Australia are hurtling towards a series-levelling win after Travis Head’s sparkling hometown hundred put India firmly behind the eight ball after day two of the second Test in Adelaide.
Head hammered a masterly run-a-ball 140 to propel the Aussies to a 157-run lead before Scott Boland, Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc swung into action in the evening session to leave India in deep strife at 5-128 at stumps, trailing by 29.
Australia are likely to wrap up the triumph on day three unless Rishabh Pant can conjure up a minor miracle by batting India to a big enough lead for their bowlers to defend.
Leading into this series, Head’s position in the middle order was under threat after a lean spell of 69 runs from six innings but after finding form in Perth with a second-innings 89, he blasted the Indian attack to all parts of his home turf.
It was made all the more sweeter with his wife Jess watching on from the stands while holding their newborn son Harry and the 30-year-old left-hander produced a cradle-rocking celebration when he reached his milestone in front of another bumper crowd of 51,642.
Time to Head up the order soon
Head has scored seven of his eight Test hundreds at No.5 with one at six. He’s never batted at four, filled in at opener and first drop.
The Australian batting line-up is in a state of flux or at the very least will be heading into a period of transition.
Head could be better value going up a spot, depending on how the final phase of Steve Smith’s career plays out.
But for the moment he is doing the job for Australia as a middle-order destroyer.
When he goes cheaply, his technique can look ungainly. But when he gets going, there is no better Australian player to tear a bowling attack apart.
The Indians were clearly frustrated with his unorthodox style on Saturday.
Travis Head celebrates after scoring a century. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)
Arriving at the crease early after rookie opener Nathan McSweeney added just one more run to his overnight score to depart for 39 and Smith contributed just two before he was also caught behind off Jasprit Bumrah, snicking down leg side.
Head, as he does, played his natural game regardless of the situation and his counter-attack quickly lifted the Aussies from a tricky spot at 3-103 in reply to India’s 180 to 7-310 by the time his 141-ball blitz was over.
He needed just 63 deliveries to bring up his half-century before facing just 48 more before reaching triple figures with a quick single off Ravi Ashwin.
India were having flashbacks to last year’s World Test Championship final at The Oval when his strokeplay sent them sprawling and his audacity grew even higher after sealing his emotional century.
While his footwork can sometimes be limited or slightly askew, he’s got an eye like a dead fish and he was picking up all manner of deliveries early to dispatch them to and over the boundary.
He tallied 17 fours and four sixes, the best coming off the second-last ball he faced when he stepped to the leg and smacked Mohammed Siraj over square leg.
“That was almost a no-look six,” Kerry O’Keeffe gasped in amazement on Fox Cricket commentary. “It could have snuck through but not the way Travis Head is seeing them.”
Call it the commentator’s curse but he then played all over a yorker from Siraj and after being given a send-off by the fired-up seamer, Head responded with a brief response with a couple of choice four-letter words.
It was a bush league look from Siraj to sledge a player who had just blazed 140 and he was deservedly booed by the Adelaide fans for the rest of the innings for having the temerity to disrespect the local legend.
Boland on the money yet again
In previous eras Boland would have little chance of getting a recall at 35 but such has been his brilliance as a back-up operator in recent years, no one bats an eyelid when he comes into the team.
As he did in the first innings, he took a wicket with his first delivery but this time he kept his front foot behind the line as he nicked off Yashasvi Jaiswal for 24 after Cummins had induced a nick from fellow opener KL Rahul on seven.
Boland backed that up by bagging the biggest scalp when Virat Kohli edged to a diving Alex Carey on 11 to leave India 3-66.
Mitchell Starc returned after an underwhelming first spell to knock Shubman Gill’s middle stump over on 28 and India’s faint hopes of victory were all but over at 4-88.
Pant brought T20 theatrics to the crease from the first ball he faced in his 25-ball 28, dancing down the wicket to flay Boland to the boundary, ramping over the keeper or in reverse fashion over the slips while falling to the turf.
While he’s at the crease, anything is possible but Rohit Sharma’s late departure for six was a huge body blow.
Cummins claimed his opposite number’s wicket with a perfect leg-cutter which clipped the off bail.
“This is gorgeous,” former fast bowler Brett Lee gushed in Fox Cricket commentary as he watched the replay. “Please, just keep playing that.”
Young all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy liked Pant’s style and slogged a four off the final ball of the day to be 15 not out at stumps.
Marnus bounces back but Smith slump continues
Marnus Labuschagne converted his promising opening-night 20 into just his second half-century since the New Year’s Test in Sydney.
While he was not back to his indomitable best, his timing was strong as he flicked the bowlers to the leg-side boundary in particular.
After nine boundaries, he looked on track for his first century since the 2023 Ashes tour but his slash to a wide ball from Nitish Kumar Reddy went no further than Jaiswal in the gully on 64.
Smith is now into his 12th straight Test without a ton, following up his golden duck and 19 in Perth with another quick dismissal.
The opener experiment failed after four matches and the question for the selectors now is what will they do if the 35-year-old does not get back to his best in the middle order?
Marsh’s harsh call on himself
Mitchell Marsh was too honest for his own good when he walked on nine, believing he had nicked Ashwin behind.
He took a step towards the pavilion then thought better of it but umpire Richard Illingworth raised the finger to send him back on his way.
India had only made a half-hearted appeal and Ashwin gestured to Rishabh Pant that he was not sure as they celebrated their unexpected wicket.
And the Snicko technology revealed there was no noise as the ball past the outside edge of his blade with replays indicating a clear gap.
“That is extraordinary,” Adam Gilchrist said on Fox Cricket. “Nothing on Snicko. That is well past the outside edge, the bat is just clipping the pad.”
Gilchrist, who was famously known for walking when he thought he was out, said Marsh must have been convinced he was out even though the technology showed otherwise.
Brilliant Bumrah being bowled into the ground
Indian hearts were in their mouths late in the second session when Bumrah needed treatment soon after taking the second new ball for what looked like a groin injury.
Their pace spearhead is being used and over-used in this series due to his purple patch from Perth transferring to Adelaide.
As stand-in skipper for the opening Test, he under-bowled himself in the second innings when his team was well on top.
Even if Mohammed Shami makes an early return from injury for the third or fourth Tests, the tourists will be long odds to win a fifth straight series over Australia if Bumrah breaks down.
Bumrah was again brilliant in taking 4-61 in the Australian innings from 23 overs, swinging the ball around corners to confound the top order and prove way too good for the tailenders.
