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3rd over: Australia 2-0 (Khawaja 1, Warner 1) Australia are in no hurry – the match is only just at its halfway point – and that’s another quiet over from Shami.
“Have Aus ever had two 36-year-old openers before?” wonders Gary Naylor. “Until Packer, once they hit 30, they usually had to go and work as a bank clerk in Moonee Ponds to pay the mortgage.”
I was going to say Test cricket has become an old-man’s game until I remembered some of the sexagenarians still playing T20. As for the actual question, I’d have to double check but I think the last time Australia had two openers aged 36 and over was at Lord’s in 1926, when Herbie Collins and Warren Bardsley walked out to begin the first innings. The younger Jack Gregory (not to be confused with Jack Gregory the Younger) opened in place of Bardsley in the second innings. But like I say, I’d have to check.
2nd over: Australia 1-0 (Khawaja 1, Warner 0) Khawaja is turned round by a beauty from Mohammed Siraj, with the ball ending up in the hands of Bharat. India appeal desperately for caught behind, LBW and everything else, but the umpire isn’t interested and Rohit Sharma decides not to review.
It’s the right decision: the ball pitched miles outside leg, may not have touched the bat and bounced short of Bharat anyway. Good ball though.
1st over: Australia 1-0 (Khawaja 1, Warner 0) Mohammed Shami starts round the wicket to Khawaja, with two slips and a gully. Shami’s record in England – 40 wickets at 42 – is a scandal given how well he has bowled for much of that time, particularly in 2018 when he almost broke the Expected Wickets algorithm.
Khawaja flicks a single to off the mark, then Warner defends a couple of widish outswingers.
Thanks Geoff, hello everyone. Usman Khawaja and David Warner walk out to bat with a liberating lead of 173. India aren’t completely out of this, but they might need to bowl Australia out for 36 to have a realistic chance of victory.
Geoff Lemon
The innings break. That seems like a good time for a commentary handover. Please give a stirring round of applause to your friend and mine, Rob Smyth.
History’s best with the bat, argues Andrew Brittain, is “surely” Victor Trumper.
“Inventor of the ‘dog shot’, that is so liberally applied in the short forms these days.”
If you asked me what a dog shot is, I’d think it was punching someone when they weren’t looking. Total dog shot, mate.
Rahane’s innings was the highlight of today. Really stood up when needed, handled the conditions well, and made the most of his slice of luck. But despite all the misses, Australia’s quality of bowling throughout was ominous for the weeks ahead.
69.4 overs: India 296-10 (Shami 10) Well, if India achieved one thing this morning, it was making sure there was no more follow-on chat. They’re 173 runs behind, and they’ve at least assured that the Australians will have some thinking to do about how to go from here.
WICKET! Shami c Carey b Starc 13, India all out 296There’s the coup de foie gras. Starc belts in a short ball, wicked pace on that watching from behind the arm, and Shami’s attempted pull only gets a touch of glove.
It’s over… then it’s not69th over: India 294-9 (Shami 11, Siraj 0) Siraj is belted on the ankle by Green, given out, reviews it without any sense that he’s going to be reprieved, and then the tech finds a little inside edge. By that time half the Australians have left the field and have to come back. Even Siraj was trailing off towards the boundary line.
WICKET! Thakur c Carey b Green 51, India 294 for 9Sighs of relief for the Australians, as finally their torment ends. Thakur has another huge wind-up and aims it all at a ball outside off stump. Hits about 2% of it. Into the keeper’s gloves.
Half century! Thakur 51 from 108 balls68th over: India 292-8 (Thakur 51, Shami 10) Spanked that! Straight drive, right past Cummins in his follow through, races away. Then he doubles down with a cover drive that is half stopped, but still goes all the way.
67th over: India 282-8 (Thakur 41, Shami 10) Innovation from Shami! The leading edge drive, to the off side of straight. He’s aiming that through midwicket and ends up with four on the far side of the bowler. Then gets an inside edge past his off stump and past Carey! Eight runs in two balls. Brendon McCullum must be involved in this, surely. Boland shifts his square leg behind the line. Shami whips the ball in front of square! Makes that man run all the way around to keep the scoring to two. He’s suddenly in double figs and that’s a productive over for India. Deficit down to 187.
66th over: India 271-8 (Thakur 40, Shami 0) Mohammed Shami comes out to bat. If Umesh is your No9, honestly, you’re in a bit of strife.
WICKET! Umesh Yadav b Cummins 5, India 271-8Cummins a little short at Thakur, who deflects a run to deep square. Wonder if that was deliberate from the bowler to turn over the strike. Five balls at Umesh to come. Leg slip comes in, two regular slips and Green in the wingspan zone. Cummins rips one past the edge, top drawer.
Then Umesh gets four! Not textbook. Jumps in the air, and while mid-air reaches outside off stump, jabbing the bat at a wide line, edging it between gully and point. Hit a six, champ.
No sixes coming. Because he’s bowled. Standard Cummins: on line, hard length, decks in a bit, hits everything. Umesh’s six percentage drops to 31.37.
65th over: India 266-7 (Thakur 39, Umesh 1) Boland with another tidy over but Thakur gets through it comfortably, taking a late single.
A question from OBO regular Brian Withington.
“Idly wondering what sort of attention this game between the top Test-playing nations is getting back in Australia, compared with say the forthcoming Ashes series? In passing, do you think England could gainfully host more Test matches that don’t feature the host nation, especially given the potential enthusiastic support from the diaspora of various test playing (and aspiring) nations?”
Absolutely. I suspect that Bangladesh or Pakistan matches could get good attendances here, especially in certain cities. There is a story bubbling away about the Melbourne Cricket Ground campaigning to host an India-Pakistan Test, given neither country will tour the other. Diaspora crowds can fill out an India match in most countries these days, and some non-diaspora fans will also travel for the novelty.
64th over: India 265-7 (Thakur 38, Umesh 1) Here’s a stat for you: of players to have hit more than five Test sixes, Umesh Yadav has the second highest proportion of his career runs from going over the rope. Just under 32 percent, which is what Hasan Ali has as the ladder leader.
He survives most of an over from Cummins though, and even scores a single off the bat.
63rd over: India 263-7 (Thakur 37, Umesh 0) Shardul Thakur takes a single off Boland, leg bye in fact. Umesh Yadav on strike. This may not last long. He knows one way, and it’s mind the windows. But he too gets off strike thanks to a leg bye, into the thigh pad. The last partnership was 109.
62nd over: India 261-7 (Thakur 37) The wicket falls from the last ball of the over, and Cummins at last gets his second.
WICKET! Rahane c Green b Cummins 89, India 261 for 7What a catch that is! The old classic: Green drops the straightfoward one and then takes the world-beater. Flying edge from Rahane’s drive, flying catch from Green away to his right, one huge arm snaking out like a sci-fi tentacle to reach that ball. Rahane’s fine innings comes to an end.
61st over: India 260-6 (Rahane 89, Thakur 36) Nip-backers deluxe from Boland to start, Rahane blocking studiously from the crease. A maiden over.
The second session will begin as did the first, with Scott Boland from the Vauxhall End.
The players are returning after the luncheon interval. Ahem. Adjust your bow ties, please, and stand to attention.
@GeoffLemonSport Afternoon, Geoff. I’m at the ground today having a great time. The announcer is asking the most inane question: Who is the best ever Test batter? Kohli, Tendulkar, Smith or Bradman. You’d have to be pretty one-eyed to not pick The Don. But #engagement, yeah?
— James Higgott (@jiggott) June 9, 2023 Painful, that stuff, innit?
Cue the old “How many IPL runs did Bradman make,” I guess.
If you want to see that ICC cable knit that Guy Hornsby wrote in about, feast your eyes.
Lunch – India 260 for 6, trailing by 209 on the first inningsThat was quite the session for those who like Australians dropping their bundle. And their catches. Two drops from Thakur, one drop from Rahane, and the no-ball lbw overturn against Thakur to go with Rahane getting the same reprieve yesterday. This has been a celestially blessed partnership for India, currently worth 108 runs.
Rahane will come back after the break with another overseas hundred in his sights, and Thakur will… well, who knows what Thakur is thinking at any given time. He’s about action, not contemplation.
KS Bharat was knocked over as soon as the day began, bowled by a Boland beauty, but the number of wicket-taking deliveries to follow have not taken any wickets. Back with you in half an hour or so.
60th over: India 260-6 (Rahane 89, Thakur 36) Talk about an eventful over before lunch. India’s review upheld, Australia’s review rejected, and India walk back with their seventh-wicket partnership intact.
Review struck downAustralia losing composure. This time Thakur is plunging forward at a ball outside off stump, the ball zipping past his edge. Carey thinks there is a nick, Cummins is talked into the review, and there’s nothing on the soundwave.
WICKET! Overturned!Goodness me. It’s another overstep for Cummins, and another wicket wiped away. Great pace, great line, some movement off the seam inward, Shardul Thakur is nowhere against this ball. Smashes his pad in front of middle and leg. Given out on the field, so the review only needs it to clip the stumps. But the review shows the front foot is over, his sixth time this innings.
59th over: India 259-6 (Rahane 89, Thakur 36)
More email flattery comes in, from Guy Hornsby.
“Morning Geoff, absolutely loved your cable knit WTC cricket jumper on last night’s The Final Word Daily. Where fashion and sport collide in the best way. Not sure I could sport that in Sicily today, where it’s 31 degrees. This is a great fightback from this pair, and you’d hope this goes to five days of hard fought cricket, though they’d need another 100 at least to sway that. Australia’s excellent performance is doing nothing for my Ashes nerves either, despite the nature of causality and past performance and future performance and all that.”
They’re on the way, Guy, as Rahane jumps onto his back foot and punches Lyon away sublimely through backward point. Shot! And raises the hundred partnership. Then gets forward two balls later and drives through cover for the same result. Behind by 210. This is some innings from Ajinkya Rahane.
58th over: India 249-6 (Rahane 80, Thakur 35) Standing ovation from the JM Finn stand, as Thakur pings away a flick shot from Cummins for four! It rockets to the fence down there behind square leg.
The partnership is up to 97, the deficit is down to 220.
57th over: India 244-6 (Rahane 79, Thakur 31) At last it’s time for Nathan Lyon to have a bowl. Doesn’t start well, overpitches and Rahane drives him through cover for four. But Lyon doesn’t take long to settle, squaring up Thakur first ball to him
56th over: India 239-6 (Rahane 74, Thakur 31) Cummins back on to bowl and there’s another drop in the cordon! To quote Darren Lehmann, what the blank is going on? Big drive from Rahane, thick edge, flies hard and high to Warner’s left. Tough chance, has to throw his hand at it and only has time to get one hand up. Like he was halfway through the first YMCA move. But if anyone was going to take that, it’s Warner, a freak at those sharp ones. Instead the ball ricochets away for a couple of runs. Wonder if that was Carey’s catch? He did twitch at it, and there has been miscommunication between Carey and his slips before.
55th over: India 234-6 (Rahane 71, Thakur 30) A cover drive for three, and the Master of the Mumbai maidans raises 5000 Test runs for his career. Nice to see him getting this chance to return to the team, he’s been a champion performer for India especially in tougher contests away from home.
Jeremy Yapp also knows how to nail an introduction.
“Loving the commentary as always but most of all, thanks for the searching examination of Steve Smith’s technique. That article will be required reading in the England camp, I’m guessing. Now, given that this is unlikely to be the closest or toughest Test Australia plays this summer, should they treat this as the ultimate grand final and pinnacle, or is it a warm-up? Let’s say Australia takes a healthy lead into the second innings and the top three does well. Is it cynical to play Green at 4 (and even Carey at 5) given that Smith and Travball have already had a bat? The answer to that will tell us a lot about how seriously this team is taking the ICC Championship concept.”
I think they could do both, if they were far enough ahead, and changing the order wouldn’t mean the match didn’t matter. But they would most likely stick to script to avoid any disruption in approach.
Still, one thing most of us do in cricket is get ahead of ourselves. We look at the way things have gone, and extrapolate that they must continue the same way. But cricket trajectories are not even. They’re not predictable. A wicket will probably fall soon and Australia will wrap things up, but perhaps these two will bat all day and change the game. That’s why we watch it, for the times when the unexpected happens. And no matter how many times we’ve seen the unexpected happen, we’re still surprised when it does.
54th over: India 229-6 (Rahane 68, Thakur 29) The Australians will be increasingly irritated by the fact that Shardul Thakur is still there. This is his knack. Gets a little nick (a nick knack?) that doesn’t carry to Carey. Windscreen-wipes at a ball outside off stump and misses. Then thrashes Starc for a cut shot through point for four.
53rd over: India 223-6 (Rahane 67, Thakur 24) Green bowling, another nudge for Rahane through point for one. I wondered how many of his runs he has scored there. Then I remembered that I can look up things like that. It makes 27 of them, close to half his score, between point and deep third. Thakur gets him back on strike, and Rahane plays a rare leg glance to diversify his portfolio.
The deficit is 246.
52nd over: India 220-6 (Rahane 65, Thakur 23) Starc on the long lop to the middle. Thakur loves to hit the ball unnecessarily hard. Tries another through cover and misses it. Gets a run to fine leg to follow. We’re down to two slips now. Starc smashes Rahane on the pad but via the inside edge, and there’s a ricochet run to backward point.
“Morning Geoff, excellent article on the resurgent Smudge,” writes Theo Boardman-Pretty. A polite start and an excellent name, good work.
“Looking ahead to next week, my thoughts are at the other end of the wicket: what happens when the tight line of Scott Boland (Test economy 2.18) meets the unstoppable force of Bazball (run rate 4.76 before the Ireland game)? Wickets, I suspect…”
This is what I’m interested in. Sometimes, a very consistent bowler can be lined up by an attacking team. If they’re willing to hit off the top of the bounce. But that brings attendant risk. No doubt England will go for it, so it’s whether Boland gets enough from the pitch and can adapt. He was the best T20 death bowler in the country for a few years, so he’s dealt with attacking batting before.
51st over: India 217-6 (Rahane 64, Thakur 22) A rare quiet over from Green. Rahane pulls a single. Thakur squirts one along the floor. A bit like my housemate’s cat.
50th over: India 215-6 (Rahane 63, Thakur 21) Starc comes round the wicket at the right-handers after drinks, looking for that angle in at the stumps. Strays down leg to Thakur after Rahane works a single. Once his line carries past off stump, Thakur can’t help reaching at it. But when Starc gets too full, Shardul just about throws out his spinal alignment thrashing it through cover.
Not surprising that many of our readers, like Sam, are seeing this as a three-way contest. Dean Kinsella is at the ground, I assume.
“Really enjoying the cricket in the blazing sun. I hope its not too anglocentric to describe it as a curtain raiser for the main event, but its really getting Ashes juices flowing. Great to have a chance to see the Aussies in action against high class opposition. I don’t know who benefits most – the Aussies to ‘warm up’ in a proper game, or England to have a good look at the opposition. I suspect that if India can somehow miraculously turn this game around the dent in Australian confidence might just swing it in England’s favour. Come on Jinx!”
Bring back the Test Triangular Series from 1912! Bring back Warren Bardsley!
Drinks for Jinks. And well, yes, the head agrees with this…
@GeoffLemonSport Good morning Geoff
There is No Rahul or Laxman to pull off a Houdini
The match is over 1 hour before lunch tomorrow
The extended time is due to the fact that Australia will not enforce the follow on
— krish (@vkmagus) June 9, 2023 … but another 55 minutes like the previous 55 would make things fun.
49th over: India 209-6 (Rahane 62, Thakur 16) The luck is with India again this morning. Cameron Green replaces Boland, fires one in fast at the pads that beats Rahane for pace, and clobbers him in front. Umpire says the angle might be taking it down leg. Australia review, and it shows red, red, orange. Not quite nailing the leg stump firmly enough to overturn the call. Rahane celebrates by slashing a boundary off the top edge over slip, streaky, then plays a no-follow-through gem of a cover drive for four more. Just steps into that and holds the pose. Steers a single to deep point. Eventful over! The weirdest part is Shardul Thakur offering a leave to the last ball.
48th over: India 199-6 (Rahane 53, Thakur 15) Mitchell Starc on for a spell, replacing Cummins. One six and the skipper takes himself off? (That’s a joke.) Still, a win for India to get through that period, though it was the missed catch that did it. Starc slings them across the right-handers, gives up a couple of singles.
Richard O’Hagan writes in about the follow-on, or not. “How much do you think that the predicted heat over the weekend will play a part in that decision? I know it won’t be as much of an issue for either team as it is for we locals but surely it is still a factor when thinking about how much rest your bowlers might need? (On that note, I’m playing a club game tomorrow and looking forward to our new Aussie all-rounder finally going an entire match without whining about how cold it is).”
Australians in England in June have a constitutional right to complain about the cold, Richard. We will always defend that. The Met Office says a high of 29 over the weekend, which is pleasant early spring weather for either of these teams, so I doubt it’ll be a factor. If things go Australia’s way it’ll still be a Day 4 finish. Or the current pair pile on another 150 and make things interesting.
They trail by 269 runs.
47th over: India 196-6 (Rahane 52, Thakur 13) Boland carries on, Shardul Thakur showing some discipline with his blocking and leaving, then deflecting a ball to the fine leg boundary off his pad, and gamely dropping a short ball into the leg side, again imperilling his gloves. He’s been battered today, not sure how his bowling will go after this.
Half century! Rahane 52 from 92 balls46th over: India 191-6 (Rahane 52, Thakur 12) A sudden flurry from Rahane! First he plays that same sort of shot, using the pace to deflect through point for four. Then Cummins drops a touch shorter and Rahane gets under a hook shot for six! Uses the pace and sends it over fine leg. Fair chance this is Rahane’s last Test, and if so he’s going out in style.
45th over: India 178-6 (Rahane 41, Thakur 10) Rahane nicks one from Boland, but softly enough that it drops short of Green this time. It’s tense out there. Just before that he drove a couple more runs.
“Thinking about the best-case scenario for the teams,” writes Sam Jeffers. “For Australia: Enforce follow on, India cave, game over late today. For India: Aus enforce follow on, India bat well (and slowly). Australia still win, but have to bat twice.For England: See India. It’s strange to have three teams playing a game of cricket.”
I’m telling you, there will be no follow-on.
44th over: India 175-6 (Rahane 39, Thakur 9) Cummins in again, and Thakur is dropped again! Having some luck here, if you can call it that, given it means he has to stay out there and keep being peppered. Straightforward at gully for Green, the edge flies hard but straight at his midriff, hits his palms and bounces back out. Can’t grab the rebound with Khawaja also sprawling towards it from slip. More contact as Cummins hits Thakur in the stomach. The batter swings wildly outside off, then finally connects with one for a run. There was another front-foot no ball in that over too, Cummins keeps overstepping.
43rd over: India 173-6 (Rahane 39, Thakur 8) Meanwhile, Rahane is playing like a dream. Soft hands, defending away. Boland from the Vauxhall End defused, then dabbed for a couple of runs. Beaten on the outside edge, then strides into a Meg Lanning style shot, straight bat, no follow-through, just places the bat in the line of the ball to send it through backward point for four.
A message in from India, name withheld. Controversial.
“Well, the follow-on looks inevitable unless the Aussies are very confident in their bowling in the 4th innings. I am still holding out hope for a classic day-long Pujara spell in our next innings, whenever that may be, to at least drag us to a draw! Off topic, it is very refreshing to be able to hear commentary on the radio again. All India Radio has the irritating habit of not covering cricket matches live. I suspect it is a combination of lack of rights and lack of interest, this being a one-off series perhaps helping the former. Either way, it’s refreshing.”
I would say that the chance of a follow-on is zero. Even if India are out quickly here, Australia will still want to give their players another bat – given this is their only planned match. Could be a a lovely centre-wicket net against top-line bowlers, especially for Warner, Khawaja, Green.
And yes, live cricket on the radio in India has been defunct for a couple of decades now, hasn’t it? Makes little sense given the interest in that market and the reach radio can have in regional areas, but TV is considered king by anyone in power there.
42nd over: India 167-6 (Rahane 33, Thakur 8) Nasty from Cummins! The ball rears from a length and clatters Thakur on his back arm. The physio comes and gives him a check, Thakur decides to bat on, and immediately gets hit again. Same spot, right forearm, on the fleshy bit but it’ll still hurt plenty. There’s a longer delay for more physio treatment. Several people out there. They put an arm guard on him. Horse, meet stable door… oh, you can’t. Third ball in this lengthy sequence, in at the gloves! Smashes them. Punched away, literally. This is very unfriendly bowling. Then Cummins rips one past the outside edge! Thakur pulls the bat away too late, after stepping across. He was in all sorts. Breathes a sigh of relief that the over has finished.
41st over: India 166-6 (Rahane 32, Thakur 8) That ball goes wild! Pitches more towards a leg stump line but it careers off the seam way down leg side for four byes. Some movement. Then Boland draws a genuine edge from Thakur that flies away for four more. Undeservedly expensive over.
40th over: India 157-6 (Rahane 30, Thakur 4) Cummins from the Pavilion End, and he’s also hitting a length and getting the ball to jag in. Rahane squeezes out a single off the inside edge. Thakur rides the bounce for two, then flashes outside off and is lucky to survive.
39th over: India 154-6 (Rahane 30, Thakur 2) That is such a Boland over. Wicket second ball. Cuts it in and smashes the gloves and body from the next couple. Then has a catch dropped at third slip! A tough one, over Khawaja’s head. He goes up with the ball, gets fingertips to it but tips it over the bar. Two runs result.
WICKET! Bharat b Boland 5, India 152-6Goodness me! What a delivery. On the other hand, it’s standard Scott Boland. He’s so good at that. Rahane takes a single to the leg side first ball, a touch too straight. That’s all you get from Boland in terms of bad deliveries. The next one hits that hard length outside off stump, jams back off the seam, cuts Bharat in half, straight through the gate, and hits middle stump. Bharat ends up squared up, leaning over, trying to figure out how that got through him. Incisive.
The bails go flying as KS Bharat of India is bowled by Scott Bolland of Australia. Photograph: Ryan Pierse/Getty ImagesScott Boland with the ball in hand. Three slips and a gully for Rahane on strike. Cover is open. Deep backward point is out, interestingly. Fine leg the other in the deep. Mid off, mid on, midwicket.
Here come the teams out to the middle.
Another perfect day here at The Oval, might be a touch warmer than yesterday, scandalously venturing towards the mid 20s on the old Celcius scale. The roller is on the pitch preparing it for India’s resumption.
Send me an email? Had some inbox problems yesterday, sorry, and couldn’t post up messages. But fingers crossed we’re all good for today.
I’m [email protected].
And if you’re the kind of person who wants to know about Steve Smith’s technique and what he’s changed with it, I will go there with you.
The headline assigned to this piece might be, just the tiniest bit, overstating it.
For the detail, get yourself across the match report from The Burning One himself.
Preamble
Geoff Lemon
Hola amigos. Day three of El Championship Test Mundial, or similar, is upon us. And let us be honest, India = in strife. They lost five wickets yesterday for nowhere near enough. And it’s not like the Australians bowled the house down, but they bowled well enough at the right spots to get some assistance from the surface now and then, and that was enough. The four deliveries from the quicks that knocked over India’s main batting crew all did heaps.
So it’s that old fighter Ajinkya Rahane resuming today with wicketkeeper KS Bharat, a mere 318 runs behind Australia’s 469. But they’re only one 300-run partnership away from parity, and Australia just about had one of those too, so it’s possible. Worth finding out, hmmm?