-6)
Goddim! Carey tries to reverse-sweep Ashwin but gets and under edge onto his poles and has to drag himself off. An enterprising knock comes to and end. Ashwin does some hearty fist pumping, can India skittle Australia for less than 200 here?
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53rd over: Australia 162-5 (Carey 36, Handscomb 23) Carey continues to plunder runs, Siraj does indeed steam in, replacing Ashwin, his first ball flies off a meaty edge down to the point boundary. Another four! Next ball is guided more stylishly by Carey. That’s the fifty partnership between Carey and Handscomb, the former has been the aggressor, it’s turning into a worrisome partnership for the home side.
52nd over: Australia 153-5 (Carey 27, Handscomb 23) The partnership builds towards fifty, Axar Patel replaces Siraj who I suspect will come back from the other end. Carey is playing a gem of an innings, he sweeps the tall spinner away for four and Australia’s 150 is up. It’s come at a decent lick after lunch too. Some of the Indian fielders get their teapot on, hands on hips in the afternoon sun.
51st over: Australia 148-5 (Carey 22, Handscomb 23) These two batters are doing well to tick over and frustrate the Indian bowlers. Handscomb scampers two down the ground. Ashwin varies his flight, cogs whirring all the time, two more singles. Cat and mouse…
50th over: Australia 144-5 (Carey 21, Handscomb 20) Thanks Angus, top stint that. Hello OBO, greetings from a frosty south London where I’m perched on my sofa just 4,625 miles (give or take) from the action in Nagpur. Straight down to brass tacks then, Siraj is bustling in and Alex Carey greets him with a doozy of a square cover drive for four. Siraj throws up his arms in frustration but it was a fine shot. The bowler switches to around the wicket but serves up a juicy full one and Carey leans on it for four more. Handy over for Australia.
49th over: Australia 136-5 (Carey 12, Handscomb 20) Ashwin wheels in to Carey. All the Indian spinners pose different challenges and Australia are working hard to foil each bag of tricks thrown at them in a new way. This pair are doing well to remain moving targets, rotating the strike and sending the odd ball to the rope. We are at the 50 over mark so it’s my turn to rotate the strike to my colleague James Wallace. Go well, comrades in cricket!
48th over: Australia 135-5 (Carey 12, Handscomb 20) “Catchit!” is the cry but Jadeja’s first ball of his 17th over has ballooned off the pad, past leg slip and to the rope for four leg byes. Carey strolls a single from the next and Handscomb blocks out the rest of the over.
47th over: Australia 130-5 (Carey 11, Handscomb 20) Australia fighting back. Alex Carey has raced to 10 off seven deliveries and Peter Handscomb has 20 from 33, by far the best strike rates of the Australia innings so far. Ravi Ashwin will want to stick his spinning finger in this geyser of runs but he is wicketless from his eight overs thus far and he doesn’t trouble Carey here.
46th over: Australia 129-5 (Carey 10, Handscomb 20) Nice shot Alex Carey! The 31-year-old from Loxton, a foundation captain of the GWS Giants before he defected to cricket, looks utterly unfazed by the mountain he has to climb here. He bangs a boundary and then sets off for an easy single, calm as you like. In Handscomb Carey has a good character to dig in with, a fact proven when he steps back and taps Jadeja’s fourth ball behind square for another boundary. Australia were slow off the canvas after lunch but they are clamouring back into the contest now.
45th over: Australia 120-5 (Carey 5, Handscomb 16) Alex Carey clobbered a four from the first ball he faced and his feet are moving fast behind a steady head. Safe to say he came of age in the Australian summer, with that wonderful century against South Africa. Carey’s middle name is Tyson and he’ll need all the fighting qualities of “Iron Mike” to stop Australia’s slide into the abyss.
44th over: Australia 118-5 (Carey 4, Handscomb 16) Jadeja is bowling with real vim, angling the ball in and sending it jagging past Handscomb’s outstretched blade. He has 3-30 from 15 overs and is being hailed like a maharajah every time he returns to the outfield. He notches another maiden as Australia grimly defend.
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43rd over: Australia 118-5 (Carey 4, Handscomb 16) Alex Carey strides out and straight away Rohit Sharma calls in Ashwin to have first bite at the left-hander. Handscomb has the strike though and he carves off three easy runs. Looking good is Pistol Pete. Alex Carey shows no nerves to his first delivery, clouting it to the rope.
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WICKET! Smith bowled Jadeja 37 (Australia 109-5)
Smith played for the spin and it never came. Instead Jadeja ripped the ball between bat and pad and split the sticks. Australia in big trouble now. Smith lingered at the crease trying to unriddle what had happened but he’s been undone by a straight bouncing ball pure and simple.
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42nd over: Australia 105-4 (Smith 37, Handscomb 8) Good cricket by Australia! After that fusillade of boundaries from Smith in the last over Handscomb applies a different sort of pressure from the other end, scampering a quick single from Jadeja’s first ball to keep things ticking over and disrupt the bowler’s rhythm. Jadeja has 2-29 from 14 overs now and that man-pony of his is sitting pretty.
41st over: Australia 105-4 (Smith 37, Handscomb 8) Bang! Smith steps out and belts Patel over mid-on for four. Lovely shot as the No 4 tries to reverse the momentum. He gives Patel’s next ball the same treatment, this time slicing a low cut to the boundary. The final delivery gets a double dose, clobbered over extra cover for another four. Three boundaries from the over and that flurry of boundaries shows Smith won’t be shackled by the scoreboard.
40th over: Australia 93-4 (Smith 25, Handscomb 8) Jadeja is asking questions! Handscomb hasn’t got his feet moving yet and that’s no surprise given he’s being crowded by a circle of close-in fielders. But he backs away to this second delivery and calmly cuts it to the rope. Good shot and a much-needed spirit-lifter for the Victorian captain whose career fizzled on these shores back in 2019. Early signs for his second coming are good as Handscomb whacks another four from the last ball.
39th over: Australia 85-4 (Smith 25, Handscomb 0) The Nagpur crowd are a happy horde and Shami surfs the tsunami of noise into Smith. He has faced 90+ deliveries for his 28 and he needs to face at roughly 190 more if Australia are to climb to a total over 200. Mohammed Shami bowls a maiden but his pace has dropped to about 130kph so we might see a change coming at that end.
38th over: Australia 85-4 (Smith 25, Handscomb 0) This will be a huge test for Peter Handscomb who is facing his first ball as a Test player in four years…. and it’s a hat-trick ball from Jadeja. But the 31-year-old he’s a noted player of spin with two centuries from his 17 Tests and he survives the over.
37th over: Australia 85-4 (Smith 25, Handscomb 0) India are back on top! Australia cruised into the break but again they have been set on their heels early in the session, this time by two fantastic Jadeja deliveries in two balls. We spoke before the break that one wicket might expose the Australian lineup and the prediction has borne fruit. Labuschagne gone, then Renshaw. Trouble for the visitors!
WICKET! Renshaw lbw Jadeja 0 (Australia 84-4)
The review is unsuccessful and Matt Renshaw is gone for a golden duck! That was a terrifying ball to get first up but the Queenslander committed too soon, lunged too far and tried to play it around the corner but didn’t get his bat to it at all. Instead it banged into his front pad and the Indians went up as one. Out!
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36th over: Australia 84-2 (Smith 25, Labuschagne 49) Matthew Renshaw comes in… but may be out! Huge appeal for a Jadeja ball that shot though and caught him in front. The umpire’s decision is out but the Australians will review. This will be close…
WICKET! Labuschagne stumped Jadeja 49
Great bowling! Great wicketkeeping! Labuschagne was looking for his half-century and he lunged forward at a ball that dropped short. It fizzed past the outside edge and the heel of the batter went up in shock. That’s when the bails were whipped off and Marnus began his familiar slow trudge to the pavilion.
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35th over: Australia 84-2 (Smith 25, Labuschagne 49) Jedeja to Labuschagne has been a good duel all day. Both are tough customers and have fought hard to make their path in Test cricket. Jadeja overcame a rugged childhood in Jamnagar was banned by the IPL for a year for essentially trying to negotiate his salary. He will have Marnus hopping here…
35th over: Australia 84-2 (Smith 25, Labuschagne 49) Labuschagne moves to 49 with a well run single to midwicket from Shami. The Bengali champion is bowling full and fast but the movement he found early has proven elusive since. This is his seventh over but he’s still tickling 140kph and he hasn’t let the run-rate slip past 2.5 all innings.
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34th over: Australia 83-2 (Smith 25, Labuschagne 48) With 0-14 from his nine overs so far, Jadeja has been tight but toothless. Let’s see what he can summon from the Nagpur pitch in this over. Not much. He’s trying for flight but the batters are a blur of fancy footwork and they step out and take a single.
33rd over: Australia 81-2 (Smith 25, Labuschagne 47) It will be Mohammad Shami to resume and he’s bowling to Smith who announces his post-lunch intent by hooking the second delivery, a bouncer that got to chest-height, to the boundary. Clearly Smudge got his toastie right during the break! (Unlike Marnus who has the bizarre habit of putting his hot sambo in the fridge to eat later). Anyway, there’s an appeal on the third as Labuschagne misses a ball on his hip. Replays show it was missing leg but not by much. Interesting start to what should be a pivotal session of the Test and series.
We’re back. How was your break? I took the greyhound for a walk (not a euphemism) and reminded my teenage dirtbag son that a Cheese Toastie Breville requires a slice of bread on top as well as one on top. Happy daze!
Mostly though, I read about the reverberations Travis Head’s axing has had. Despite clattering 525 runs at an average of 87.50 against the West Indies and South Africa in the home summer, the 29-year-old has paid the price for a 21.30 average from his seven Tests on the subcontinent. Tough call, I reckon. He’s a much better batter than he was back then and a more-than-handy spinner.
Former Australian captain Steve Waugh agreed, quipping on Instagram: “Hard to believe we can drop the No.4 ranked Test batsman in the world and probably our best batsman in the last 12 months plus he bowls better than average off spin - let’s wait and see - maybe the Aussie selectors are geniuses!”
Commentator Harsha Bhogle said: “Very interesting selection from Australia. Travis Head? I know he js a lefthander but I thought he was the right package with his off-spin. I would have thought a tall left arm spinner who bats would be perfect.”
Even Matthew Hayden was left “speechless”, saying: “I can’t believe it. For me, he was the player of the summer. Totally different conditions to Brisbane I know, but his 90 there was so good. He made it look flat even though it wasn’t, it was a raging green-top.”
But enough about that, let’s get back to the cricket…
LUNCH: Australia 76-2 (Smith 19, Labuschagne 47)
Well that was a lively first session! India had Australia reeling by blasting out Australia’s openers Khawaja and Warner within two overs but the visitors have steadied well since, with the Smith-Labuschagne partnership now 74 and Australia moving comfortably to 76-2. Virat Kohli’s lunch may taste a tad bitter after dropping Smith in Jadeja’s second over. However, the home side will know that one more wicket exposes Australia’s soft underbelly: a relatively inexperienced middle-order surprisingly missing its in-form aggressor in Travis Head. We’ll be back soon after a bite to eat and bit of neck oil. See you then.
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32nd over: Australia 76-2 (Smith 19, Labuschagne 47) Axar Patel is into his eighth over and has given away only ten runs… but he hasn’t secured a breakthrough yet either. India would dearly love one in this over, likely the last before lunch. But Smith bunts away the first four balls and runs a single from the fifth to survive. That will be lunch.
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31st over: Australia 75-2 (Smith 18, Labuschagne 47) Much needed maiden from Jadeja. India need to apply the brakes here. Captain Rohit Sharma is shining his sunnies with a frequency speaks more of panic than cleanliness.
30th over: Australia 75-2 (Smith 18, Labuschagne 47) Great shot Labuschagne! He went left initially and Ashwin followed him, bending the ball back at him. But with nimble feet and a firm bottom hand he cut inside the line and drove it on the offside for three. Lovely control and supreme confidence by Marnus. And he doubles down on the fourth delivery, moving to sweep but instead gently helping the ball over his left shoulder for another boundary. Two fours from the over, Labuschagne racing to 50 and Australia taking control of this Test.
29th over: Australia 69-2 (Smith 17, Labuschagne 39) Weighed, measured, punished! Jadeja tossed up his first ball and Labuschagne leaned into the drive and rolled his wrists over it sending it fizzing between the two men in the onside and into the boundary rope. Good batting from the Queenslander who takes a single from the next to get within a run of his forties.
28th over: Australia 61-2 (Smith 17, Labuschagne 34) Built like a bear but cunning as a fox, Ashwin will have been encouraged by Jadeja’s big turner in the last over. Can the 88 Test veteran – who took 21 wickets against Australia in four Tests in the 2016-17 series – unlock the same demonic bounce in his fourth over. He’s happy to give away a couple of singles as he searches for it.
27th over: Australia 59-2 (Smith 16, Labuschagne 33) Turn and bounce from Jadeja! That landed on middle and ripped half-a-metre outside off stump. It raised the eyebrows of Labuschagne and the excitement of captain Sharma. He saunters down for a chat with his bowler. What are they cooking up?
26th over: Australia 57-2 (Smith 16, Labuschagne 33) Ashwin lopes in for his third, nonchalant as a Nagpur cab driver on smoko. But there’s more to Ashwin than meets the eye: in his first 16 Tests he collected nine five-fors, and he was the fastest man in cricket history to 300 wickets and the second fastest to 400, behind only Muthiah Muralidaran. He leaks a single to each batter here though.
25th over: Australia 57-2 (Smith 15, Labuschagne 32) Front foot, back foot. Both Australian batters are moving around their crease like Fred and Ginger, skipping lightly to meet the bounce and smother the spin. They won’t be rushed either, as Jadeja earns another maiden.
24th over: Australia 57-2 (Smith 15, Labuschagne 32) Still with spin but Australia keep things moving, rotating the strike with three singles. Honours even.
23rd over: Australia 54-2 (Smith 14, Labuschagne 30) The Australian fifty is up but it’s taken 23 overs to achieve it. India still have the upper hand but this partnership is growing in confidence and that will worry them. That final ball from Ashwin sent a message though – it landed with a thud, raising dust and jumped at Labuschagne shoulder height. That little ripper will put wind in Indian sails!
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22nd over: Australia 50-2 (Smith 10, Labuschagne 30) Bowling change. Sharma calls in Ravichandran Ashwin, the 36-year-old allrounder from Chennai. He loops a couple in from a high right hand that learned its trade on the streets by tweaking a tennis-ball. There he mastered the soduku, a finger-flicked legbreak, and took it to Test cricket where it’s earned him 449 wickets from 88 Tests. Labuschagne dabs them back politely for a maiden then reports what he saw to Smith.
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21st over: Australia 48-2 (Smith 10, Labuschagne 28) That was close! The final ball of Jadeja’s fourth over spat and struck like a cobra, but it fizzed past Steve Smith’s blade without taking the varnish. The batter is unperturbed and returns to his routine of a thousand fidgets before flashing Labuschagne a nod and wink. A maiden.
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20th over: Australia 48-2 (Smith 10, Labuschagne 28) Fantastic shot by Labuschagne! He waited, watched and pounced when Patel put it in the fun zone, clobbering it along the ground and into the fence pickets. His strike rate has crept from 30 to 40 in the past five minutes, a clear sign his eye is in.
19th over: Australia 44-2 (Smith 10, Labuschagne 24) This partnership is up to 42 now from 99 balls and it’s gaining momentum but Smith is happy to see out a maiden from Jadeja and reset as we approach the 20 over mark. With no Cameron Green, the reborn rookies Peter Handscombe and Matthew Renshaw to come next and a longer tail than usual for Australia, this partnership is vital.
18th over: Australia 44-2 (Smith 10, Labuschagne 24) Here comes Patel, a slower action to Jadeja but all the venom comes from that final flick of the wrists. After beating Labuschagne with a couple he pushes one wider and the batter takes it on pushing the paws to meet it and send it sliding past fine leg for another boundary.
17th over: Australia 40-2 (Smith 10, Labuschagne 20) Jadeja to Smith. Will the Australians try to salt the wound of that dropped catch by attacking here? They do. Smith swats against the spin and, although it gets air, it clears the infield and runs away. Australia have broken the deadlock now and the pace is quickening. How will India respond?
16th over: Australia 35-2 (Smith 6, Labuschagne 19) Dropped catch! Smith tried to drive Patel but the ball was wide and it caught a thick edge which first slip flinched at and ultimately missed. Bad miss by India, their first mistake of the Test. To compound the pain the last ball jumps past Smith… and the keeper and runs away for two byes.
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15th over: Australia 33-2 (Smith 6, Labuschagne 19) Shami returns and so does the Australian stalemate. Both batters are striking under 30 at present, restricted by tight lines from the India seamers and good fielding settings from Sharma. But just when the screws start turning on Labuschagne he uncoils something amazing: this time it’s a lofty off-drive that rockets to the rope. Great shot!
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14th over: Australia 29-2 (Smith 6, Labuschagne 15) Smith and Labuschagne average 64 together and if 220 is par on this Nagpur pitch, as Ravi Shastri believes, they are slowly on their way. The pitch has kept low so far and shown bounce for the seamers but the spinners have so far failed to awaken any devilry from its dust. Australia block out six straight deliveries from Patel as they try to make hay in what will probably be the most favourable conditions of the Test.
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13th over: Australia 29-2 (Smith 6, Labuschagne 15) Siraj gets a spell and Shami returns. Australians will recall the veteran India quick from the 2015 World Cup played down under, where he led his side to the semi-finals despite playing the tournament, and the Test series prior, with a thoroughly bung knee. He’s since become a master of pace, accuracy and moving the ball both ways, be it a fresh cherry or a rough nut 80 overs old. Labuschagne pays Shami due respect, blocking out another over as the Australians fight their way to drinks.
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12th over: Australia 29-2 (Smith 6, Labuschagne 15) Big swing by Marnus! Big miss by Marnus! The Australian first drop stepped down to Patel’s first delivery and tried to put it into downtown traffic but caught only air. It draws a wry smile from his nemesis and a stern bark of sobering advice from Steve Smith at the non-strikers end. They take a single from the last to keep things ticking over.
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11th over: Australia 27-2 (Smith 6, Labuschagne 14) Siraj steams in for a fifth over, this one to Labuschagne who has now faced twice as many balls as Smith. He is well oiled now, and regularly nudging up to and over 140km/h. The Australian batters are content to see out another runless over as they rebuild this innings.
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10th over: Australia 27-2 (Smith 6, Labuschagne 14) Labuschagne drives on the up to Axar’s first ball and there’s a yelp from the close in fielders but it bounces before hitting hands. Patel is 29-years-old and has only played eight Tests but his 47 wickets at 16 have generated plenty of excitement. Labuschagne has seen the stats too. He wants more of a look at the leftie and a single is sufficient from this 10th over.
9th over: Australia 26-2 (Smith 6, Labuschagne 13) Siraj returns now to Smith as Jadeja’s cameo is unveiled as a tactic to give the paceman a whirl from the other end. All the talk before the Test has been of spin but it’s been speed that has done the damage in this first session, the seamers Siraj and Shami striking early. The Indian bowlers have hit hard lengths and found bounce, aiming for the top of off stump and the two senior Australian openers were both undone by quicker balls they couldn’t even get a bat on. Siraj bowls another maiden.
8th over: Australia 26-2 (Smith 6, Labuschagne 13) We will have twin spin here as Axar Patel takes the ball to Labuschagne who is watchful and happy to look the new bowler over. He plays out a maiden.
7th over: Australia 26-2 (Smith 6, Labuschagne 13) Come in spinner! It’ll be Ravindra Jadeja bowling the seventh over of the day. He’s 34 years young, with 60 Tests and 242 wickets to his name and his first ball challenges the outside edge of Marnus Labuschagne straight away. With that cowlick of hair over his sunnies the left-hander wheels in quickly and quietly. Jadeja is no slouch in the spin stakes. He was the quickest left-arm bowler to reach 200 Test wickets and the first Indian since Anil Kumble in 1993 to top the ICC ODI bowling rankings.
6th over: Australia 25-2 (Smith 6, Labuschagne 13) Soft hands to the first delivery by Marnus and he gets the luck he so often does, skewing Siraj’s first ball off the edge, through slips and into the fence. That gets Marnus to double figures after a breathless start to this Test match – two wickets in two overs and both Australian openers cooling their heels in the sheds. He’s more watchful to the next two which are straight. Neither batter is trusting the bounce here. However Smith swipes at the fifth ball and pulls it just short of a fielder. Bit lucky there, Smudge! He pulls his head in on the last and lets it drop at his feet.
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5th over: Australia 20-2 (Smith 6, Labuschagne 8) Here’s Shami again, charging through that familiar subcontinental haze of smoke, smog and tropical heat. Smith gets himself off the mark with a flashy clip off the toes. He’s never one to be pinned down but he’ll be looking for the ball that nips back similar to that which undid Khawaja. Smith leans into the third ball and drives it to the rope. Lovely shot that and a warning for India not to lose themselves in early rapture. Speaking of which, Labuschagne isn’t ‘playing and kissing’ (as one might at one of Nagpur’s blue light discos) but ‘playing and missing’ – forgive the typo, folks!
4th over: Australia 14-2 (Smith 0, Labuschagne 8) Both these batters average over 60 so the Australian comeback is in good hands. But Shami and Siraj are running in hard with a huge Nagpur crowd behind them. But facing Siraj now, Labuschagne gets up and running regardless, first with a driven half volley for four and then with an edgey shot that also reaches the boundary, between the slips and gully.
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3rd over: Australia 6-2 (Smith 0, Labuschagne 0) Even two wickets down after three overs, the names Smith and Labuschagne inspire confidence. The tourists pick up four byes on Smith’s first ball, down the leg side and beyond the diving Bharat.
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WICKET! Warner b Shami 1 (Australia 2-2)
It’s lightning fast and full from Shami and it’s straight through Warner! The veteran opener was caught on the crease, slow to move and the gap was there. Now he is trudging back to the pavilion with his head down and his off stump cartwheeling into the Nagpur haze. It will be Steve Smith with a rescue mission on his hands after just 13 balls of the innings.
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2nd over: Australia 2-1 (Warner 1, Labuschagne 0) Siraj has his tail up here and is getting great shape on the ball. We now have a left-right combination at the crease with Warner and Labuschagne. Siraj finishes with a wicket maiden.
WICKET! Khawaja lbw Siraj 1 (Australia 2-1)
That was bang on the money by Siraj. Khawaja played inside the line, missed it completely and replays showed it would’ve uprooted leg stump. Huge breakthrough for the home side.
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2nd over: Australia 2-0 (Warner 1, Khawaja 1) Huge appeal from Mohammed Siraj! The young firebrand’s first ball was fast an straight and it nipped in just a tad, thundering into Khawaja’s pad. We will have a review here – already!
1st over: Australia 2-0 (Warner 1, Khawaja 1) India open with right-arm paceman Mohammed Shami. His first ball of the series is wide and skids low. Warner fends the second into the off side for a single and we have our first run of the series. Khawaja joins his partner off the mark with a trademark clip off the hips.
We’re seeing a camera hover over the pitch and Brendon Julian on FoxSports has declared it “dodgy” a reiteration of the pitch-doctoring claims Ravi Shastri has labelled “bullshit”. Here come the teams onto the field for the anthems.
So, the full teams, starting with Australia:
Australia XI: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Matthew Renshaw, Peter Handscomb, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Todd Murphy, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) February 9, 2023
And the India XI:
India XI: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, KS Bharat (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) February 9, 2023
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As the players ready for action here’s Geoff Lemon’s Test preview.
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Team news
A major shock is that Travis Head has been left out of the Test XI and Peter Handscomb will return to the middle-order alongside Matthew Renshaw. Be interesting to find out why Head, very much in form and a notable aggressor, has been sidelined.
There was much talk in the lead up to this series about Head’s disappointing record on the subcontinent and his plan to combat it with the all-out aggression so successful in the home summer. He averaged just 15.16 across five Tests in the recent tours of Pakistan and Sri Lanka with his weakness against the turning ball the main point of concern. Of his six dismissals on those tours, Head fell victim to spin five times, departing for less than 25 every time. Now it seems he has paid the ultimate price for a strike rate of 47.65 in Asia, dropped to make way for once-discarded Test batters Renshaw and Handscomb.
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Australia win the toss and elect to bat first
That was a big toss to win and Pat Cummins’ run of luck with the coin has continued. He will now get to set the tempo of the Test and give India a big total to chase in the last innings.
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Todd Murphy handed Australian debut
Todd Murphy’s debut has stolen the headlines in Australia but in India the hullabaloo is all about selectors handing a Test debut to T20 phenomenon, Suryakumar Yadav. “Sky” has become a people’s hero with his six-hitting in the white ball formats and after 79 first-class matches he will finally gets to pull on the Test shirt for India at the ripe old age of 32. It’s a clear sign the hosts are going to amp the aggression with both bat and ball. Here’s the coin toss…
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Preamble
Greetings cricket fans and welcome to the ‘Orange City’ of Nagpur for this first Test between Australia and India in the Border-Gavaskar series. I’m Angus Fontaine and I’ll be your host for the next five hours of action.
There’s a proud history between these cricket-loving nations. They first clashed in 1947 when the newly independent India faced Bradman’s ‘Invincibles’ in Australia, a series the home side won easily. Australia dominated the next 30 years before India wrested ascendency, winning 10 of the next 20 series. As of today, the ledger stands at 43 wins for Australia, 30 for India, with 23 draws and of course a single tie, the memorable thriller in Madras in 1986.
Yet few of those 102 Tests have carried the intrigue this one has. The Indian curators have sparked outrage (but not surprise) around the cricket world with pitch preparations at VCA Stadium. Knowing the Australian squad is stacked with left-handers, footage has shown them watering and rolling the centre of the wicket but leaving the ‘corridors of uncertainty’ for the lefties bone dry and ripe for spin.
But if Australia captain Pat Cummins is worried, he’s not showing it. Instead, he’s urging his men to “embrace the chaos” of the subcontinent. Of Australia’s 18 tourists, only eight have played a Test here, although a few others have tasted the unique heat, dust, noise and clamour of Indian cricket via the IPL.
We know Cummins is without his injured pace stalwarts Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc and allrounder Cameron Green. It opens the door for cult hero Scott Boland to play his first Test outside Australia and right-handed No 6 Peter Handscomb to usurp Matt Renshaw and play his first Test since India in 2019.
But the loudest buzz is that 22-year-old Victorian bolter Todd Murphy will make a shock debut after just seven first-class games. Selected to partner Nathan Lyon, Murphy becomes part of the first frontline off-spinning duo for Australia since 1988 when Peter Taylor and Tim May played in Pakistan. Can he match the epic debut of fellow offie Jason Krejza, who notched the crazy figures of 12 for 358, when Australia last played at the VCA in Nagpur in 2008?
Australia reportedly settled on their side two days ago (Murphy’s parents have flown in from Echuca). Captain Cummins and Sharma will toss the coin shortly and the playing XIs be unveiled…
