Mohammed Shami took 4 wickets while spin pair of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja claimed 3 wickets apiece to help India bowl out Australia for 263 — a competitive total given that this has been a series dominated by bowlers so far — on the opening day of the second Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2022-23 in New Delhi.
For the visitors, the opening batsman Usman Khawaja scored a fine 81 while middle-order batsman Peter Handscomb made an unbeaten 72 as they recorded their highest total of the tour so far, having been bowled out for 177 and 91 in the opening Test at Nagpur, which they lost by an innings and 132 runs.
The visiting team batsmen looked to take the attack to the Indians on the majority of the opening day, as their aggressive approach also got them some runs to challenge the might of India in their home conditions, but were also able to put some pressure back on the Indian bowlers.
The opening pair of David Warner (15) and Usman Khawaja did well to provide a strong stand, adding 50 runs before they were separated by Mohammed Shami. The left-handed veteran Australian opener David Warner continued to have a poor time in the middle with the bat in India, falling for 15 from 44 balls on the first day.
The first session’s play was mostly dominated by the Australians but Ravichandran Ashwin pulled things back for India, dismissing the likes of Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith — for 18 and 0 respectively — to put his team back in contention at lunch.
While Australia lost three more wickets in the second session, the play was largely dominated by their left-handed opening batsman Usman Khawaja, who scored his first century in India in test cricket. Usman Khawaja struck 12 boundaries and a 6 to make 81 from 125 balls and looked set for a deserving century, but his fine knock was ended by a splendid catch by KL Rahul at point, who made a spectacular dive to collect the ball one-handed.
Travis Head looked good but he was guilty of pushing too hard to get runs as he could not prevent fending off on a delivery outside the off stump from Mohammed Shami, falling for 12 from 30 balls having hit 16 and a boundary during his stay in the middle.
While Alex Carey was dismissed for a five ball duck by Ravichandran Ashwin, Australia captain Pat Cummins played a handy knock of 33 from 59 balls with three boundaries and two sixes which pushed Australia past the 200 run mark.
In the final session of the opening display at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on Friday, right-handed middle order batsman Peter Handscomb showcased his mental strength and skills against testing bowling as he faced 142 balls to remain unbeaten on 72, studded with 9 boundaries. Towards the end of the innings, Nathan Lyon scored 10 from 26 balls with two boundaries while debutant Matthew Kuhnemann made six as both the cylinders were dismissed by Mohammed Shami.
Openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul did well to see off the first nine overs of their innings as they both reached 13 and four not out respectively with the Indian captain surviving an appeal made by the Australian bowler Nathan Lyon for a catch taken at short leg, which he got overturned going for the DRS immediately.
India trail by another 242 runs in the first innings and it remains to be seen how the pitch at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi begins on the second day having kept both fast bowlers and spinners interested in the game.
Earlier in the day, Australia made a couple of changes dropping Matthew Renshaw and Scott Boland for Travis Head and Matthew Kuhnemann, while India made a solitary change in the form of Suryakumar Yadav, who was replaced by middle-order mainstay Shreyas Iyer.