Daily Times

India’s seamers triggered another top order batting collapse but a second successive century for Travis Head and a long overdue hundred for Steven Smith gave Australia the ascendancy after the second day of the third cricket test.

At stumps, Australia was 405-7 after Head made a characteristic sparkling 152, while Smith completed a much more circumspect 101 in a 241-run partnership which rallied the hosts after they had been in a precarious position earlier Sunday.

Jasprit Bumrah took 5-72 and again underlined his stature as the current top-ranked bowler in tests as he tormented Australia´s top-order batters on a Gabba pitch that was offering plenty of assistance for bowlers under patchy cloud-covered skies early on Sunday.

Australia resumed at 28 without loss after rain curtailed the opening day to just 13.2 overs, and it didn´t take long for Bumrah to make his mark as, like the first innings in both opening two tests, the seamer´s relentless accuracy and ability to move the ball off the pitch led to early breakthroughs.

First, he removed Usman Khawaja caught behind for 21 with a ball that moved late on the veteran opener to have Australia at 31-1.

Nathan McSweeney made a patient 9 runs off 49 balls but could do little more than to edge another sharp delivery from Bumrah to Virat Kohli at second slip as Australia slipped to 38-2 in the 19th over.

It was the fourth time in the series that Bumrah has claimed McSweeney´s wicket.

Smith and Marnus Labuschagne steadily put Australia back on track but Nitish Kumar Reddy teased a wild swipe from Labuschagne (12) which was well caught by Kohli in the slips as India captain Rohit Sharma’s decision to bowl first seemed to be paying off.

Smith and Head came together with Australia at 75-3 but a combination of Head’s attacking mindset and Smith’s belligerence steered the hosts safely to lunch.

After the break, Head raised an enterprising half century off 71 balls but accelerated as he got closer to three figures and completed his second consecutive hundred with a whip through mid-wicket off Mohammed Siraj.

Head’s ninth test century came off 115 balls with 13 fours and continues his rich vein of form against India that includes centuries in the World Test Championship final at Lords, the one-day World Cup final in India in 2023 and his match-turning 140 in his hometown of Adelaide in the second test last week.

Smith, who has had a wretched run of outs over the past 12 months and has not made a century since the Ashes in mid-2023, played himself back into form here.

His first fifty came off a watchful 128 balls in 210 minutes, but after the tea break Australia’s best batter of a generation found some long-missing confidence and flow as he began to appear at ease against India’s tiring bowling attack.

The milestone ton duly came just after India had taken the second new ball to try and find a much-needed breakthrough. Smith moved from 95 to 99 with a sublime straight drive for his 11th boundary and next ball flicked Akash Deep to fine leg to complete his 33rd test hundred, but his first in 26 innings off 185 balls.

Next over, Smith made his first mistake and was caught by Sharma at slip off Bumrah on 101 and walked off to a standing ovation from the 34,000 Gabba crowd.

Mitch Marsh (5) edged through to Kohli for Bumrah’s fourth wicket and three balls later Bumrah finally got Head also caught behind the wicket to complete his 12th five-wicket haul in tests.

Head’s 152 came from 160 balls with 18 fours and equaled his best innings at the Gabba.

A flurry of hitting late in the day by Alex Carey (45 not out) and Pat Cummins (20) capped a dominant two sessions for the hosts as they passed 400.