India trounce Australia by 6 wickets in 2nd Test to take 2-0 lead in Border-Gavaskar Trophy
Ravindra Jadeja took 7/42 to spark a spectacular collapse in the Australian ranks as India romped home to a 6-wicket victory in the second Test at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on Sunday, eventually taking an unassailable 2-0 lead in the four-match Test series for the Border-Gavaskar trophy 2022-23.
It was a Test match wherein fortunes went from one side to another but India once again came out on top riding on brilliant performances from the spin bowlers, while the Australian side had to cut a sorry figure owing to their poor batting skills and mental application against quality spin bowling in New Delhi.
At the beginning of play on the third day of the second Test, Australia were placed comfortably at 61/1 with Travis Head leading the charge towards a possible big overall lead in the second Test.
However, Ravichandran Ashwin got rid of the on-song left-handed opening batsman Travis Head, who had walked out to open the innings with Usman Khawaja in place of David Warner, who was ruled out of the Test match due to a hairline fracture to his elbow and concussion.
While Ravichandran Ashwin removed Travis Head for a well-made 43 from 46 balls with six boundaries and a six, Marnus Labuschagne was dismissed by Ravindra Jadeja with a ball that kept low and crashed into his wickets passing below the bat.
This was when the panic ran through the Australian camp as Steven Smith (9), Matthew Renshaw (2), Peter Handscomb (0), Alex Carey (7) and Australia captain Pat Cummins (0) all fell in quick succession, leaving them in a desperate position.
In the second innings in the Nagpur Test, Australia did not use the sweep shot at all, but here in Delhi they over-used it and ended up making the wrong choice as the pitch was not meant for sweeping the ball at all. Steve Smith, Matthew Renshaw, Alex Carey and Pat Cummins all dismissed while trying to sweep or reverse-sweep, as Australia were bowled out for just 113, thus setting a lead of 114 for India to win the Test.
The home team once again made a shaky start with their out of form opening batsman and vice captain KL Rahul dismissed for 1 on the third ball that impressed by Nathan Lyon, but Cheteshwar Pujara (31 not out) and Rohit Sharma (31) quashed all hopes of Australia to make a comeback with the ball and pose India a strong threat in a moderate chase.
Virat Kohli once again batted well but he could not last beyond 20 from 31 balls as he was dismissed by the young Australian spinner Todd Murphy, while Shreyas Iyer had another failure with the bat, being dismissed for 12 from 10 balls by Nathan Lyon.
Australia captain Pat Cummins later on admitted that his batsmen were way short of expectations once again in this Test series. He told the media after the game that in,
“Nagpur maybe [we] underplayed it, we probably overplayed it here at times in the second innings.”
“You’ve got to find a way to try and put pressure back on the bowlers. They’re really, really good bowlers, especially in these conditions. Probably just at times maybe just overplayed it. I thought they bowled really well. It’s not easy out there. But perhaps some guys went away from their methods.
“Each batter has their own way to go about it. I don’t think there’s any one size fits all rule. Unfortunately, quite a few of us got out with kind of cross-batted shots which might not be our preferred method,”
Pat Cummins added.
Pat Cummins has now returned home to Sydney to attend a family matter but he will be back in time for the third Test of the series starting on March 1 in Indore.