Opener Usman (104*) and middle-order bat Cameron (49*) flourish on friendly opening day pitch as Australia post 255-4; India pacer Shami takes two while spinners Jadeja, Ashwin bag one each
Australia’s Cameron Green (left) and Usman Khawaja during their unbeaten fifth-wicket stand of 85 at Motera yesterday. Pics/PTI
Much of the hustle and bustle on a hot Thursday at the Narendra Modi Stadium was restricted to before Steve Smith called right at the coin toss. It wasn’t until Cameron Green exploded in a flurry of boundaries against the second new ball that Australia emphatically, if not yet decisively, wrested the initiative on the opening day of the final Test.
In sharp contrast to the Indore surface, where batting was a proposition fraught with danger, this track held few demons. The ball didn’t fizz or bite; there was little pace off the pitch and the bounce was pronouncedly low, which meant once the ball lost hardness and shine, runs had to be accrued with care and diligence. No one did that better than Usman Khawaja, the tourists’ form batsman, who raised his first hundred against India in a classic display of Test-match batsmanship.
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It was on the back of the left-handed opener’s 104, Green’s breezy 49 and their unfinished fifth-wicket stand of 85 that Australia ended Day One on a handsome 255 for four. India’s bowlers toiled manfully, desperately trying to counter the lack of assistance, but as the evening sun beat down harshly, they leaked runs. Fifty-four came in the nine overs with the second new cherry, Green unleashing some of the most handsome strokes of the series even as the bowling lost a fair bit of discipline.
The toss was delayed by five minutes after Narendra Modi and Anthony Albanese, the two Prime Ministers, witnessed a brief cultural event and were driven around the ground. Smith barely concealed a broad grin on calling right, and Khawaja and the enterprising Travis Head expressed their thanksgiving with Australia’s first meaningful opening association.
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The left-handed duo adopted different methods during their alliance of 61 until Head’s adventurism put R Ashwin in business, and Mohammed Shami—back in the XI for Mohammed Siraj—made a second inroad not long after when Marnus Labuschagne was undone by his tendency to hang back and by the slowness of the track.
Alongside Smith, the unflappable Khawaja made serene progress. Runs came in a trickle, but that wasn’t pertinent; for the first time, the batsmen had the luxury of trusting their game plans and defence, and they cashed in gleefully while adding 79. Smith perished against the run of play, playing away from his body and edging Jadeja on to his stumps via his pad, and one brought two with Peter Handscomb’s off peg plucked out by Shami.
If India fancied an opening, they were thwarted by Khawaja and the towering Green, who took full toll of the late evening gifts. Khawaja’s innings was all about timing, evidenced by his reaching a 14th Test ton in the day’s final over.
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