India V Australia 4th Test Day two Report – Australia continue their dominance despite the rain and the thunderstorms at Brisbane

 

Australia are the favorites to win the fourth and final Test match at The Gabba in Brisbane. The hosts continued from where they left on day one of this Test match. Australia had scored 274 runs for the loss of five wickets, and in yesterday's innings, Marnus Labuschagne scored his maiden Test century against India. The visitors dropped Marnus on 37 and 49 runs. He made full use of those two chances and scored his 1^st ton of this Border Gavaskar Trophy Test series.

Labuschagne also shared two vital partnerships to keep the Australian innings going. After the Aussies openers fell cheaply on Day One, Marnus shared a crucial stand with Steve Smith, which allowed the Australians to be in the game, and his next partnership with Mathew Wade was the turning point on day one. Smith was out after he scored 36 runs while Wade scored a handy 45 runs. On day one, Aussies scored 274 for the loss of 5 wickets.

Australia started their day two proceedings very carefully. But still, they lost three wickets for four in front of this Indian inexperience bowling attack. India should have paved their way back into this contest. But as usual, they allowed the tail to wag again, so the Australian total went past the 350 run mark even after Tim Paine was dismissed after he scored 50 runs.

The 39 run partnership for the ninth between Lyon and Starc allowed Australia to post a decent score on the board. It was Lyon who roared with the bat in hand, this time. He got himself get going with a couple of drives down the ground on the eve of his 100^th Test match. Australia's lead spin bowler played a handy knock of 24 runs, which he scored from just 22 deliveries.

Mitchell Starc, too played well with Lyon. Starc chipped in with 35 runs which he took just 20 balls to score those valuable runs. Australia also will not forget the contributions from Josh Hazlewood. He hung around for more than an expected time, which frustrated the Indians. The debutant Natarajan took the final wicket of Hazlewood, and with that, it ended Australia's 1st innings on 360 runs.

The Indian debutant trio of Natarajan, Shardul, and Sundar picked up three wickets each. Natarajan was the pick of the bowler, and Sundar did a fantastic job in his debut game. While Shardul Thakur was expensive yesterday, he was a bit undisciplined with his line and length. But today, he did well to earn a three-wicket haul on his debut game.

In reply to Australia's 360 runs, India needed to get an excellent start to their innings. India had two decent openings in the last test match at Sydney Cricket Ground. But at here Brisbane, Shubman Gill made a long walk to the pavilion after he and Rohit added just 11 runs for the first wicket. Pat Cummins picked up Gill for only seven runs. This score was the first and hopefully the last low single-digit score for talented Gill.

Rohit has looked fluent in his two matches, which he has played in Australia till now. In the first innings at SCG, he made 26 runs and the second innings  of the same Test match at Sydney Cricket Ground, Rohit scored 52 runs. At Brisbane, Hit Man again got himself to a decent start. But on all the occasions, he couldn't convert them into a big score. In the first innings at The Gabba, Rohit's 44 run knock was filled with masterful stroke play. But he went for one shot too many, and Mitchell Starc caught Rohit of Nathan Lyon's bowling. Sunil Gavaskar said that Rohit has played an irresponsible shot and which is why Indian find themselves under pressure.

Then it was Ajinkya Rahane and Chesteshwar Pujara who ensured that India would not lose any wickets before tea. the third and the last session of the second day's play was called off due to the rains and the thunderstorms at The Gabba, Brisbane. 

Tomorrow, the whole of India will expect that their two best Test stalwarts will bat for at least two sessions on day three of this fourth Test match. If Pujara and Rahane could do this, India can keep the Border Gavaskar Trophy, as the forecast says that the rains gods can interrupt the game.