Key events
67th over: India 220-1 (Jaiswal 115, Padikkal 5) Almost a catch! Jaiswal attacked Cummins’ first ball and it flew out to the rope but Head was standing too far infield and it cleared him easily and bounced over the boundary rope for FOUR. Jaiswal is entering T20 mode. With Nathan Lyon warming up on the rope, we might see fireworks before lunch here. Will Jaiswal go bezerk and try to beat his IPL record of fifty in 13 deliveries?
67th over: India 216-1 (Jaiswal 111, Padikkal 5) Inswinger by Starc and Jaiswal has to hustle to keep it out. In fact he squirts it for a single and gets a rueful grin from Starc. India now lead by 262 runs and King Kohli is padded up and coming in next.
66th over: India 214-1 (Jaiswal 110, Padikkal 4) After 10 runs from that last Starc over, Pat Cummins has injected himself into the attack. He starts this spell with 0-44 from 13 overs. Can he find a crack and bring Virat Kohli to the crease? Devdutt Padikkal is the new batter. He is off his ‘pair’ and strokes a single through backward point to get his younger partner back on strike. Jaiswal has 110 and is seeking his second double-century after the magnificent 214 not out he stroked against England earlier this year.
65th over: India 212-1 (Jaiswal 110, Padikkal 3) Bang! Jaiswal threw his hands at Starc’s first ball and flashed it down to the third man boundary for FOUR. Superb batting. This is Jaiswal’s 15th Test and he already has four centuries, eight fifties and a century in the high-fifties. Nor is Yashasvi Jaiswal solely a Test star. In 2023 he scored the fastest fifty in IPL cricket (13 balls!) for Rajasthan Royals and that same season became their youngest centurion at 21 years and 123 days in 2023, with a superb 124. What a star!
64th over: India 202-1 (Jaiswal 103, Padikkal 0) Now that’s cocky! Jaiswal, still giddy from ramp shotting Mitchell Starc over the fine leg boundary to bring up his ton, tries it again from Hazlewood. This one doesn’t come off but strewth, that’s bold batting by the young gun who famously slept in tents and sold pani puri to earn pocket money en route to his dream of representing India.
WICKET! Rahul c Carey b Starc 77 (India 201-1)
Finally a wicket! Good bowling by Starc. He switched the angle to come round the wicket and put the ball bang in the corridor of uncertainty. Rahul pushed too hard and it had enough bounce to beat the man and find the edge. Carey swooped forward to take the catch. Muted celebrations by the home side but after 201 runs they have first blood.
63rd over: India 201-0 (Jaiswal 102, Rahul 77) Starc strides in for his 15th over and Rahul takes a single and Jaiswal cuts hard for another. A scampered single and an overthrow bring up India’s 200. That seems fitting. Australia have been sloppy in the field, missing run-outs and leaking singles. Another two to the total. India lead by 245.
Century to YB Jaiswal! (India 197-0)
What a glorious way to ice an incredible century! Hazlewood dug it in short and the kid simply leaned back, took it off his chin and chipped it into the rope for a SIX. After a brief wait to confirm the maximum, the 22-year-old takes his helmet off and holds his arms aloft. Kohli gives him a standing ovation and a fist-pump from the dugout That is fourth Test hundred and his first in Australia.
62nd over: India 191-0 (Jaiswal 95, Rahul 74) Hazlewood enters his 13th over with the typically miserly figures of 0-15. Jaiswal edges the second ball short of slips. No run. Hazlewood digs the next one into the youngsters ribs and he gets tangled keeping it out. Good bowling by the Hoff. But that’s great batting by Jaiswal – he has leaned back and lifted Hazlewood over slips for…. SIX! That’s his century and what a shot to bring it up!
61st over: India 191-0 (Jaiswal 95, Rahul 74) India have carted 17 runs from the first three overs – not the start Australia were looking for. Can Starc atone for the 11-run over last time around that took his figures to 54-0 from 13 overs? He leaks a single from the fourth ball as Rahul drops and runs for an easy single. A leg bye from the fifth means this pair have equalled the greatest opening stand for India against Australia.
60th over: India 189-0 (Jaiswal 95, Rahul 73) Here comes Hazlewood. A maiden would be so valuable for Australia now, anything to slow the progress of India’s fast march to a 250-lead and fire a shot for a home side on the back foot. Four dots becomes five thanks to a diving save by McSweeney at a wide third. That atones for his error in the Starc over. Rahul squashes the maiden on the last, stepping out and cover driving for three.
59th over: India 185-0 (Jaiswal 95, Rahul 70) Starc is driven by Rahul and that’s FOUR! Beautiful shot by the wicketkeeper-batter from Karnataka. Starc was a touch full and Rahul stepped out and smashed it to the rope. And now he drives again! This one doesn’t have the heft to go all the way but it’s three more runs and it takes Rahul to 70. And now Jaiswal brutalises Starc, chipping over slips for another boundary. Great batting India! Starc strikes back with the fifth, zipping it through a little quicker and beating the young man. Jaiswal takes another swing at the last but it’s a swish.
58th over: India 174-0 (Jaiswal 91, Rahul 63) Josh Hazlewood rumbles in to Jaiswal and it’s a sharp single to get us under way! That’ll test the hamstrings. Great intent from India. Yesterday was a masterclass in running between wickets as the Indian pair – a right-hand, left-hand combination – rotated the strike and never let the Australian bowlers turn the screws on one individual. Rahul is beaten by Hazlewood’s fourth ball as he pushes nervy hands at a perfectly pitched ball. Misfield by debutant McSweeney lets Rahul off the hook with an easy single.
Here we go, folks. India’s batting pair are taking the field and Pat Cummins is leading his men out to encouraging cheers. We have had record-breaking 30,000-plus crowds for days one and two and there are high hopes for another on a beautiful Perth day. Australia have 20 overs until the new ball is available. Can they put a dent in Jaiswal and Rahul with the old Kookaburra first and then crash through the rest with a fresh cherry? We’re about to find out…
Much is being made of the Australian’s poor body language in the field yesterday – heads down, hands on hips, infrequent pats on the bum and curiously stilted tongues. A few commentators are asking who is responsible for revving up this Australia side now that gee-up man David Warner has retired. Which personality is best placed to light a fire under the Aussies when things are going awry, you reckon?
Conditions are hot and dry in Perth and this mercurial pitch – a bowler’s paradise on day one, batting nirvana on day two – looks a lighter shade of pale today. The green tinge of the opening day has gone and cracks are starting to open. Can Pat Cummins’ men exploit those fractures and crack India’s batting wide open? Two Australian openers have radically different outlooks on how day three will pan out. Matt Hayden forecasts a frenzy of wickets in this opening session. Greg Blewett predicts a hard day’s slog in the field for Australia. Either way, Australia are in strife – 218 runs behind already with an entire Indian batting side to dismiss.
All this week we’re remembering Phillip Hughes, Australian Test cricketer #408, who passed away this week 10 years ago. Jonathan Horn has penned this beautiful tribute…
Geoff Lemon aka the Keanu Reeves of Cricket covered day two with customary aplomb. Here’s how he saw the second day’s action in Perth…
Preamble
Angus Fontaine
Greetings cricket comrades! Welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of day three in this compelling first Test between Australia and India in Perth.
After a 17-wicket flurry on day one – the highest number of wickets to fall on the first day of a Test in Australia since 1952 – the familiar rhythms of Test cricket returned on day two, with bat reasserting itself over ball.
Australia resumed at 7 for 67 and promptly lost Alex Carey to the first ball of the second over giving stand-in India captain Jasprit Bumrah his fifth wicket. Nathan Lyon followed soon after leaving Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood to put on a stoic 25-run partnership, hanging on until lunch to get Australia to a total of 104, 46 runs in arrears.
With 20 wickets having fallen in four sessions, India’s opening pair were expected to face a blitzkrieg from the Australian pace bowling cartel of Cummins, Starc and Hazlewood. Instead, Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul cruised to tea intact, then crunched their way to stumps to be unbeaten on 0 for 172 – the highest opening stand by an Indian pair in Australia.
It gives India a commanding lead of 218 runs with all ten wickets in hand. Today Jaiswal resumes on 90 looking to score his maiden Test century in Australia. His partner Rahul has 62 and Australia are officially on the ropes. Will day three spring yet more surprises? Batten ‘em down and buckle ‘em up. We’re about to find out…
