India dominate with three crucial strikes in a thrilling pre-Lunch session

On day 2 of the Brisbane Test match, India overpowered Australia in the extended first session of play with three wickets in hand and a score of 104/3 at lunch. Jasprit Bumrah was extraordinary in this test, using his precision to break apart Australia’s opening batsmen while adding to his already successful series. 

Indian pacers, starting strong, had a high tempo and sharp vision while resuming the match as Bumrah made the lead. After underwhelming day 1, Bumrah targeted a six-to-eight-metre zone and focused on Khawaja forcing him to be indecisive. He hit the left-handed Khawaja on multiple occasions and finally took his wicket with an excellent ball that was thrown into the fourth’s stump channel, completing Pant’s 150th stumping event. 

 On the first day, McSweeney narrowly evaded Bumrah’s attack but was unfortunately not able to do so on the beginning of the second day. McSweeney, who is a right-hand batsman managed to give no balls to Jos Buttler after Khawaja as he managed to go to Bumrah at second slip making him the second wicket that Bumrah captured, all in the same session this resulting in Bumrah having an averaging of 4.28 against the opening matches for Australia in this series. 

At 38/2, Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne joined forces to stabilize Australia’s innings. Smith reverted to his tried-and-tested exaggerated trigger movement, while Labuschagne showed great discipline in leaving deliveries on length, trusting the surface’s bounce. However, India’s persistence paid off when the inexperienced Nitish Reddy tempted Labuschagne with a full and wide delivery, which Virat Kohli expertly caught at second slip.

Smith remained unbeaten at Lunch, surviving some close calls, including an umpire’s call on a nip-backer from Mohammed Siraj. Despite a brief injury scare to Siraj, India maintained their intensity, ensuring Australia’s 76 runs in the session came at a meager 2.56 run rate.

Brief Scores: Australia 405/7 (Alex Carey 45*; Jasprit Bumrah 5-72) vs India.