India vs Australia 5th Test: India had a promising outing in the second session of the fifth and final Test against Australia in Sydney on Friday.
India ended the afternoon session on 107/4 in 50 overs with Rishabh Pant (32*) and Ravindra Jadeja (11) at the crease. The visitors scored 50 runs for the loss of just one wicket in this session.
While India lost Virat Kohli soon after lunch, Pant and Jadeja have shown great promise in the middle despite early struggle. The duo has stitched a cautious partnership of 35 runs for the fifth wicket.
India have scored at the run rate of just 2.14 in their first innings after opting to bat first at the iconic SCG.
They had a disappointing start to the first day as openers KL Rahul (4) and Yashsvi Jaiswal (10) departed cheaply.
Gill was then joined by Virat Kohli in the middle and the duo started looking for an impactful partnership in the middle. Virat, who has been out of touch for the last three games, was pretty watchful when it came to picking the balls to score.
Virat and Gill bailed the team out of trouble and added 40 runs for the third wicket. The breakthrough for Australia came when Gill lost a bit of focus and threw his wicket away on the last ball before lunch.
Kohli and Pant added 15 runs before the former also lost his patience and edged one at the slip cordon once again in this series. Scott Boland got him for the third time with debutant Beu Webster making no mistake when it comes to catching.
Pant so far has looked far away from his natural game and has been cautious about the shot selections. He has taken a few blows on the body as well but still keeps India's hopes alive for a commendable total in the first innings.
AUS vs IND 5th Test Playing XIs:
Australia: Sam Konstas, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Beau Webster, Alex Carey(w), Pat Cummins(c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland
India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah(c), Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj
Comments