At the end of the second day’s play, Australia were behind in the game, not only by conceding a lead of 53 runs but also due to lacking momentum as the Virat Kohli-led Indian side was surging ahead. Barring the period when Tim Paine was guiding his bowlers, who were functioning as his batting partners in the latter part of the day’s play, both Virat Kohli, the captain, and his bowlers kept on asking uncomfortable questions to the home batsmen. No one other than Tim Paine looked fluent enough to counter-attack the consistently attacking Indian bowling line up.
When Australian were walking off the field after the end of the day’s play, Paine would have worried that his record of facing defeats at the hands of India could get worse.
All was riding on the shoulders of their bowlers to bring the hosts back in the game like their Indian counterparts had done on that day and avenge the loss of reputation they faced in the last series when they were deflated by a never-tired Chesteshwar Pujara.
It’s an old argument that when bowlers try too hard to make things happen, they can’t commit to line and lengths to trouble the batsmen over an extended period of time. But, Tim Paine was aware of the competence of his bowling attack which almost handed him the honour of winning an away Ashes series only last year. He expected bowlers to bring the team back at the front in the game and his bowlers vindicated him by blowing the Indian batting order away as soon as play began on the third day.
"I know we were behind by a few runs after the first innings but there was a calmness amongst us. I can probably speak for the bowling group in saying that we thrive on those situations when we're a little bit behind and it's up to us to change the momentum of the game, and that's what we did today," Paine said in the post-match press conference.
The current Aussie captain has rated the Indian bowling attack very highly and hence had expected a ‘dogfight’ that would drag the game towards day four and day five, but at the same time, he had immense faith in the quality of his bowling line up as well. Pat Cummins was up to the task as the Aussies eliminated a threat that could have irritated them in the form of night-watchman Jasprit Bumrah, and followed it up with a peach of a delivery to eliminate Pujara who was the biggest thorn in their flesh last time around. With Pujara out on duck, the pressure was right back on the Indian team and they could not come back from this position as Josh Hazlewood produced unplayable deliveries, one after another to leave the tourists in tatters.
Virat Kohli tried to combat those deliveries by showing ‘intent’ as he tried to transfer a bit of pressure but his chief nemesis in the Australian side - Pat Cummins - got him edging to gully, and with him faded every hope of their resurgence.
"To hang in to give our bowlers a chance to have a little crack under lights last night, then to have Pat start the day like he did, and Josh Hazlewood from his very first ball was just on. When you are as tall and quick as our boys and they get it right, it can be an absolute nightmare. Full credit to our bowling attack again. I said this morning that I thought both these attacks have the ability to take really quick wickets - I didn't think they'd be coming that quick. We were expecting a real dogfight right to the end -late day four and maybe day five - but it shows the talent we've got with the ball when our boys execute. If there's anything in the wicket that's what can happen," Paine said of the bowling performance in the morning session of the third day.
Not only did the Australians snatch victory when the match was seemingly going away from them, but they also saw Joe Burns coming near his best, albeit against a bowling line up that clearly looked jaded and deflated after a debacle with the bat from their teammates. Burns was personally backed by both Paine and the coach Justin Langer to come good in Adelaide and while he failed to capitalise on that trust in the first innings, a distraught bowling attack was the best thing he could have hoped for while battling for form. Burns hit a fifty he needed badly to reclaim a bit of confidence and also to safeguard his batting position going ahead in the series
"Burnsey is a really important part of our team, all cricketers know how hard it is when going through a run like that. To come out in Test cricket and try and find your way out of it, it's a very difficult place to be, so we are thrilled for Burnsey. Fifty not out will do his confidence a world of good," Paine sounded relieved after Burns’ revival to form or at least a glimpse of it.
Australia have taken a much-needed lead in the Border-Gavaskar trophy and with Virat Kohli returning to India for his paternity leave, the well-oiled bowling attack would be relishing the prospect of facing an inexperienced Indian batting line-up, with only Chesteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane being the experienced foes remaining in the batting order for the second test, starting December 26 at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
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