22nd over: Australia 45-2 (Khawaja 17, Marsh 0) India will know how vulnerable Shaun Marsh is early in an innings, falling a disproportionate number of times before reaching double figures. But he starts competently here, defending the rest of the successful Ashwin over.
The Cricket Prof.(@CricProf)
The ball from Ashwin which got Harris was the second fullest the Indian off-spinner had bowled to him, one of only three deliveries which would have hit the stumps. #AUSvINDpic.twitter.com/tOudn4QAaw
Ashwin wins the battle! His straighter one from around the wicket finds Harris’ inside edge before bouncing up off his front pad, Vijay doing the rest at silly point. A good start from the new opener but he’ll be furious falling close to the bat after doing the hard work against Ashwin.
21st over: Australia 45-1 (Harris 26, Khawaja 17) Bumrah to Khawaja, rinse and repeat. I reckon the Australian is settling in for a Leo Sayer.
20th over: Australia 45-1 (Harris 26, Khawaja 17) Harris goes at Ashwin again! “This is really good Test batting,” says Simon Katich on SEN. This time, he splits the gap at cover for another boundary.
19th over: Australia 41-1 (Harris 22, Khawaja 17) Right then, Shami is out of the attack after four very good overs. We can only assume it is related to this arm complaint, which he has gone off the ground to have looked at. Back on to replace him, Bumrah sends down a maiden to Khawaja who is in no hurry this morning, his 17 coming from 62 balls.
18th over: Australia 41-1 (Harris 22, Khawaja 17) Shot! Harris has jumped at Ashwin once an over so far but this is the first time he’s made solid contact, lofting a drive over his head and down to the rope beneath us here at the southern end. Into the 20s he goes. Granted, earlier in the over he wasn’t far away from giving a catch to Vijay at silly point but his hands were just soft enough to prevent the ball going the full journey.
17th over: Australia 37-1 (Harris 18, Khawaja 17) With a ball to go in Shami’s over, the medical staff walk out to give his arm a bit of a rub. For a moment he looks like he might come off the ground but stays on, which is good news for Kohli and co. Earlier, he was up for leg before but an inside edge saved Harris. He’ll fancy hooping a few down at the new man, I am sure.
16th over: Australia 36-1 (Harris 17, Khawaja 17) Better from Harris this time around, getting a single along the carpet through cover when Ashwin overpitches. Getting his first chance at Khawaja, he finds a leading edge immediately, albeit straight to ground.
“I’m being dragged all over the place by the commentary,” emails Jacob Murray-White. “ABC has Harsha Bogle, Dizzy Gillespie and history – this is good. But also has Jim Maxwell doing his standard Victorian bashing. SEN on the other hand is really vibrant, with a few teething issues. I’m currently jumping between the two but suspect I will end up on SEN.”
I’m listening to SEN. Granted, I was part of their commentary team in South Africa so I’m pretty keen on what they are doing. But I’ll flick over to hear how Jim is seeing it later on today, I’m sure.
15th over: Australia 35-1 (Harris 16, Khawaja 17) Shami v Khawaja; this is proper Test cricket with enough movement to make every interaction interesting. From the final delivery, Khawaja looked to score against him for the first time but it squirted out to point off the edge.
14th over: Australia 35-1 (Harris 16, Khawaja 17) A lot of support around the bat for Ashwin, with plenty of noise and laughter and so on. They are trying to build the pressure on Harris, who early in the over tried to flay him through cover but didn’t get much of it. That’s the second time that he’s had a crack without it really coming off.
13th over: Australia 33-1 (Harris 14, Khawaja 17) Khawaja is taking his time here against Shami, happy to watch everything onto the bat. Would you believe, this is the first Test that he’s played against India. Considering how often the teams have played since his debut in January 2011, that’s not for nothing. Maiden.
I’m enjoying the response to Andrew Samson on the SEN call from his new colleagues. He’s doing as he always does on TMS, rattling off one brilliant stat after another, and they’re loving it. What a great get.
12th over: Australia 33-1 (Harris 14, Khawaja 17) Ashwin bounces in for his first set of the morning and it so nearly brings a wicket! Harris leaves the arm ball, which bounces over the off-stump by no more than a couple of inches. Earlier in the over, Harris went over the top of mid-off for a couple. The new opener has been solid so far but on the evidence of this over, the bigger challenge for him might be against this probing spin.
11th over: Australia 31-1 (Harris 12, Khawaja 17) Shami replaces Ishant after his five over spell from the Cathedral End. It is a nervous start, spraying the first ball down the legside and beyond Pant’s gloves for a bye. The swing ace finds his mark shortly thereafter, Khawaja playing out the final over of the first hour respectfully. Drinks!
10th over: Australia 30-1 (Harris 12, Khawaja 17) Poor over from Bumrah, who is blowing hot and cold. Khawaja takes full advantage, clipping two off the pads then easing a couple more through cover when gifted a half-volley. The final ball is help yourself stuff, Khawaja escorting it around the corner off his hip to the fine leg rope; his first four of the day.
9th over: Australia 22-1 (Harris 12, Khawaja 9) Beautiful start from Ishant, Harris beaten for the second time in a handful of deliveries. But he keeps his cool, leaving and defending well for the rest of the set, picking up the two on offer when the big quick strays onto his pads.
“Phil,” replies Noel Sheppard. “Seriously????” It is, as they say, a destination Test Match here at Adelaide. Interesting debate.
Tailendslogger(@tailendslogger)
Instead of the national anthem maybe the Richies could sing a medley of sad British pop songs (Smiths, Buzzcocks, Morrisey et al) to lament the poor crowd and crowd experience.
8th over: Australia 19-1 (Harris 10, Khawaja 9) A big shout from Bumrah first ball when Harris plays and misses, believing there was an edge. They decide not to go upstairs, which was the right call the replay confirms. Another dicey moment for the opener later in the over, trying to evade but parrying the shorter ball over the cordon for four instead. Australia’s first boundary of the morning but far from a convincing one. More controlled runs for Harris to finish, through square leg.
7th over: Australia 12-1 (Harris 3, Khawaja 9) Ishant again, who has really found his groove here too with Khawaja nearly struck on the bottom hand when a ball bit back hard off a length. They are giving this new ball every chance to find them a second breakthrough. What they would give for it to be Khawaja.
“The reason for the poor crowds this year is not so much the change from a day/night format but the fact that last year was such a poor crowd experience that we didn’t bother this year,” emails Phil Smith. “I usually bring a group of six friends to Adelaide from Sydney as I was previously impressed with the experience and the fact they used to have a choice of six wines at the bar and a cocktail stand on the top level. Last year it was XXXX gold and either the single choice poor quality white or red wine for the wine drinkers. Selling off the bar rights may be a money spinner but it has kept us well away.”
6th over: Australia 12-1 (Harris 3, Khawaja 9) Bumrah forces a play and miss from Khawaja, beating him with a beauty first up. That’s where he’s so difficult to play with that side-arm action. It’s a very good over at high pace, ensuring the number three has to present his bat throughout.
5th over: Australia 11-1 (Harris 3, Khawaja 8) Khawaja drives nicely to mid-off for a couple then drops the next Ishant delivery at his feet for a quick single. Very good batting. Harris gets out the way of a quick bouncer before defending the rest with a nice, straight bat.
Channel Nine may have lost the TV rights but the Richies are still part of the second day soundtrack, sitting beneath the old scoreboard doing their thing. As long as they don’t sing the national anthem 27 times in the final session (an issue last summer) then I hope they have a nice time.
4th over: Australia 8-1 (Harris 3, Khawaja 5) Khawaja is every bit the senior player in this Australian team at the moment. I won’t get too carried away but he looks at such ease. Giving the strike to Harris with a classy clip to midwicket, the new man defends the rest.
3rd over: Australia 7-1 (Harris 3, Khawaja 4) Ishant gets a pop at Harris, who would be so nervous on debut. But he looks good here early, defending five of the six and leaving the other. That’ll feel good.
“Good evening from a relatively mild Surrey, England” emails Matt Emerson. “Having seen India during our Summer I think their quick bowlers will prosper on Australian wickets, but what’s your view?”
Having covered that series in England in August and September, I share your view! Sure, they were rolled 4-1 by the hosts, but their fast bowlers left the country with their reputations enhanced considerably.
2nd over: Australia 7-1 (Harris 3, Khawaja 4) Harris is away from the first ball of his international career, clipping Bumrah for three in front of square. Khawaja does likewise with a couple behind the umpire to open his account. After a close leave, Khawaja uses the Bumrah angle from around the wicket to collect a two more to finish.
1st over: Australia 0-1 (Harris 0, Khawaja 0) Khawaja walks out in the first over, as he did on this ground two years ago when he was forced to open and made his best century for Australia. Well, that was the case until Dubai in October. To be fair, he did say last weekend that he would be equally happy opening in this Test and he essentially is now. He’s able to leave the three remaining deliveries in the successful Sharma set.
Gary Naylor(@garynaylor999)
I think Mark Ramprakash went through a period when his theme song was “16 again” @collinsadam. RIP Pete Shelley.
The worst possible start! Finch tries to get off the mark with an expansive drive and loses not one but two of his stumps in the process. Emphatic!
That was quick! We’re back. Marcus Harris for his first innings in Test cricket, alongside Aaron Finch for his first hit on home soil in the Australian creams. Ishant Sharma has the ball. PLAY!
I spotted Gideon Haigh when grabbing a water to ask. He reckons plenty, including in 1968 when a Test in the Caribbean went to the fifth day and finished after one ball. We had a couple of those situations in 2018 where numbers 10 and 11 forced a brief final day after the added half an hour were batted out on night four, at Durban then Nottingham. On both occasions, we were in the pub by lunch day five.
One for the stattos. How often has an innings finished on the first ball of a new day? I’ll ask Andrew Samson.
First ball of the day! Shami tried to heave Hazlewood behind square but only managed to get a glove on it, Paine taking a nice diving catch down the legside. Hazlewood gets a third. Literally the perfect start for Australia.
The players are on the field! Josh Hazlewood has the ball in his hand to complete his over. Shami is on strike. PLAY!
Once more before we begin in about seven minutes from now…that Cummins run out. Nicely summed up by Ed Cowan.
Related, if you want it to be, from Arjun Miglani. “Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn’t Have),” he emails in relation to the passing of the truly great Pete Shelley. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say he wrote this about India’s continued flirtation with the idea that Rohit Sharma can be a Test cricketer.”
Better than my youthful theory that every Buzzcocks lyric related directly to my tortured/sketchy love life.
Ed Cowan(@eddiecowan)
40 degrees. 19 overs of bringing his own heat. This is what he gives the team. 5.56pm. Could have been snoozing. When you talk about playing ‘tough cricket’, play this clip. Inspirational @patcummins30https://t.co/4I7MT6k0bQ
Oh, I missed this. Matt Cleary wrote a piece about how he saw the Fox and Seven calls at stumps last night. Here ‘tis:
What did you make of the new TV broadcasters yesterday? With the host feed coming from Fox, I don’t think we’ll be seeing a lot of Seven in the press box over the summer. Their digital clips, however, are great. Scroll through the twitter account to get a better sense of it, but seeing Bruce talk about his love of the sport hit all my special spots.
7 Cricket(@7Cricket)
For as long as Australia has been called Australia, it’s meant one thing.
Boy, it is humid out. A sweat-through-your-shirt-in-ten-minutes kinda morning. But the good news is that the cool change, so says local Andrew Faulkner (who I’m inclined to believe on all matters South Australian) is not due until tonight.
Opening the batting on the email is Amod Paranjape. “Good Morning.” And to you. “With Finch having played Jasprit Bumrah in the IPL do you think the Aussies would be more prepared than most teams to face him? Most Teams struggle the first time that they face him. And while you guys may go on and on about Ashwin, he is not impressive overseas. Bowls the nonsensical (for an off spinner) middle and leg line.”
It can’t hurt because Bumrah, as you say, must be very hard to pick up with that unorthodox approach and delivery stride. I can’t wait to see what pace he hits with the new ball today. He bowled some gorgeous spells in England, even if his figures rarely showed it.
Crowd spin. Yesterday, 23,802 fans were in Adelaide Oval, way down on the day-night equivalents. Kevin Roberts, CA’s new chief exec, is on SEN radio now discussing that. He makes the good point that they lost a lot of tourists from interstate with it being a day Test. It was bloody hot, too.
Less convincing is the spin about comparative numbers. The argument put by the CA media officer yesterday, repeated by Roberts, is that the audience in yesterday was only bettered for an Indian opening day at Adelaide four years ago when 25,619 were in.
Of course, the tragic circumstances surrounding that Test meant it needed to be rescheduled at short notice, starting on a Tuesday. Hardly like for like – shedloads more would have been in that day had it not been altered (myself included, as it happens). My point: yesterday was a poor crowd, especially in the all-but empty public areas. No big deal; just say that.
It took a while for it to register for me that yesterday we saw two of the best pieces of fielding of all time. Granted, Khawaja’s catch is the type that happens more and more as the game’s athleticism develops, but layered with the context of it removing King Kohli on the opening morning of a Test series after the year that has been – what a way to start.
As for Cummins, it has all been said, but the bloke was bent over exhausted a couple of overs earlier and didn’t bowl with the second new ball. It’s hard to imagine having the powers of concentration required to execute such a technically perfect throw in that heat to end the day.
All told, the second act probably won’t have a huge influence on the final analysis of the game with Australia likely to wrap up India’s first innings early on this second morning, in conditions a lot cloudier than on day one. But it surely will give them a spring in their step. As for leadership on how to keep calm and accumulate, they only need to look at Pujara.
The Australian temperament has been under the magnifying glass for the better part of nine months for all the wrong reasons but today is a serious opportunity to shape the series from the start. How the hosts’ relatively inexperienced line-up deals with the accomplished visiting seam attack will make for fascinating viewing.
Righto, I’m looking forward to talking to you, as always, throughout the morning session. To do so, hit me up on email. Have you ever seen a better run out than Cummins’? Let’s start there. You can tweet me as well. For now, the first of many Pete Shelley gems I’m going to share. If there are ten songs in the world I’ve listened to more than this, I’d be surprised.
7 Cricket (@7Cricket)
