94th over: India 252-7 (Pant 14, Ishant 0) Ishant gets forward three times but to the final delivery he is trapped on the crease, Lyon beating both the edge then the top of off both by less than an inch. He bowled beautifully today and still has five on the shelf if he can clean up the tail.
The players are back on the field! Nathan Lyon has four balls remaining in his successful over, picking up Shami for a golden duck to bring lunch. The new man is Ishant, joining Pant (14). PLAY!
Whoa, I missed this. The CEO of the WACA, Christina Matthews, had a massive crack at Cricket Australia in an interview with SEN before play. Here is my colleague Michael Ramsey’s yarn from AAP.
WACA chief Christina Matthews has launched an extraordinary broadside at Cricket Australia (CA), blaming poor ticket sales for the inaugural Test at Perth Stadium on the organisation’s handling of the ball-tampering scandal.
Ticket sales have been disappointing for the second Test against India with the new 60,000-capacity stadium and an enthralling series failing to bring punters through the gates.
Just 20,746 fans attended on Friday and 19,042 on Saturday – well down on the 35,000 opening-day crowd the WACA had initially hoped to attract.
A similar crowd is expected on Sunday’s third day.
Matthews, who interviewed unsuccessfully to replace James Sutherland in CA’s top job, says cricket’s governing body should have foreseen the fallout from the ball-tampering scandal and the subsequent cultural reviews.
“I think Australian cricket as an entity is on the nose and a little bit of trust has been lost,” Matthews told SEN radio on Sunday.
“Certain things happen … and you’ve got to work a lot harder than you might have had to to get them all back.
“What happened in South Africa was kind of an insult to everybody and how they feel about the game.
“We follow that up a few months later with the culture review and, let’s say, the lack of foresight on Cricket Australia’s part to see how the public were going to react to that.
“You kind of live and learn.”
Matthews said she hadn’t been surprised by the damning findings of the independent review that led to several key figures at CA falling on their swords.
“You kind of always know when things are not going well, particularly when you work in it day to day,” she said.
“It probably surprised me that others were so surprised. It was obvious from a team perspective that the team’s culture had been waning.
“There’s evidence now to suggest that in terms of surveys that have been done and haven’t probably seen the light of day.
“We’ve had a lot of change … James being around for 17 years, that’s a really difficult thing to pull off, being in the one job for 17 years and nothing really changing.”
Matthews was pipped for the CA chief executive role by Kevin Roberts, formerly the organisation’s chief operating officer.
She believed CA weren’t ready for a female chief executive, noting she had been the first woman interviewed for the position in its history.
Matthews also dismissed talk of Perth Stadium making a play for the Boxing Day or New Year’s Tests, saying the priority would instead be securing a day-night Test – potentially against New Zealand at the start of the summer.
Meanwhile in the WBBL… Alex Price, what a gem. Get her on the mic every time the Strikers play. The competition is off to a brilliant start.
7 Cricket(@7Cricket)
You never know what you’re going to get when players are on the mic!
‘Allo from the lunch room. Thanks Geoffers for taking the morning shift and taking Virat to three figures for the 25 time in Tests. What a wonderful innings. From a match balance perspective, I’m fairly relaxed that he’s back in the sheds; hopefully Rishabh whacks them to parity to get us well on the way to a brilliant second half of this Test.
But did we make of Kohli’s tanty when given out? I get that he feels the needs to counter his brilliance with being as disagreeable as often as possible but that looked like the sort of move that loses one 20% of their match fee. He also didn’t acknowledge the crowd on the way off.
As always, I’m looking forward to your company on the email and the tweet and on the phone if you want my number? I’ll give you number.
What a cracker of a session of Test cricket. Rahane gone in the first over of the day, and India were rocked. Then Kohli immediately taking the power back, ploughing on resolutely past his century to leave Australia flustered and defensive. One of the greater innings that he’s played – I know I’ve bombed you with stats, but I’ll paste a couple more below because the CricVic analysts have been doing some oustanding work. Adding a whole lot to the narrative.
Kohli had some good support from Vihari, then from Pant when Australia dislodged the former. But in the last minutes of the session, suddenly things have swung back Australia’s way. Kohli gone by the finest of margins, Shami following immediately, and now it’ll probably be a matter of Pant smacking some runs as fast as he can while the tailenders try to hang about.
Australia lead by 74 runs. I’m off, and Adam Collins will take the second stanza.
The Cricket Prof.(@CricProf)
He attacked Australia’s fastest bowler more than any other. He scored all round the field. He played just 12% false shots, in a Test where the average was 19%. He punished full balls at 7.35rpo, fought off the good balls.
The focus has been on Kohli’s battle with the quicks, not because Lyon isn’t bowling well (he is) but because Kohli has remained in near-total control. He has played 69% rotating shots v Lyon, well above his career average v spin of 43% & has played just 8% false shots. #AUSvINDpic.twitter.com/eob0uFyFrX
The slide, did you say? That’ll be lunch. First ball of Lyon’s over, it turns a bit and bounces a lot, and Shami can only stab at the ball and feather it to Paine for a first-ball duck.
93rd over: India 251-6 (Pant 13) Kohli gone last ball of Cummins’ over, the long tail starts, and the slide could be on.
Cummins the bowler. Handscomb diving wide at second slip. Kohli’s drive producing a thick edge. The ball angling towards the turf. But going fairly flat rather than dipping. I think that’s out, it’s gone flat into his fingers as they lay on the ground, but it looks dicey on the TV replay, as it tends to do.
He’s given! The umpires sent it upstairs, the third ump had a good long look at a number of replays. But I think that was the right call. Handscomb had his fingers flat on the ground by the time the ball reached him. So it looked like a bounce, but it was landing on his hand. He immediately held his hand up with the fingers clasped around the ball, showing his grip.
Opinion is divided already: on the radio, on the TV, and I haven’t even glanced at anything on the internet. Did it touch a bit of grass on the way into his hands? It looked very close live, and still close on replay, but it just seemed from the angle that it could and should have made it onto his fingers on the full.
Peter Handscomb celebrates after taking a catch to dismiss Virat Kohli. Photograph: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images
92nd over: India 250-5 (Kohli 123, Pant 12) Lyon is back from the southern end of the ground. Wide, full, and Kohli strides across to drive through cover for four! Just like the one from earlier, he pulls out that full ice-hockey slap shot to the rope. Imposing stuff. The Australian lead drops to 76. India reach 250.
Freddie Wilde(@fwildecricket)
This match has been a difficult one for batting: the false shot percentage so far is 19%. In an innings as long as Kohli’s (218 balls) the match false shot rate translates into 41 false shots; Kohli—a master of control—has only played 28 (false shot percentage 13%). #AUSvIND
91st over: India 246-5 (Kohli 119, Pant 12) Singles mingles, Kohli keeps collecting. A couple more in this over, and his last eight scoring shots have been ones. Pant matches his approach. Cummins the bowler.
Some good stuff as ever from Ric. I’ve been meaning for years to write a paean to Younis Khan, the most underrated of all the great Test batsmen.
Ric Finlay(@RicFinlay)
Test players (min 20 centuries) with more 100s than 50s: Bradman 69.05% of all 50s converted to 100s Kohli 56.8% Azharuddin 51.2% MClarke 50.9% Hayden 50.85% Younis Khan 50.75%
In Wellington, Kane Williamson has just been dismissed for 91 from 93 balls. Bright stuff.
90th over: India 243-5 (Kohli 117, Pant 11) They’ve got Pant on strike to start this Hazlewood over, but he just drives a casual single to get off it. Don’t patronise me, man. Kohli does likewise. Hazlewood draws an edge from the left-handed Pant, but the batsman is prodding softly at it and so it bounces into the ground and into the gully gap for four.
I like the idea that there can be left-handed Pants.
“Good morning, Geoff,” writes Ian Forth. Good morning, by a matter of four minutes on Western Australian time. Ian is concerned about Gary Naylor’s tweet from earlier. “Can a Test be described as “ever inchoate”? Surely at some point during the match it passes beyond inchoancy (?) into some kinetic state.”
This is the stuff I’m here for.
89th over: India 237-5 (Kohli 116, Pant 6) What is this? Starc, the attack leader, with the new ball, is bowling with the field spread. Paine has pushed out a third man, deep point, deep square leg, and long leg. Mid-on and mid-off are set back conceding a single. They want to bowl at Rishabh Pant. But that just looks like rolling over in surrender. He’s a No7, not a No11. (Even if the No11s start at No8 in this team.) Surely you back your strike bowler to get Kohli out rather than just give in. It looks like surrendering even while Australia is still nearly 100 in front.
Kohli happily takes the run on offer, Pant collects a one and a three whenever the ball is on his pads, and the score moves along with barely a flicker of risk for India.
88th over: India 232-5 (Kohli 115, Pant 2) Hop, stab, run. No, it’s not someone being mugged by a kangaroo. It’s Virat Kohli’s batting approach against this new ball. Happy to give Pant plenty of the strike, and perhaps impress upon him the responsibility the young wicketkeeper needs to take. Pant defends three, takes a quiet single.
Mind you, the actual analysts suggest that Pant can basically do what he likes.
The Cricket Prof.(@CricProf)
Rishabh Pant could be crucial here. In his Test career so far he’s scored at 4.53rpo, rarely holding himself back. A false shot percentage of 16%, only slightly higher than the global average of 14%, suggests he’s right to have such confidence. #AUSvIND
87th over: India 230-5 (Kohli 114, Pant 1) Kohli is happy to just keep harvesting the singles as opportunities arise. Tap to point, drop to short leg and dash. Pant gets off the mark with a mistimed glance. In the meantime, a bouncer doesn’t quite work out.
Mitchell Starc bowls wide and it’s bye, bye, byes.
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86th over: India 223-5 (Kohli 112, Pant 0) What will Pant do? Go hog-wild? Start cautiously? The latter, three balls from Hazlewood with nary a wild swing among them.
Simon Richards has found my email address. “Australia v India is ‘box office’, but 25,000 in 68,000 capacity stadia still lacks atmos. India v Any Other Team are the same in India. Should Test matches be played in smaller venues, 15,000-25,000)?”
Well, yes, in theory. But it also depends on those venues being good enough to attract a crowd. The WACA is the right capacity, but when the toilet blocks are ankle-deep in effluent and you can contract skin cancer within a day, people don’t want to go to it. You didn’t get 20,000 to daytime Tests at the WACA because no one wanted to go.
A sigh of relief for the Australians. If they can’t get Kohli they need at least need to knock out the foundations supporting him. Perfect new-ball stuff from Hazlewood: upright seam, slight bit of movement away, and Vihara was back and tentatively defending rather than getting forward to cover the line of the ball. A fine edge to Paine.
Hanuma Vihari after being dismissed by Josh Hazlewood in Perth. Photograph: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images
85th over: India 223-4 (Kohli 112, Vihari 20) Starc over the wicket, short, but Kohli makes riding the bounce defensively look as easy as driving through cover. Simples. Hops up again next ball and this time guides the defensive shot with an angled and open blade past gully for one run. Vihari is looking pretty solid himself, and finding singles without too much trouble.
84th over: India 220-4 (Kohli 111, Vihari 18) Hazlewood to Kohli, dropping short outside off and it’s flayed away for six! Over third man, a position which was unoccupied anyway for Kohli, who has two slips and a gully but no one back. Was happy to take the risk therefore against the short ball, got something of a top edge on the cut, but hit it so hard that it carried the rope flat and hard. Party time for Kohli? The deficit has dropped to 106.
In terms of individual stats, there are plenty flying around. Of visiting batsmen, only Hammond and Hobbs for England have more hundreds in Australia than Kohli. They also played a lot more Tests here.
There’s also this, when you factor in his pile of ODI hundreds:
83rd over: India 214-4 (Kohli 105, Vihari 18) Starc strays to full and Kohli laces this through cover for four! What a shot, the sound of that off the bat was as crisp as anything he hit in that nets video. Crack, leaning forward, getting low again, and meeting the ball down low on the ground, just as it bounced. Starc of course follows up with a bouncer that nearly clears Paine for four byes. Kohli is unflapped (which must be a word if unflappable is an adjective) and taps his next ball to midwicket for a single. That’s drinks.
82nd over: India 209-4 (Kohli 100, Vihari 18) Hazlewood is the other new-ball taker, unsurprisingly. A couple of runs to Vihari through square leg.
As of now, Kohli has made hundreds in Adelaide, Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth. He’s never played in Hobart (and never will). So he’s only missed out in Brisbane, but he’s only played there once. He has six hundreds in Australia in 19 innings. Absurd.
81st over: India 207-4 (Kohli 100, Vihari 16)
New ball, new me. Mitchell Starc has the shiny projectile, but Kohli has a shiny new milestone to his name! His 25th Test century. Starc is bowling full and looking for swing. So the first ball of the over, Kohli can work it easily enough through midwicket for two. Then the second ball, he drives, elegantly, dead straight for four! What a shot. And what an understated response. Kohli drives, trots halfway down the pitch, stops to watch the ball hit the rope, then takes off his helmet and taps the face of the bat with his first. Shakes hands with his partner, walks back to the striker’s end, gives one brisk wave of the bat to the crowd, then puts his helmet back on and prepares for the next ball. Class.
Virat Kohli celebrates his century on day three in Perth. Photograph: Dave Hunt/AAP
80th over: India 201-4 (Kohli 94, Vihari 16) The wristy slap first ball from Kohli, but he gets it too straight, between the bowler and non-striker, and Lyon is able to land on it and smother it. But the next ball, Lyon goes wide and Kohli slathers it over the turf for four! Through cover, he dropped into a crouch, aimed a diagonal bat at it, and gave it everything. Perfect contact, bringing up the 200.
Then an edge! Things are heating up. Kohli gets a leading edge over slip really, out towards gully, but there’s no one there! Lands safely, but can’t get a run. So he goes the next ball, and Vihari is nearly run out. That was a bad call, Travis Head was right there at cover, and his throw at the base of the stumps missed. Paine was there, but Heads throw hit the turf between Paine’s feet and he couldn’t gather the throw. Would have been gone for all money.
79th over: India 196-4 (Kohli 89, Vihari 16) It’s tip and run time for the Indian captain. Might as well, every run matters with the lead still standing at 134. Kohli drops Cummins into the gap at cover and sprints through again – there was a man there, but it was just to his left. Vihari favours a more direct approach, as he gets a slightly overpitched scrambled seam delivery from Cummins and drives it through mid-off for four. Cummins reverts to the bouncer. “Bowled Patty!” is the shout. And another nasty short one, with a short leg in place, but Vihari stands up tall and plays it straight down into the pitch in front of him. Exceptional defensive technique.
78th over: India 191-4 (Kohli 88, Vihari 12) Thoughts of a run-out as Kohli goes round the corner against Lyon. Cummins was there at backward square leg and he made the pick-up beautifully, running around to his left, but had to throw awkwardly in chicken-wing style towards Paine, and couldn’t get much power on the throw. It was either lucky or extremely well judged by Kohli in going for the run, and Vihari was safely home.
77th over: India 189-4 (Kohli 87, Vihari 11) Cummins continuing, so the bowling changes have settled. Kohli chops a single to midwicket, Vihari chops one to third man.
An email in from SSimon, who may or may not be a snake. He is sending me a lot of pro-snake literature, that’s all I’m saying. “Morning Geoff. Loving the coverage but there’s another exciting southern hemisphere test happening. Each of you covers a session 2 or 3 hours at most. A parallel OBO from Wellington, you workshy fops!”
I get called that all the time, Sssssssimon. Believe it or not, if I can give readers a glimpse behind the curtain, this enterprise is not entirely as simple and relaxing as it looks. It’s a hell of a lot of fun though.
At tea in Wellington, Kane Williamson is 71 not out, with Tom Latham on 57, as New Zealand sit comfortably 107 runs behind Sri Lanka’s 282, but with nine wickets in hand.
76th over: India 187-4 (Kohli 86, Vihari 10) Lyon zips through a maiden over to Vihari, from the southern end. The second new ball isn’t far away.
75th over: India 187-4 (Kohli 86, Vihari 10) Now Cummins has been swung around to the northern end. A lot of swinging so far this morning. Vihari resists swinging at the shorter ball this time, and instead drives the full ball down the ground for three to reach double figures. Kohli has had some magic spray treatment for his upper forearm where Starc hit him a little while ago.
“G’day for another summer Geoff. I’m a big fan of Amy Remeikis’s work but I reckon you’ve got the premier live blog today,” emails Matt Harris. Amy does the Australian parliament and politics blogs, and at least with Tim Paine’s team, I can claim to have the more dignified Australian representatives to write about. It’s been a close race for embarrassing behaviour for a good few years.
“I think India vs Australia is just about the best fixture in world cricket at the moment,” continues Matt. “The last few series have been fantastic contests, and in my view the level of aggression has been mostly about right (and pretty even). I certainly look forward to series against the Indians more than the Ashes lately. What do you think of the rivalry between these two sides of late?”
Pretty fair contention, at least considering the last Australian tour to India in 2017. Australia fought hard on the field, though relied hugely on Smith for runs. And while there was a level of sniping and bickering in the media, the on-field stuff was largely pretty good. That was before the Ashes came along and the Australians decided they had to manufacture some nastiness to impersonate previous eras.
74th over: India 184-4 (Kohli 86, Vihari 7) More changes. Lyon is back from the southern end. Is that just because Vihari is on strike? Lyon bowls well down leg side, maybe just testing out the back-foot balance. or maybe just bowling a crap ball. Who knows? Vihari clips off the toes for a single. “Break this end, Goat,” says Tim Paine as Kohli takes strike. I don’t know what that means, but it certainly doesn’t sound like responsible farming practice.
73rd over: India 183-4 (Kohli 86, Vihari 6) The new man Vihari needs to calm down. They’ve put a third man back for him against Starc, and he still slashes outside off at the short ball. It nearly carries but just drops short. Kohli demonstrats a lower-risk method to his partner, using a straight bat to force a half-short ball away behind point for a couple.
72nd over: India 180-4 (Kohli 84, Vihari 5) Paine has got the result he wants with Lyon, and immediately swings a chacne with Cummins to bowl to Kohli. A good move before the Indian skipper gets set. Which takes about as long as Superglue: you’ve got a handful of seconds to correct any mistakes before you have to live with some painful and stubborn consequences. Kohli plays every ball, but compactly in defence.
71st over: India 180-4 (Kohli 84, Vihari 5) Owwwwwwwwww. No, a dog hasn’t taken over the OBO. Kohli is hit on the arm by Mitchell Starc, a short ball that didn’t get up that high. Kohli saw he couldn’t control it and just let it hit him, a glancing blow near the elbow from a ball going so fast it almost carries to fine leg. They run a leg bye, not sure how since Kohli wasn’t dodging or playing a shot. Starc stays short for Vihari, who takes a leaf from Rahane’s book and clobbers a zesty cut shot away for four.
70th over: India 175-4 (Kohli 84, Vihari 1) Hanuma Vihari, whose name I keep singing as Hakuna Matata. It means no worries. But India have worries, they’re still a long way behind, and Vihari is only playing his second Test. Pant to come next is a dasher who could easily hole out, and the tail is so long that this Indian team could be a brontosaurus. Huge blow by Lyon at the first time of asking today. Vihari gets off the mark through midwicket. Kohli shovels a dodgy run behind square. Would have tight for Vihari coming to the danger end had there been a better throw. Rattled?
Lyon does it! Not Kohli, who just got off strike with a gentle tuck to midwicket. But his deputy falls. Natural variation from Lyon, who bowled an off-break but it skipped straight on. Perfect line just outside off, Rahane played forward defensively but accounted for a fraction of turn, and there was none. Instead it nicks the outside edge and Paine makes an excellent take standing up to the stumps.
Ajinkya Rahane is caught behind by Tim Paine on the third day in Perth. Photograph: William West/AFP/Getty Images
Right then. We. Are. Away. Lyon with the ball, Kohli to face, Rahane at the other end.
“Good morning Geoff,” writes Amod Paranjape. “Is it just me or are Skippers and their deputies rmore relaxed while batting with each other? Rahane and Kohli have the numbers to back my claims.”
Maybe for India. I don’t recall Clarke and Watson having a great simpatico. And Smith and Warner never seemed to bat together much. They weren’t a great combination in other ways, either.
This is pretty lovely, and sad. Shakti Gauchan – look him up, someone who has done so much to help develop cricket in one of the countries where it could next become a force. And a fine player.
Andrew Leonard(@CricketBadge)
Emotional scenes here in Kathmandu as a great servant of Nepal Cricket leaves the field for the final time carried on a lap of honour by team-mates and opponents alike🇳🇵#ThankYouShakti#EPLT20pic.twitter.com/dvTbdlh8AV
Local conditions in Perth: it’s a lovely sunny day, pretty warm in the direct sunlight but the mercury is only reading 26 degrees now, with a high of about 30. There’s a decent sea breeze coming cool across the ground too, then swirling around the stadium. So, relatively pleasant conditions for bowling, especially compared to the first day when it was closer to 40 than 30.
Some quality work happening on the tweet feed already. (No, tweet feed does not mean bird seed. That’s a good delivery bowled by Jackson Bird.)
Kate Gross(@katelizabeth144)
They should have just had a ‘Test’ between India and the West Coast Eagles.
In fact, with 25 minutes until the start of play, you’ve just got time to squeeze in that whole Newsom song. Some beautiful writing there, if you’re a fan of harps and a general mediaeval fairground vibe.
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Nice early note here from Gary, one of the regulars. Reminds me of a Joanna Newsom lyric: “We tramped through the poison oak, heartbroke and inchoate.”
Gary Naylor(@garynaylor999)
it’s hard to identify Kohli’s greatest strength @GeoffLemonSport. This knock has something of his Edgbaston masterpiece about it – that innings one of the best I’ve ever seen. I suggest it’s Kohli’s understanding of the ever inchoate rhythm of a Test that sets him apart.
As always, get involved with the OBO. Thoughts, observations, hopes, dreams, desires. I will aid with what I can, or at least expose it to a generally friendly audience.
Drop me a tweet @GeoffLemonSport, or an email via [email protected].
Buckle up, everybody. We could be set for a special one. Yesterday was, on reflection, one of the best days of Test cricket that I’ve had the pleasure of attending. The way the Australian quicks came out breathing fire, smashing through the first couple of Indian batsmen. The position of vulnerability of the batting side given its long tail. Then the resistance from India’s own Big Three, first Pujara fighting and stonewalling, later Rahane’s counterattacking dash, and through it all, Virat Kohli, rising to the challenge once again with supreme control.
I know that people talk this guy up, and others grumble about that being excessive, but with 24 Test hundreds and 20 Test fifties having just turned 30 years of age, the record says you’re wrong. Runs and runs aplenty in South Africa, England, Australia, runs in fourth-innings chases and on difficult decks. He’s ticked every box.
Yesterday was one of the tougher situations he’s been in, but Kohli absorbed all the good bowling, waited out the fierce parts, then took every single opportunity he was given to score. That over from Cummins where Kohli’s edge was beaten, then his body was hit, then he caressed an on-drive for four off the full face of the bat – it sums up the whole day.
I’ve read a lot of people saying the pitch became docile, which isn’t the case – all that happened was we didn’t have the couple of freak balls like day one that hit cracks and deviated. Perhaps the heavy roller between innings squashed them down a bit. But there was still swing early, a bit of seam movement throughout, and excellent pace and carry. Australia’s bowlers were exceptional, and this isn’t just anecdotal anymore – CricViz has actually crunched data to say that on an average day, that bowling performance (factoring in accuracy, speed, movement and so on) would have netted eight wickets rather than three. But Kohli and Rahane defied it.
That pair will resume in an hour’s time, Kohli on 82, Rahane on 51. There could be Australian wickets early, there could be an extension of the fight. India need the latter, they still trail on the first innings by 154, and have a very questionable batting card from here. But if they can scrap on, we’ll have a fine morning ahead.
Geoff Lemon with you – yesterday I said I would be here after lunch, but that will be Adam Collins and then from tea Rob Smyth.
7 Cricket (@7Cricket)
