There was a lot of hype before the start of this test match, both the teams were expected to put up a fight and they didn't disappoint the viewers at all. Day 1 saw the Aussie batters put on a show on the SCG track after winning the toss and electing to bat first and ended up with a score of 166-2. Will Pucovski was the talk of the day alongside Marnus Labushagane- the duo stitched a crucial partnership after David Warner departed cheaply, early in the innings. The debutant looked quite comfortable and was confident in playing his strokes and showed everyone that he is here to stay. He was a bit lucky as he was dropped twice by Pant before he reached his maiden test half century but eventually his counterpart Navdeep Saini, who was also making his debut got him out LBW on 62. Then came the man who was expected to make a comeback on his favourite ground and against his favourite side. Steve Smith and Labushagane played aggressive cricket and dominated the first day's play and were not out at stumps Day 1. Australia could have amassed a big total if they would have played their complete quota of 90 overs but Indians were lucky because of the rain interruptions which saw reduction in the number if overs bowled over day 1 , which gave him a chance to regroup and comeback stronger the next day.
The first session of day 2 was also interrupted by rain but it didn't affect the game much because the play started earlier than normal on day 2 to make up for the lost overs of day 1. Steve Smith and Marnus Labushagane continued to dominate until Jadeja got Labushagane caught in the first slip on 91. He failed to reach a well deserved century as he played the ball into the hands of the Indian skipper and India's best slip fielder Ajinkya Rahane who took a very good low catch. Matthew Wade walked in next and he was playing with the same aggressive intent like the previous batsmen and had a nice short little partnership with Smith during which Smith reached the half century mark and was in his zone. Once again India's man with the golden arm Ravindra Jadeja provided the breakthrough and dismissed Wade who was looking to take him on but failed to do so.
Cameron Green, one of Australia's upcoming and promising young talent was next. India took the second new ball during this time and Jasprit Bumrah was ready for his new spell. He took no time to get back into his rhythm and was right on the money from ball 1 of this spell. He managed to take the wicket of Green with a beautiful inswinger who had to depart for a duck and the umpire's called lunch immediately after that.
Tim Paine, the Australian captain caused no pain to the Indian bowlers after he was dismissed by Bumrah for just a run. Steve Smith continued to capitalize on the advantage of the batting friendly wicket while the wickets kept falling on the other end to Sir Jadeja. Steve Smith finally announced his comeback after he reached the 8th three figure mark against India in test cricket which is also the most by a Batsman against India.
He was starting to score quick runs after his 100 but made a mistake by calling for a second run when the ball went to Ravi Jadeja and he made a brilliant direct hit from outside the thirty yard area after a great pick up and throw ,Smith's fabulous innings came to an end with that brilliant effort of Jadeja along with Australia's first inning. They managed to score 338-10 from 105.4 overs.
Now all the eyes were on India's opening pair, particularly on Rohit-man Sharma who walked out to bat alongside Gill who was playing only his second match after a quality display in Melbourne.
They started off on a positive note and were not holding back on playing their shots and managed to stay not out till tea.
Rohit Sharma was the first man to get out for India after he offered a return catch to Hazlewood off his own bowling. Gill played beautifully and scored his first test half century but got out soon after reaching his milestone . He was caught at gully of Pat Cummins's bowling. Pujara and Rahane managed to hold on to their wickets and played defensive cricket to prevent the loss of any further wickets. They managed to stay not out at the crease by stumps Day 2. With 96-2 of 45 overs, India ended their day's play and are trailing by 242 runs. At this stage the match is evenly poised, and both the teams are playing top quality of test cricket, Now we will have to wait and see which team let's their guard down first and let the other team capitalize on their mistake. We can expect the moving day to be super exciting as the pitch is starting to assist the spinners a bit, we saw Nathan Lyon getting the ball to turn a lot today and Starc from the other end has prepared the rough on the pitch nicely for Lyon to come on bowl tomorrow. India will be looking to cut the trail quickly with the minimum loss of wickets and then hopefully attacking batsmen like Pant and Jadeja help to pile up the lead for India. However Smith mentioned that the pitch is slowing down and there's uneven bounce so it won't be easy for India. Australians will try getting the bowl to reverse and the goat will be in action. The first session of the moving day will be crucial in deciding the result of the test match. So let's see which team comes out on top tomorrow.
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