INDvsAUS, Perth Test, Day 1: Australia 277-6 at stumps
Photograph: (AFP)
<p>India vs Australia | 2nd Test</p>Key Updates
14 Dec 2018, 12:59 PM (IST)
India's bowlers fought back with three quick wickets after lunch to curb Australia's promising start to the second Test in Perth on Friday.
At tea in the inaugural Test at the new Perth Stadium, Australia were 145 for three after winning the toss. Shaun Marsh was batting on eight and Peter Handscomb was on four.
Australia had started very well, with second-gamer Marcus Harris and under-pressure opener Aaron Finch putting on a century opening partnership.
Finch lived dangerously at times and narrowly survived successive lbw appeals early in his innings, one of which cost India a DRS review, to notch his second Test half-century.
Harris looked composed and the pair added 112 on a wicket with a distinctly green tinge that appealed to the four-pronged Indian pace attack, before Finch's luck ran out and he was trapped in front by paceman Jasprit Bumrah (1-29) for 50.
He had survived a confident appeal from the previous delivery and also faced a similar scenario on 20, when he was struck on the pad by the first ball bowled by seamer Mohammed Shami.
Umpire Chris Gaffaney felt the ball was going over the stumps and a review confirmed his decision, with ball tracking having it passing clearly over the bails.
Finch’s dismissal brought out-of-form left-hander Usman Khawaja to the wicket and he made just five, sparring at a short ball from Umesh Yadav and getting a thick edge to wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant.
Harris had been dropped at second slip from the bowling of Mohammed Shami on 60, he but added just 10 more before falling to the part-time spin of the recalled Hanuma Vihari.
Vihari got a ball to rise sharply off the pitch and it followed Harris as he recoiled, fending it to Ajinkya Rahane at first slip.
Harris had been there for 141 balls, but his dismissal meant Australia had lost three wickets for just 22 runs and surrendered their early advantage.
India won the first Test in Adelaide by 31 runs as they seek their first series victory on Australian soil.
They were unable to consider star spinner Ravi Ashwin and batsman Rohit Sharma, with both injured.
Ashwin, who took six wickets in the 31-run win in the first Test in Adelaide, has a side problem, while Sharma has a back injury.
They were replaced by batsman Vihari and paceman Umesh Yadav.
Australia retained the same XI from Adelaide, with Perth Stadium becoming the 10th Australian Test venue and 117th overall.
14 Dec 2018, 10:35 AM (IST)
Australia's openers Marcus Harris and Aaron Finch made a solid start.
Under-pressure Aaron Finch not out 28 and Marcus Harris on 36.
On a pitch with a distinct greenish tinge, Harris looked solid throughout in only his second Test, smashing six fours in his 76-ball knock.
Finch, who failed in the opening Test at Adelaide, lived more dangerously and survived a review decision and mix-up between the wickets that saw him diving back into the crease to avoid being run out.
With the score on 45 and his own tally on 20, Finch was struck on the pad by the first ball bowled by seamer Mohammed Shami.
Umpire Chris Gaffaney felt the ball was going over the stumps and a review confirmed his decision, with ball tracking having it passing clearly over the bails.
The next ball Finch was also struck on the pad and again Gaffaney turned down the vocal Indian appeal. They didn't review this one but replays showed ball tracking had it clipping the top of the stumps.
India were unable to consider star spinner Ravi Ashwin and batsman Rohit Sharma for Perth, with both injured.
They were replaced by batsman Hanuma Vihari and fast bowler Umesh Yadav, with India opting for an all-pace attack.
14 Dec 2018, 9:11 (IST)
What is so special about Perth's drop-in pitch?
India and Australia will play their second Test match of a four-match series at the brand new in Perth's Optus Stadium, which has a drop-in pitch.
Perth Stadium, which has a sitting capacity of 60,000, has succeeded the WACA as the city's premier venue for internationals.
A drop-in pitch is a pitch that is prepared away from the ground or venue in which it is used, and "dropped" into place for a match to take place.
This allows multi-purpose venues to host other sports and events with more versatility than a dedicated cricket ground would allow.
Pitch's curator Brett Sipthorpe is trying to produce the 'bounciest' pitch he can and that could very well work in India's favour.
Weighing around 30 tons, the depth of a drop-in pitch is 20-cm. It is maintained and prepared in a steel frame.
Not everyone is a drop-in fan. Purists warn such pitches -- which some grounds now favour so they can host multiple sports - remove the characteristics of different fields that made matches more unpredictable, and therefore exciting.
"With the drop-in pitch, there's more of the sameness about things from city to city, and place to place," Australian cricket historian Bernard Whimpress told AFP.
"Which makes me sort of think, why don't they just forget about the drop-in pitch and put in artificial turf or something."
14 Dec 2018, 6:53 (IST)
Here is the Probable XI:
India: Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah.
Australia: Aaron Finch, Marcus Harris, Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Peter Handscomb, Travis Head, Tim Paine (c & wk), Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood.
14 Dec 2018, 6:48 (IST)
India suffered a big setback on the eve of the second Test against Australia when ace spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and experienced batsman Rohit Sharma were ruled out on Thursday.
Also missing, as expected, will be young opener Prithvi Shaw, who was not considered for the opening Test in Adelaide after suffering ligament damage in a warm-up match.
"Ravi Ashwin has a left-sided abdominal strain. He is receiving treatment at the moment. He has been ruled out of the second Test," India's governing body, the BCCI, said.
"Rohit Sharma jarred his lower back while fielding in the first Test at Adelaide. He is undergoing treatment, he too is ruled out of the second Test."
The BCCI added that Shaw was "recovering well" but still undergoing treatment.
Ashwin took six wickets in the first Test, which India won by 31 runs, while Sharma hit 37 and one.
14 Dec 2018, 6:46 (IST)
Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli has said his team is "more excited than nervous" by the lively Perth pitch as the team held its final training sessions.
"We certainly get more excited than nervous looking at lively pitches now because we understand that we do have a bowling attack which can, you know, bowl the opposition out. As much as they are convinced about their attack," Reuters quoted Kohli as saying at the pre-match press conference.
14 Dec 2018, 6:43 (IST)
Australia skipper Tim Paine declared himself fit and ready to go for the second Test, with the hosts naming an unchanged side for the clash.
Paine suffered a finger injury in the first Test but the 34-year-old wicketkeeper confirmed he would line up in an unchanged batting order.
"Yeah, no I'm fine. I've got a few niggles everywhere but I'm not alone there, I don't think, at my age. Finger is fine, yeah," Paine told a news conference.
14 Dec 2018, 6:31 (IST)
Virat Kohli-led team India will take on Australia in the second Test of a four match series on Friday at Perth.
Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah struck thrice in second innings as India won the first Test by 31 runs.
By virtue of that win, Kohli-led side has become the first Indian team to win the first Test match of the series on Australian soil.