KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal consolidated India’s position by pushing the lead past 100 runs at Tea on Day 2 after bowlers pulled the strings across two previous sessions in Perth. Australia couldn’t replicate their bowling potency from the first morning as none of them could breach the opening stand.
The sun shone brightly (and metaphorically) on India as the seam movement for the Aussie bowlers was significantly lesser in the second innings, compared to the first dig. Rahul started in the same watchful vein this time too, playing expertly inside the line of the ball to avoid easy edges. Even when the pacers managed to induce nicks, it fell well short of the slip cordon as he played with soft hands. Jaiswal didn’t go chasing after deliveries in the fourth and fifth stump channel either.
The pair progressed well to soon take their chances against Pat Cummins, pulling and flicking him for quick runs. They also ran well when the opportunity came up, ticking the lead over at a brisk rate. Nothing worked for Australia in their hunt for a wicket, including an over of medium pace from Marnus Labuschagne just before the break.
This batting effort came on the back of Jasprit Bumrah’s fifer with the wicket of the last recognised batter – Alex Carey – who arrived in Perth with incredible form in the Sheffield Shield. India maintained high tempo with Harshit Rana from the other end, who indulged in a bit of banter with Mitchell Starc. Rana bounced out Nathan Lyon to push for India to gain a big first-innings lead, only to be stonewalled by a defiant final-wicket stand worth 25 runs – the best of the innings. Australia were eventually bowled out for 104, giving India a lead of 46 which became 130 by the end of the second session.
Brief Scores: India 150 & 84/0 (Yashasvi Jaiswal 42*, KL Rahul 34*) lead Australia 104 (Mitchell Starc 26; Jasprit Bumrah 5-30, Harshit Rana 3-48) by 130 runs