India pacer Mohammed Shami got retired hurt against Australia in the first Test match in Adelaide. With he being retired hurt, India registered their lowest ever Test total of 36. One can take solace from the fact that India didn’t lose all their wickets and fans can still argue that India had one wicket intact. Shami’s problem began when he was hit on the elbow from Pat Cummins. Team physios rushed in to his aid but that proved insufficient and Shami opted to trudge back to pavilion. With this, India’s innings was considered over with the scoreboard reading 36/9.
India were 9/1 when the Stumps were called on Day 2. Resuming from the overnight score, India lost five wickets for just 10 runs on board and when Skipper Virat Kohli was dismissed, Team India were reduced to 19/6. Their second innings ended at 36/9 and at once it looked like they will bundle out below their lowest ever Test score of 42. Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood were the pick of the bowlers, taking four and five wickets each.
India’s lowest Test total was 42 which came way back in 1974 against England in Lord’s. The lowest ever test total came from New Zealand back in 1955 against the same opposition in Auckland.
Meanwhile Virat Kohli led Indian team gained the upper hand against Australia in the ongoing Pink Ball Test match in Adelaide. A total of 211 runs were scored and 15 wickets fell on Day 2 of the Day and Night series opener between Australia and India at the Adelaide Oval. By the end of the action-packed day, filled with drama and dropped catches, and one where ball dominated bat, India were 9 for the loss of Prithvi Shaw’s wicket with an overall lead of 62 runs. The visitors are in the ascendancy in the Test and will look to bat Australia out of the match when play resumes on Day 3.
India did not have a great start to the day and lost their last 4 wickets adding just 11 to their overnight total – that meant that the second new Pink Ball had lived up to its reputation and wreaked havoc on the Indian batting line-up. The visitors lost their last 6 wickets in just 12.3 overs for 48 runs and were bowled out for 244 in the 94th over – the lack of contribution of their lower-order batting continues to be a big concern for India, especially when they travel overseas. Mitchell Starc lived up to his billing of the best Pink Ball bowler and ended with 4 wickets in the innings.
Jasprit Bumrah gave India the early breakthroughs trapping both the Australian openers – Matthew Wade and Joe Burns – leg before wicket. And then came the defining moment of the match. R Ashwin, after bowling conventional off-spin and getting the ball in to Steven Smith, got one to hold its line getting the outside edge which was lapped up by Rahane at first slip. Australia had lost the wicket of the best Test batsman in the world for just a solitary one and were now in trouble at 45 for 3.
