Brisbane: Just 13.2 overs were bowled on a damp opening day of the third Test after Rohit Sharma had won the toss and invited Australia to bat.
The weather improved, and Australian batters on Sunday made up for lost time to pile up 405/7 at an impressive pace of four runs an over. Jasprit Bumrah was again at his incisive best as he bagged 5/72, but he alone couldn’t contain the marauding Aussie batters, especially in the final session.
Travis Head continued his domination over India with another brilliant century, while Steve Smith ended a run of low scored with a hundred after 16 months.
Head (152 off 160 balls, 18×4) and Smith (101 off 190 balls, 12×4) came together after Jasprit Bumrah sent back both openers (Usman Khawaja and Nathan McSweeney) and Nitish Reddy dismissed Marnus Labuschagne before lunch.
Head was initially a tad watchful by his belligerent standards, while Smith focused fully on survival as he looked to regain form.
Apart from Bumrah, Akash Deep impressed but was extremely unlucky to go wicketless despite troubling all batters repeatedly.
Once the bowlers started tiring, Head was at his explosive best and Smith also got back his fluency. The duo put on 241 runs for the fourth wicket to demoralise the visitors.
It was Bumrah again who shone with the second new ball to break the partnership. The champion pacer dismissed Head, Smith and Mitchell Marsh in the space of 12 balls. Skipper Pat Cummins was gobbled up by Md Siraj, but Alex Carey (45 batting) inflicted more misery on India.
Brief Scores
Australia 1st innings: 405/7 in 101 overs (Travis Head 152, Steve Smith 101; Jasprit Bumrah 5/72).
Brisbane Test to continue on Day 3.
