Brisbane: Local hero Usman Khawaja and young Nathan McSweeney displayed sound defensive technique against Jasprit Bumrah but persistent rain played havoc with the opening day of the third Test, allowing only 13.2 overs of play in which Australia scored 28 for no loss against India, here Saturday.
The gloomy weather didn’t allow any action after the rain-curtailed first session. The weather in Brisbane indicates a start-stop game throughout the next four days.
Khawaja (19 batting, 47 balls) and McSweeney (4 batting, 33 balls) traded aggression with caution but the senior left-hander still got a couple of boundaries when Mohammed Siraj pitched it short.
While India skipper Rohit Sharma would be happy that Australia didn’t score way too many runs, his bowlers did not force the opposition openers to play more deliveries. A lot of deliveries were left from length.
Just when it seemed that Indian attack was getting into its groove, heavens opened up, putting brakes on the bowling momentum.
Bumrah (0/8 in 6 overs) bowled his least potent opening spell of the series so far.
Despite overcast conditions and enough bounce on offer, he didn’t bowl too many wicket-taking deliveries in that six-over first spell while Siraj (0/13 in 4 overs) was guilty of occasionally pitching it short.
In case of Bumrah, he rightly pitched it up but there was very little hint of swing on offer due to high humidity and only on few occasions he was able to square up Khawaja while coming round the wicket.
The lines that they bowled, drifted towards the leg-side more often than not.
With not many probing questions asked, the first 25 minutes before the steady drizzle stopped proceedings saw Australia reach 19 for no loss.
While McSweeney defended dourly, Khawaja did pull Siraj for a boundary before the break and added one more after play resumed.
Before the first break, even Bumrah pitched more deliveries back of length, allowing the batters to leave them easily, trusting the bounce of the surface.
Siraj was removed after a three-over initial spell. It was Akash Deep (0/2 in 3.2 overs), who looked good first up, keeping the ball on the off-stump channel with his stock delivery that would dart in to put batters in uncomfortable positions.
During the hour’s play, the highlight was how Khawaja dealt with Bumrah’s first spell.
He defended well by dropping his bottom hand and trying to play as late as possible. The balls that went past Khawaja’s outside edge weren’t about being getting beaten but rather, he kept the bat close to his body, allowing the ball to deviate past the willow. He only played deliveries that were bowled into his body.
He knew that if they can manage Bumrah’s first spell which is generally between six to eight overs, they can dominate other bowlers.
The second rain break came just when Akash an, Siraj had started pitching the ball further up, using the angles well.
