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Khawaja, Handscomb shine as Aussies put up a fight, but India in control again

Admin February 17, 2023

Fifties from Usman Khawaja and Peter Handscomb have given Australia a puncher’s chance after the first day’s play of the second Test in Delhi.

But another ruthless performance from India, both with the ball and in the field, prevented the visitors from breaking away at any stage, and ensured for the second match in a row they would be batting before stumps on Day 1 having lost the toss.

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Aside from Khawaja and Handscomb, both of whom found unique ways to deal with India’s fearsome array of spin bowlers on a helpful pitch, the rest of the Australian line-up failed to deliver as they were bowled out for 263 – although it’s just five runs fewer than they mustered across the entire first Test.

India, in response, made it safely to stumps at 0/21, with the sole scare a bat-pad catch to remove Rohit Sharma that the home captain quickly and successfully had overturned.

While a pair of near-grubbers in the final over of the day from Nathan Lyon would have caught the Aussies’ attention, having prepared for such conditions by naming debutant Matt Kuhnemann as part of a rare three-spinner bowling attack, they will know they have it all to do to prevent India batting themselves into an impregnable position, as they did in Nagpur.

Peter Handscomb of Australia bats.

Peter Handscomb of Australia bats. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)

The loss of Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith within three balls in one Ravichandran Ashwin over was a blow from which the visitors’ innings never recovered, with David Warner’s latest painful performance once again heaping pressure on the veteran opener.

Warner survived being given out LBW in the first over when the DRS found an inside edge and frequently wore blows to the body as Indian quicks Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj sensed a vulnerability.

While it took the ball of the day from Shami to dismiss him for 15, it was perhaps the most obvious example yet that Father Time has caught up with Warner, as a man who was once the most belligerent opener in the game now finds it all to do to simply get the ball off the square.

Nevertheless, a 50-run opening stand between him and the much more fluent Khawaja, who unveiled the sweeps and reverse-sweeps that worked so well from him on last year’s tour of Pakistan, ensured the visitors at least had a foothold in the Test. With Marnus Labuschagne once again looking assured and the score ticking to 91 as lunch approached, things could hardly have been going better.

Enter Ashwin. Australia’s nemesis turned the tide in an instant, a successful review doing for Labuschagne after being struck on the pad by extra spin; before the biggest fish in the pond, Smith, tickled the faintest of edges behind, perhaps spooked by Labuschagne’s dismissal into playing one he could have left alone.

Travis Head, recalled in place of Matt Renshaw following his shock omission for the first Test, didn’t get much opportunity to have his vulnerabilities against spin tested; flashing with hard hands outside off to be gleefully pouched at slip off Shami, however, was the perfect encapsulation of the other major chink in his armour.

A 59-run stand between Khawaja, who had moved to a brisk 50 in the last over before lunch, and Handscomb again threatened to tip the scales firmly the visitors’ way. Already a right and left-hand combination, the pair accentuated their differences even further in the manner of their batting: Khawaja perpetually looking to sweep anything too full, Handscomb keener to use his feet to stifle the spin and pounce on the rare short offering from Ravindra Jadeja or Axar Patel.

It took a magical moment to break the stand: a firmly struck Khawaja reverse-sweep spectacularly caught one-handed by KL Rahul. Having already smartly claimed the catch of Head in the slips, it capped off an excellent day in the field for India’s under-pressure opener.

When Alex Carey fell for a duck to a brutal Ashwin ball that reared up viciously, Australia seemed in danger of being bowled out for under 200 once again. Yet with a weak tail behind him, captain Pat Cummins batted with impressive maturity, calm enough to keep out the good balls but alert enough to nail two slog-sweeps for six to get his innings going.

The pair ensured safe passage past the 200 mark, and through past tea, Handscomb raising a well-deserved 50, his first in Test cricket since September 2017, to continue the dogged if less fruitful work of his in Nagpur.

Where Ashwin had done the earlier damage, though, it would be Jadeja this time to break the partnership: first trapping Cummins in front for a well-made 33, then bowling Todd Murphy through the gate, who while impressive with the ball thus far in his fledgling Test career has shown all the makings of a No.11 with the bat.

Lyon offered more resistance, a serene drive off Shami one of the shots of the day, but the quick would have the last laugh to disturb the Australian spinner’s furniture.

Handscomb was offered a reprieve on 67 when Jadeja overstepped in having him caught in the covers, but while a boundary the next ball rubbed some salt into the wound, there was no time for further pain, Shami ending Kuhnemann’s brief resistance with a ball too good for the first-game tailender.

With just nine overs to survive, Sharma shelved his first Test fireworks, save for a powerful drive off Cummins’ second ball of the innings.

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Kuhnemann’s whirlwind few days continued; not on the tour last week, he found himself opening the bowling from the other end. Conceding just six runs from his four overs and impressing with his accuracy, he could prove dangerous on Day 2 if this pitch deteriorates further.

The Aussies were momentarily cock-a-hoop when Sharma was given out caught at short leg in the final over of the day; Sharma’s laugh as he reviewed, though, was as good an indication the decision was erroneous as the eventual replay.

Closing 242 runs behind with all 10 wickets intact, India could be satisfied with another fine day’s play. For Australia, it wasn’t perfect, but having been all but down for the count at this same point in Nagpur, there are encouraging signs this Test won’t be quite such an abject humiliation.


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