Brisbane Test: Australia on top; Sundar, Thakur drive India forward
Hosts Australia continued to mow down India's middle-order in the second session on Day 3 of the ongoing Brisbane Test. Team India lost the likes of Mayank Agarwal and Rishabh Pant, who looked set for a substantial partnership. However, Washington Sundar and Shardul Thakur displayed their batting abilities against the Australian bowling attack. Here is the session report.
Team India started the second session on 161/4, with Agarwal and Pant arriving in the middle. However, Agarwal (38) departed on the second ball of second session, as he nicked one off Josh Hazelwood to slips. After a few overs, the latter dismissed Pant (23), with Cameron Green taking a brilliant catch. Eventually, Sundar and Thakur remained unbeaten as India finished on 253/6.
Agarwal, who was picked for the fourth Test due to multiple injuries in the Indian camp, fared well in the middle-order. Coming in to bat at number five, he appeared to be in decent touch. However, his dismissal put Australia right on front. Meanwhile, Pant continued with his counter-attacking innings from ball one. Later on, he departed for 23 off 29 balls (2 fours).
Both Thakur and Sundar used their experience from white-ball cricket, and shared a pivotal stand in the second session. While Thakur (33*) was the aggressor out of the two, Sundar (38*) played meticulously. In the 73rd over, the latter played a couple resounding strokes off Mitchell Starc, which gave a testimony of his batting. The duo shared a 67-run stand to steady India's innings.
Interestingly, the likes of Thakur and Sundar shared the highest (67*) and the longest (balls faced) partnership for the seventh or lower wicket for India since January 2020 (33 partnerships in all).
Fast bowler Hazlewood remained the pick of Australia's bowlers in the second session. He dismissed both Agarwal and Pant to turn the tide, having impressed with bowling figures of 3/43. Meanwhile, Starc and Pat Cummins proved rather expensive, and couldn't produce any breakthrough. Off-spinner Nathan Lyon too didn't perturb the Indian batsmen much even though he deceived them several times.
