Sydney [Australia], January 4 (ANI): Following the end of the second day’s play during the fifth and final Test against Australia at Sydney, Australian coach Andrew McDonald said that despite some dominance of Australian bowlers in the match, chasing a low total below 200 runs will be a task coming with plenty of pressure given how effective bowling has been on a tricky Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) wicket.
It was an intriguing day of Test cricket at Sydney, as bowlers dominated with 15 wickets. In reply to India’s first innings total of 185, Australia scored 181, thanks to a fine performance put up by Indian pacers, who later missed the presence of their leader Jasprit Bumrah who walked off the field due to an injury scare which turned out to be back spasm. Despite a promising start, India lost the plot quickly and surrendered their wickets to in-form Scott Boland to end the day at 141/6, with 145 runs lead in hand.
McDonald said there is plenty of cricket still in the match. “Low-scoring games like this, it just heightens the pressure within it, so a long way still to go, there is going to be plenty of cricket, so we will see what happens,” he said, according to ICC.
“The loss of quick wickets is just a symptom of where Test cricket is at. I think the quality of bowling, upfront, I think both attacks are blessed with some generational talent that we are witnessing. So we are not surprised by the nature of the games where a new batter coming in is always vulnerable, and we have seen that across the journey. But if you can get a partnership going, then you have shown that you can score runs on these surfaces,” he added.
McDonald suggested that with the chance of Bumrah resuming bowling looking a little unlikely, India will have to come up with new plans and Australia will have to respond to it.
“First and foremost we have got four wickets to get, try to keep that total as low as possible. You could say that it would be slightly beneficial for us, he (Bumrah) can bowl on any surface anywhere, he is a threat any time we knew that coming into the series and he is an incredibly talented bowler,” he said, according to the report.
“If he was not to be there, then India would have to come up with a new plan. We are here to win a series. Would we get great satisfaction out of winning a series against India? There’s no doubt about that. We have won the toss and bowled…so we have put ourselves in those positions (of chasing) more often. I think if you have been there and done it before, then yeah, you take confidence in that to be able to navigate through those scenarios, in particular the lower order which potentially may be called upon tomorrow,” he added.
Coming to the SCG Test, India won the toss and elected to bat first. India was off to a disappointing start yet again as the top order threw away their wickets, especially Virat Kohli (17) who continued his struggles with outside off-stump deliveries.
However, the fight by Pant (40 in 98 balls, with three fours and a six), Ravindra Jadeja (26 in 95 balls, with three fours) and skipper Jasprit Bumrah (22 in 17 balls, with three fours and a six) pushed India to 185/10 in 72.2 overs.
Boland (4/31) was the pick of the bowlers for the Aussies and once again a thorn in the eyes of Indian batters. Mitchell Starc took 3/49 while Pat Cummins got 2/37.
In their first innings, Australia lost wickets at regular intervals even when Jasprit Bumrah (2/33) walked off the field due to an injury scare. Under the stand-in skipper Virat, India continued to dominate the Aussies, skittling them out for just 181 runs and taking a four-run lead. Debutant Beau Webster (57 in 105 balls, with five fours) had a fine showing with the bat and Steve Smith (33 in 57 balls, with four boundaries and a six) showed some attacking intent.
Prasidh Krishna (3/42) and Mohammed Siraj (3/51) were the top bowlers for India.
In their second innings, despite a promising start by Yashasvi Jaiswal (22 in 35 balls, with four boundaries) and KL Rahul (13), Indian batters fell to trap of Boland’s (4/42) impressive lines and lengths, with KL, Shubman Gill (13), Virat (6), Nitish Kumar Reddy (8) falling cheaply. At the end of the day, India were 141/6, with Jadeja (8*) and Sundar (6*). (ANI)
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