Travis Head cracked a rapid-fire half-century as Australia built a solid foundation on the opening day of the World Test Championship final against India.
Head arrived at the crease with his side at 76 for three and bossed an unbroken stand of 94 with Steve Smith, as Australia reached tea on 170 without further loss.
Head was at his counter-punching best, reeling off 10 boundaries in 75 balls to push the pressure back on to the Indian attack.
His lively knock altered the momentum of the afternoon session, which could have turned in India’s favour after Mohammed Shami uprooted Marnus Labuschagne’s off stump shortly after the lunch break.
It was a second well-timed breakthrough, after David Warner’s battling 43 came to end in timid fashion late in the morning’s play, Shardul Thakur brushing his glove with a short ball speared down the leg side.
India had chosen to field after winning the toss and it looked a sound decision during an awkward first hour for the Australian batters.
Mohammed Shami kept Warner honest during a fine opening burst with the new ball, working over the left-hander from round the wicket in a way that will not have escaped the attention of his old nemesis Stuart Broad.
He survived the examination, with a couple of fortuitous moments along the way, but Usman Khawaja banked a 10-ball duck when he nicked the quicker Mohammed Siraj to Srikar Bharat.
There was an early scare for Labuschagne, who dramatically dropped the bat in pain when Umesh Yadav rapped him on the left thumb with a sharp, lifting delivery.
England fans would be forgiven for having the Ashes on their minds as Labuschagne received treatment and popped a couple of painkillers, but he resumed his innings and even wore another blow to the hand to reach lunch on 26 not out.
Warner, having survived his initial trial, began to open up and took a particular liking to Yadav, at one stage lashing the seamer for four boundaries in a single over.
The 36-year-old, who recently announced his plans to retire in the new year, was growing in confidence and will have been annoyed at the manner of his dismissal, well caught by the diving Bharat after getting into a poor position against a modest ball from Thakur.
Labuschagne, who had survived a couple of close lbw appeals, did not kick on in the afternoon – emphatically missing one that was tossed up full and thumped halfway up his off stump.
Steve Smith settled in for a low-key stay, grinding out 33 off 102 balls, leaving the stage for Head (60no) to throw the bat confidently and swing the pendulum in Australia’s favour.
Ben Stokes doubtful for England World Cup opener with hip injury
Ben Stokes has emerged as an injury doubt for England’s World Cup curtain-raiser against New Zealand on Thursday, with a sore hip placing question marks over his place.
Stokes reversed his year-long retirement from ODI cricket in order to help defend the title he helped secure in 2019, despite concerns over his long-term fitness.
The 32-year-old has been struggling with a chronic knee condition in recent years and was selected as a specialist batter for the tournament after deciding to spare his body the rigours of bowling.
But on the eve of the opening match at the cavernous Narendra Modi Stadium, the biggest cricket venue on the planet with a capacity of more than 130,000, he was still being assessed.
Stokes has not played since smashing 182 against the Black Caps on September 13 and was the only squad member to play no part in this week’s warm-up victory over Bangladesh.
Captain Jos Buttler, speaking ahead of his side’s final training session, said: “He’s got a slight niggle with his hip, but fingers crossed that it’ll be good news for us. We’ll see.
“He’s working hard with the physios and we’ll know more when the guys arrive for training.
“We’ll make the right call. If he’s not fit to play, he’s not fit to play. If he is, we can make that decision.
“It’s not the time to take big risks on someone at the start of the tournament. Nearer the end, maybe you do take more of a risk with people’s injuries but it’s going to be a long tournament.”
Reece Topley ‘undercooked’ as England prepare for World Cup opener
Reece Topley is ready to play the long game as he looks to put his World Cup woes behind him, but the seamer admits England’s interrupted preparations have left him “undercooked”.
England get their title defence under way in Ahmedabad on Thursday when they face New Zealand in a replay of the 2019 final, but their lead up to that curtain-raiser has been less than straightforward.
A 38-hour trip to their warm-up base in Guwahati was branded “utter chaos” by Jonny Bairstow, before their first practice match against India was rained off without a ball being bowled.
They were able to get some game time in against Bangladesh on Monday, but their four-wicket win came in a game reduced to 37 overs and none of their bowlers delivered more than five.
That is a light load to take into a flagship fixture, but for Topley simply arriving at the Narendra Modi Stadium fit for duty would be a success of sorts.
Little over a year ago, just days before the start of the T20 World Cup in Australia, he tripped on a boundary sponge and was ruled out of a tournament England went on to win.
“If anything I would say that I’m pretty undercooked, but going into a long tournament I don’t necessarily think that is the worst thing,” the left-armer said after tuning up with a three-wicket haul.
“I feel like I’m just about to come into my stride, hopefully. It’s not about tearing in at the warm up game and impressing the right people, it is about delivering in the nine group games.
“That last group game is still pretty far away so I feel like I’m where I should be, but there is still some work to be done for sure.
“After missing the first game due to the weather it was good for us to be able to get out on the field and for people to get what they needed from the experience which is a positive outcome.
“We’ve all been doing our training after having a couple of weeks without matches so it is nice to get back in the groove with playing in the middle and it helps to assess what you still need to work on before that first proper match.”
Topley, who has lost long spells of his career due to injury problems, has spoken openly about the trauma of his late withdrawal from last year’s trophy-winning side and has been doing everything in his power to avoid a repeat. Mercifully, his luck has held so far.
“I’ve been steering clear of any mishaps and playing it quite safe, and I’ll continue to do so ahead of the first game,” he said.
“Obviously I don’t want any repeat of what was so gutting last year in Brisbane at the T20 World Cup. It was a tough period to go through and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone because these are the moments and the events that you dream of being a part of and playing your part in.
“Hopefully I can play my part this year and make up for lost time if anything and make a contribution to England going all the way again. I’m looking forward to getting some game time, just as I was anticipating last year, and this time hopefully I can help the team retain the trophy.”
There is stiff competition for places among the England bowling ranks, with Topley joining Chris Woakes, Mark Wood, David Willey, Sam Curran and Gus Atkinson in a well-stocked pace attack.
England expect it to be a group effort in India, with a draining schedule that involves new venues and internal flights for every group match, but everyone has their eye on the opening match as the first signs of a pecking order emerge.
“I think everyone is fighting for a spot in that final XI. You’ve just got to do all you can to put your case forward to feature in that side,” Topley explained.
“I felt like I gave a good account of myself in the run out. Whatever 11 they end up picking, the whole squad is right behind each other, it is going to take a squad effort to be successful out here and the side that goes out in each match will continue to live up to the exciting way we play our cricket.”
Magnificent Matthews says record chase gives Windies confidence boost ahead of third T20I
Hayley Matthews continued her spectacular form this year with a brilliant knock to help her West Indies Women pull off a world record run chase against world champions, Australia, to tie up their three-match T20I series at the North Sydney Oval on Monday.
Matthews smashed a 64-ball 132 including 20 fours and five sixes to help the West Indies successfully chase their target of 213.
In a post-match interview, the all-rounder said this win will give her team a much-needed confidence boost ahead of the third and final T20I on Thursday.
“A win like this at a time like this definitely means a whole lot to the team. Obviously, we’ve come down here with a lot of young girls in a learning, growing squad and to get a win like this against the best team in the world the way that we were able to do it is really going to boost our confidence and give us a lot of belief within the team,” Matthews said.
The Barbadian shared in a spectacular 174-run second wicket partnership with former captain Stafanie Taylor who made 59 off 41 balls including 11 fours. Matthews heaped praise on the Jamaican for helping take the pressure off her at the crease.
“I think when we needed 100 runs from about 50 balls, we looked at each other in the middle and said we could really get this if we keep going with the momentum. Kudos to the way she batted as well, getting boundaries on a regular basis and taking a lot of pressure off me so I’m really happy to have shared that partnership with a legend like her,” she said.
Matthews, so far, has made 213 runs in two innings in the series after her unbeaten 99 in the first T20I. She was asked what has made her so productive this year.
“Just working hard. I’ve played a lot of T20 and franchise cricket around the world and I’ve had the opportunity, at such a young age, to learn a lot about my game and the biggest thing for me has been my understanding and my technical work has been working really well,” she said.
Matthews also insisted that there is no pressure on her side ahead of the decisive third T20I.
“When we came to Australia we had nothing to lose at all. After the first game, what we did individually was look within ourselves and saw what we could’ve done better. That’s exactly what we’re going to do ahead of the next game. Yes, we won but we have so many areas we can improve in and so much learning that could take place as well,” she said.
The third T20I begins at 3:05 am Jamaica time and can be seen live on SportsMax.
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