AUS vs IND Brisbane Test: India Fight Back But Australia Hold Edge In Decisive Test
An under-strength India fought back in the final session to leave the fourth Test against Australia evenly poised after the opening day at the Gabba in Brisbane on Friday. Australia finished the first
India started the game as underdogs following the loss of four players from the drawn third Test, which finished on Monday in Sydney.
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Pace spearhead Bumrah (abdomen), off-spinner Ashwin (back), batsman Hanuma Vihari (hamstring), and all-rounder Ravi Jadeja (broken thumb) were all ruled out.
T. Natarajan and Sundar made their debuts while there were also recalls for batsman Mayank Agarwal and seam bowler Shardul Thakur.
By contrast, Australia only made one change, with Harris coming in for Will Pucovski, who injured his shoulder while fielding in Sydney.
Yet India got away to the perfect start when David Warner fell on the last ball of the first over, edging Siraj to second slip, where Rohit Sharma took a superb catch diving to his right.
Natarajan shared the new ball with Siraj and kept the pressure on with some tight bowling, his opening spell of six overs going for just eight runs.
The pressure eventually told when Thakur, playing just his second Test, struck with his first ball, Harris chipping a simple catch to Sundar at square leg to leave Australia 17 for two.
But Labuschagne and Steve Smith, Australia's saviors in so many recent matches, once again steadied the rocking ship.
Smith, who roared back to form with a century in Sydney, was impressive but on 36 he clipped a ball to short midwicket to Sharma to give Sundar his first Test scalp.
Australia, now 87 for three, should have lost Labuschagne in the next over when he edged Saini to gully, but the normally reliable Ajinkya Rahane spilled a simple chance.
To make matters worse, Saini appeared to injure his groin in the delivery stride and left the field.
Cheteshwar Pujara grassed a much harder chance when Labuschagne was on 48, but from that moment the Queenslander was in fine form, stroking nine boundaries and two all-run fours on his way to his century.
Siraj was the pick of the Indian attack with 1-51 off 19 testing overs, while Natarajan (2-63) also impressed despite showing signs of fatigue late in the day.
