Steve Smith of Australia attributed the last session breakthrough, which included the dramatic run-out of Yashasvi Jaiswal, opening Indian batsman on the last ball of the second day’s play, to what could be the decisive factor in this Boxing Day Test for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series result. As he put it, “huge play” in raising the momentum completely in Australia’s favor, Smith pointed at the mix-up between Jaiswal and Virat Kohli.
“It is very simple. Jaiswal called ‘yes’ and ran and Virat sent him back,” Smith said after the second day’s play.
It was obviously a very good partnership to break that and then obviously get two other wickets out. It was a huge last hour for us, so, yeah, that was a big play in the context of the day, I suppose.”
It was at this point that Jaiswal, on 82, run for a quick single from an unsuccessful hit to Pat Cummins at mid-on-almost before shouting “yes”-and became marooned when Kohli did not budge, with the run-out being a direct product of the captain’s throw to Alex Carey. Jaiswal’s dismissal shattered the new partnership formed after promising 100 runs and was the signal to indicate that the latter stages of collapse would soon engulf India.
At stumps on Day 2, India found themselves reeling at 164/5, a staggering 310 runs behind the imposing total set by Australia in the first innings: Australia, 474; India, 164-5.
The Indian reply to Australia’s total had been Jaiswal’s aggressive style and Kohli’s measured approach. Coincidentally, the two would seem ready to build back after an early setback, taking India from 53/2 to 153/2. However, the run out of Jaiswal opened the floodgates, with Scott Boland striking twice before Kohli fell for 36 and nightwatchman Akash Deep fell for a duck.
“He was brilliant; Jaiswal played great innings today, aggressive and just hit anything with the loose balls that got bowled. As I said before, Virat looked like he was in for a bit of a masterclass with the way he started and the patience that he showed. Therefore, at that stage, we’d probably take either one of them. Just fortunate, I suppose. And sometimes when you have one of those things happen with a broken partnership, then you can get that other guy out quickly, and that happened today, which was good for us.
“Just fortunate, because sometimes you break a partnership, and then quickly you can get the other guy out. It happened today, so that was good for us.”
As for Kohli’s innings, the way he batted on Day 2, Smith said, “Look, he is a class player. He obviously played really well in Perth for that hundred. He looked really good today. I thought, ‘Jeez, he is in for a good one here’. And probably that (the ball that dismissed him) was the first ball, I think, he played at that fifth-sixth-stump line. He was really disciplined today, leaving a lot outside the off-stump. He was getting the bowlers to come to him a bit more and scoring well through the leg side. I thought we were in for a bit of a masterclass,” Smith said.
Not just showing up on the field, Smith has played a significant one in Australia’s dominance. Earlier, he single-handedly stroked a gracious 140, his 34th Test century, to ensure Australia notched up its highest total of the series. For the smoothness of the knock, underlined by precision and composure, he has sized himself up in the bracket of the greats of the game.
Having now equated Sunil Gavaskar on the all-time list of Test centurions, Smith now stands on the threshold of joining legends of Australia-born cricket such as Ricky Ponting, Steve Waugh, and Allan Border, in the select 10,000 runs club.
While Smith was anchoring the innings, the fearless 19-year-old rookie Sam Konstas stole the thunder with a daring 60 off 65 balls. Opening the innings, Konstas showed extraordinary poise against India’s world-class bowling attack, led by Jasprit Bumrah. His audacious reverse scoop for six off Bumrah left even Smith amazed. “I don’t think much fazes the young kid,” Smith said with a laugh. “We saw yesterday how he reverse-ramped Bumrah for a six. I was having a heart attack in the box, but he looked so composed. It was all good-no stress.”
Konstas’ aggressive intent made even better sounds for Australia’s score beyond impressive; teammates and fans alike have had nothing less than praise for it.
