Mitchell Starc continues to make a complete mockery of Yashasvi Jaiswal’s sledge that he “bowls too slow”, dismissing the Indian young gun with the second ball of the innings at the Gabba on Monday. And Virat Kohli is copping backlash over a ‘poor’ dismissal right before a rain delay.
Jaiswal was caught telling Starc he was “coming too slow” during the first Test in Perth as he made a sensational ton. But since then Starc has well and truly had the wood over the 22-year-old. After trapping him lbw on the first delivery of the second Test, the Aussie paceman got his man with the second ball of the innings on Monday in Brisbane.
Jaiswal had a horror moment when he flicked a ball on his pads straight to Mitch Marsh at mid-wicket – a terrible shot so early in the innings. And Marsh then sparked delirium when he took a spectacular diving catch in the gully to dismiss Shubman Gill (1) in the very next over.
Marsh left his feet and took a screamer after Gill sliced a ball in the air off the edge. The Aussie all-rounder was very happy with himself, pumping out his chest and running around his teammates to celebrate. Since 2015, Starc now has 18 wickets in the first over of a Test match innings – more than any other bowler.
Starc’s double strike left India reeling at 2-6 in response to the hosts’ first innings total of 445. And things got even worse when Josh Hazlewood got Virat Kohli caught behind for just three to make it 3-22.
Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar blasted Kohli for a “poor” rush of blood, as his dismissal came just minutes before rain stopped play. Had he resisted the temptation to play at a wide ball from Hazlewood, Kohli would have gone to lunch unbeaten.
“If it was on the fourth stump I could understand,” Gavaskar said on Channel 7. “This was wide, on the seventh, eighth stump, you could say. There’s no need to play that.
“He’d be very, very disappointed, he’d be very upset with that. Even before Rishabh Pant faced a ball, the rain started to come down and the covers have come on. If Kohli had shown a bit of patience he could be not out with KL Rahul.”
He should be dropped..the leavey he has been given in the last 4 years only in India it can happen. Because the name is bigger than sport. Disgraceful batting. Pathetic attitude..
— vaibhav aggarwal (@rupansh5) December 16, 2024
Alex Carey cashes in after Pat Cummins refuses to declare
After deciding to bat on rather than declare on Monday, Australia added another 40 runs to their overnight score. Alex Carey continued his big start to the summer with 70 not out from 88 balls, while soaking up some time to control the strike against the quicks.
Rain delayed the start of play by five minutes, and there was another 14-minute interruption during the first hour. More rain began to fall shortly after Australia lost their last wicket, causing another delay to the start of India’s innings.
Further bad weather is forecast for the final two days of the Test, meaning Australia’s best chance of victory lies in batting just the once. In order to do that they’d need to bowl India out for 245 or less in their first dig and enforce the follow-on, while also hoping the rain holds off long enough.
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After Travis Head (152) and Steve Smith (101) put India to the sword on Sunday, it was Carey’s turn on Monday. The wicket-keeper brought up his 50 in the second over of the day when he swept Ravindra Jadeja for four, and later jumped down the deck to hit Akash Deep for six over long-off.
Starc also landed some lofty blows off Jadeja and Jasprit Bumrah, before becoming the latter’s sixth victim of the innings. Bumrah’s figures of 6-76 marked the best by an Indian at the Gabba, while the rest of the tourists’ bowlers collected 4-352 between them.
with AAP
