India vs Australia began on 23rd February in Pune. The most talked about series started in an emphatic fashion. The pitch was not very ideal as Shane Warne said before the match,“it looks like an 8th day pitch to me already, before a ball has been bowled”. Both the teams shared the honours on the eve.
Lets take a look at the highlights of the day:
Matt Renshaw ( 68 off 156 balls) was the star with the bat today for Aussies. Being a debutant in the subcontinent, he matched caution with aggresion perfectly. There was a little funny moment in the match when Matt Renshaw got “retired ill” as his stomach called for an emergency.
David Warner ( 38 off 77 balls) started superbly with Matt Renshaw as the pair went on to make 80 for the first wicket. Warner got out to an inswinging Umesh Yadav delivery as he poked lazily towards it. David Warner is gonna be crucial for Australia this series.
Steve Smith ( 27 off 95 balls) and Shaun Marsh (16 off 55 balls) got starts but they were just not able to convert them.Marsh fell to a brilliant Jayant Yadav delivery which turned in to him from outside leg stump leaving him in an awkard position for the sweep. Steve Smith looked sublime throughout his innings but eventually fell to R.Ashwin.
Mitchell Starc ( 57*) played a whirlwind knock at the end. He landed 3 sixes and 5 boundaries in his innings. As he is still unbeaten, Australia will be fancying their chances for a total of 300.
Umesh Yadav ( 4-32) turned in a most unexpected performance to break the back of Australia’s innings.Yadav’s performance had even Dale Steyn taking to twitter to praise the pacer. Umesh gave India their first breakthrough by sending back David Warner. He then proceeded to help India gain a stranglehold with three more wickets to leave the visitors tottering.
It turned out to be a day of what could-have-beens. India would be left wondering how so many good deliveries didn’t end up in wickets, while Australia will rue the fact that they threw away a golden opportunity for a strong first innings total on a tough wicket.
Brief Scores: Australia 256/9 (Matt Renshaw 68, Mitchell Starc 57*; Umesh Yadav 4-32, R Ashwin 2-59) vs India