Monday 06 / January / 2025
Sydney: Rishabh Pant's blitz knock helped India post 141/6 on the board in their second innings on Saturday, extending their lead to 145 runs against Australia on Day 2 of the fifth Border-Gavaskar Test. Earlier in the day, Australia was bowled out for 181, giving India a slender lead.
Coming out to bat in the final session, Indian openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul displayed some fluent strokes, but the first breakthrough came when Scott Boland dismissed Rahul for 13, leaving India at 42/1. Jaiswal soon followed, clean bowled by Boland for 22.
India faced further setbacks as star batter Virat Kohli was caught in the slip cordon by Steve Smith off Boland for 17, falling to a delivery outside the off-stump. At 59/3, India was in trouble.
Debutant Beau Webster added to India's woes, claiming his maiden Test wicket by dismissing Shubman Gill for 13.
Rishabh Pant, the wicketkeeper-batter ignited the innings with a scintillating counterattack, smashing Mitchell Starc for a six on the very first ball he faced. He then unleashed a flurry of boundaries, hitting three in a single over from Webster. Pant raced to a half-century in just 29 balls, hitting two consecutive sixes to Starc, the second-fastest fifty by an Indian in Tests. The record of 28 balls, also held by Pant, was set against Sri Lanka in 2022.
Pant's explosive knock ended at 61 off 33 balls when he was dismissed by Pat Cummins. His innings featured six boundaries and four towering sixes, lifting India to 124/5.
Nitish Kumar Reddy added only 4 runs before chipping a simple catch to Cummins at mid-off, becoming Boland's fourth victim of the day.
At stumps, Ravindra Jadeja (8*) and Washington Sundar (6*) remained unbeaten, showing grit to keep India's lead intact. With the match finely poised, India will look to extend their advantage on Day 3.
Earlier at Tea on Day 2 of the Sydney Test, the Baggy Greens were bundled out for 181 conceding a 4-run lead to the visitors.
The second session resumed from 101/5, with debutant Beau Webster (28*) and Alex Carey (4*) unbeaten at the crease. The batters put on 31 runs before Carey was dismissed in the 38th over of the innings after scoring 21 runs with the help of four boundaries.
Pat Cummins came next to bat along with Webster. They put on just 25 runs before the latter was dismissed by Nitish Kumar Reddy in the 45th over of the innings.
After that, in the 47th over, Nitish Kumar Reddy struck again as he dismissed the left-hand batter Mitchell Starc who made just 1 run.
At 166, Australia lost the ninth wicket of Webster who played a brilliant innings of 57 runs off 105 balls which was laced with five boundaries.
The last wicket of the Australian innings fell at 181 as Scott Boland was cleaned up by Siraj in the 51st over of their innings.
For India, three wickets were snapped by Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna while two wickets each were grabbed by Jasprit Bumrah and Nitish Kumar Reddy in their respective spells.
Earlier, the hosts resumed Day Two at 9/1, with opener Sam Konstas unbeaten on seven. Right-handed batter Marnus Labuschagne joined him at the crease. However, the Indian bowlers applied relentless pressure from the start, maintaining an accurate line and length.
Bumrah claimed the first wicket of the day, dismissing Labuschagne in the fourth over for just two runs. With this dismissal, Bumrah surpassed legendary spinner Bishan Singh Bedi's record for the most wickets in an overseas Test series by an Indian bowler.
Steven Smith then joined Konstas at the crease. In the 12th over, Siraj delivered a game-changing spell, taking two wickets in a single over.
He first dismissed Konstas for 23 on the second ball and then removed Travis Head, the highest scorer of the series, for just 4 on the fifth ball, pushing Australia onto the back foot.
Debutant Webster then partnered with Smith to stabilize the innings. The duo guided Australia past the 50-run mark in the 15th over and completed a 50-run partnership in the 26th over. However, in the 28th over, Smith fell to Prasidh Krishna for 33, marking the fifth wicket for the hosts.
After Smith's dismissal, wicketkeeper-batter Alex Carey joined Webster at the crease.
Brief Scores: India: 185 & 141/6 (Rishabh Pant 61, Yashasvi Jaiswal 22; Scott Boland 4/42) vs Australia: 181 (Beau Webster 57, Steven Smith 33; Prasidh Krishna 3/42).
