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wisden wrote:Another hundred for Kamindu Mendis! Averages 83 now in tests, 922 runs in 8 test matches!

amazing

Marnus is using up all those horseshoes and rabbit's feet ..

Low catch...but I think his fingers are under the ball. Yeah that's out....38/5 and Marnus hanging on by the skin of his teeth.

I am afraid India might get a HUGE lead
Manus 1 off 38 shows how good India has bowled and how difficult it's to score because of the bounce

Too early for a night watchman (Guildford will be relieved) so Carey is into the action. Australia really need these two to get to stumps...but not easy with lights coming on and Bumrah fancying another spell.

Waking up to see a Virat failure and drop, plus a Steve Smith golden duck. Beautiful times.

Think that's Marnus luck run out...looks stone dead...yes, gone. 2 from 54 balls... Siraj celebrates and Australia reeling at 47/6.

Marnus did his best for the day 5 tickets holders

2 gutsy players in now Carey and the skipper. But they are facing quite a task to get near that suddenly imposing Indian total of 150..
. Bizzare first day : there is bounce and carry but you wouldn't call this a minefield , surely ?

Bumrah too good for Cummins. ..unbelievable scorecard 59/7 : will they even bat out the day ?

Long way back for Aus, but it is still a low scoring game. If (big if) the lower order can crash a few cheap runs tomorrow morning they have a chance

The old adage don't judge the pitch until both teams have batted applies here.
India did many things correct so far.......won the toss, batted first which I understand now is a good decision.
This Perth pitch gets faster as it dries under the sun, hence zippier and commentators were pointing out that it will get uneven as the game progresses.

India loaded themselves with who they thought were best of the batsmen among the bowlers and hence the trio of Washington, Nitish & Rana & in this inning Nitish looks like ending up as top scorer on both sides.

The principle is even if the new ball up until 30th over or so gets the top order, there is enuf fire power in lower middle order to take them to a fighting total. Today Nitish fired and on other days Washington & Rana might is the expectation along with one of top-6 batters firing gets team to a workable total.


Washington ahead of Jadeja is a brave call....one I agree with . To me he is a better batsmen and a better bowler in such conditions.
KL Rahul played a good hand......in the most difficult of conditions, his detractors should note...and Pant is Pant...the 2ndall time great star after Bumrah in this team.

Ind's bowling attack is very good when Bumrah is playing and quite competitive even when he might be rested.
Siraj upped his game today sensing the fire under his back-side.
Rana, Deep, Krishna, Shami and even in form Mukeash makes the 2nd & 3rd seamers slot very, very competitive .

Smith is seemingly nearing end like Kohli...Head played a series of bad shots backing away from line of ball and always looked like getting out. Manus is shot and with innings of 1(40) going nowhere.

Can India can still blow it up from here.?
The minimum they need to ensure is to get a 50-55 run lead tomm and score min 150+ runs in 2nd inning....i.e a 210 would be very hard to get in 4th inning by Aus.
Off-course if they can stretch the chase to 250+ is likely to be impossible if the pitch is quick and also uneven

I moved away from the laptop and was watching that on TV. First thing was that absolutely abominable drop from Kohli! But then, what a spell it was from Jasprit Bumrah. Just refused to give up, and absolutely worked over Labushagne who might actually wish that Kohli had really held on to that one... With Bumrah, every ball was an event, and what a good ball he ended the day with, nearly had his 5th, Starc just about surviving.
As for the game situation, 1 decent partnership from the lower order will get them close. But this hasn't been an easy pitch to score quickly. Hopefully, India won't let the lower order do too much damage. They should be hoping for a lead of 60 at least.
It was some exceptional bowling from Bumrah with some late backup from Siraj and Rana and some not so good batting from the Australians. This doesn't absolve the disgusting batting performance from the Indians. They'll have an opportunity to rectify the same, hopefully, they wouldn't let the bowlers' efforts go to waste this time round.
As for Australia, they would hope Starc can thrash a few, and Lyon and Hazlewood can hang around with Carrey to get Australia closer to that Indian total. The efforts led from the front by the skipper, has ensured India's series doesn't end on the first day itself...

KPF, what you make of young Harshit Rana. He's quick, has good attributes, presents the seam well. Bowls too many freebies though. Hopefully, he can be more accurate without giving up his pace.

And Siraj, the one he got Labuschagne with was a very fine delivery that moved a mile. His first spell was not asking enough of the batters. But he was better later on. Siraj still not stepping up as a 2nd seamer. Hope Shami goes well in the SMAT, and can come in for the 3rd test onwards...

msp83 wrote:KPF, what you make of young Harshit Rana. He's quick, has good attributes, presents the seam well. Bowls too many freebies though. Hopefully, he can be more accurate without giving up his pace.

And Siraj, the one he got Labuschagne with was a very fine delivery that moved a mile. His first spell was not asking enough of the batters. But he was better later on. Siraj still not stepping up as a 2nd seamer. Hope Shami goes well in the SMAT, and can come in for the 3rd test onwards...

Siraj bowled well in the second spell something like 6 overs 5 runs and 2 wickets and was hitting 140kph...as good  as his top rhythm.
He is a blow-hot blow cold and was blowing hot in that second spell.

Rana is a good prospect...touched 140kph & keeps the ball in the stump line, moves it & is aggressive.
He has to not get carried away bowling too short, that's when he goes for runs.
I would rate him same as Deep as a bowler.......his perceived batting strength got him ahead  of Deep

Rana could hit the mid to high 140s in the IPL. He was rapid here, but not as quick as he could possibly be? Perhaps trying to stay disciplined as they say? Hope he doesn't make mistakes made b the likes of Munaf Patel, emerging as the fastest bowler in India, then ending up being a line-length medium pacer... Rana of course, despite his checkered injury record, is much fitter than Munaf ever was in his cricketing career, in fact the fitness standards in Indian cricket is so remarkably different to what it used to be even a decade ago. Perhaps as much as all that Virat Kohli did for Indian cricket with the bat, it is his contribution in bringing about a change in mindset in this regard that has to be right up there among his legacies... Hopefully, Rana will gain confidence as he goes on, and stay true to his strengths... He has the makings to be a yard quicker than Akash I feel.

msp83 wrote:Rana could hit the mid to high 140s in the IPL. He was rapid here, but not as quick as he could possibly be? Perhaps trying to stay disciplined as they say? Hope he doesn't make mistakes made b the likes of Munaf Patel, emerging as the fastest bowler in India, then ending up being a line-length medium pacer... Rana of course, despite his checkered injury record, is much fitter than Munaf ever was in his cricketing career, in fact the fitness standards in Indian cricket is so remarkably different to what it used to be even a decade ago. Perhaps as much as all that Virat Kohli did for Indian cricket with the bat, it is his contribution in bringing about a change in mindset in this regard that has to be right up there among his legacies... Hopefully, Rana will gain confidence as he goes on, and stay true to his strengths... He has the makings to be a yard quicker than Akash I feel.

Bowling 4 overs in IPL is a different game compared to test match where you bowl 20 in a day
I saw youtube videos of Deep also hitting 144kph in IPL.

Also I sometimes get a feeling IPL speed guns show speeds a few KPH faster then what you see in international games

Mean while in the West Indies, the hosts have gone in with an all-pace attack with some parttime spin from their all-rounders. But the quicks have to weight, as Bangladesh won the toss and elected to bowl. After 15 overs of play, West Indies are 25-1. Skipper Kraig Brathwaite the man out, LBW to Taskin Ahmed. Having batted for an hour, Brathwaite could score only 4 of 38. Lewis and Carty in the middle now.

Barely believable opening day. All the pace bowlers hit their lengths well, and the Kookaburra was most unlike any usual Kookaburra as it retained movement throughout the day. More like a Dukes!

Bumrah just about pips Hazlewood in my bowler of the day, though Starc's opening spell was also world-class.

Australia's fielding was (mostly!) superb, and the palmed catch from McSweeney to Labuschagne was a better version of Strauss to Jones in 2005.

I don't think it's a minefield, so wouldn't like to predict from here, but India obviously in front after day one.

KP_fan wrote:

msp83 wrote:Rana could hit the mid to high 140s in the IPL. He was rapid here, but not as quick as he could possibly be? Perhaps trying to stay disciplined as they say? Hope he doesn't make mistakes made b the likes of Munaf Patel, emerging as the fastest bowler in India, then ending up being a line-length medium pacer... Rana of course, despite his checkered injury record, is much fitter than Munaf ever was in his cricketing career, in fact the fitness standards in Indian cricket is so remarkably different to what it used to be even a decade ago. Perhaps as much as all that Virat Kohli did for Indian cricket with the bat, it is his contribution in bringing about a change in mindset in this regard that has to be right up there among his legacies... Hopefully, Rana will gain confidence as he goes on, and stay true to his strengths... He has the makings to be a yard quicker than Akash I feel.

Bowling 4 overs in IPL is a different game compared to test match where you bowl 20 in a day
I saw youtube videos of Deep also hitting 144kph in IPL.

Also I sometimes get a feeling IPL speed guns show speeds a few KPH faster then what you see in international games

I wouldn't be surprised at all, if the IPL speed guns exaggerate a bit, like most things IPL!
I guess us talking about mid or early 140s these days, is quite some luxury, considering a young Javagal Srinath could possibly be the first since independence to have bowled consistently above 140 KPH. Kapil was a sureshot upgrade from the military mediums we had I suppose, but I don't think he was ever the fastest... Admitedly, I hardly followed anything much of his career, its mostly been looking back. Even Srinath, or Zaheer later on, couldn't sustain bowling real quick for very long in their careers.
Now on the other hand, you have to be exceptional to even get a mention in selection discussions if you happen to be in the 78-82 mph range... Bhuvi Kumar has to be the most recent isn't it? Or perhaps Shardul who was picked for his batting as well.

Windies 77-2 after 33 overs against Bangladesh...Louis 50*

West Indies going at just about 2 an over, 110-3 in 52 overs. Louis and Athanaze in the middle, the opener batting on 66 at the moment.

Athanaze picking up the pace for West Indies, 177-3. Athanaze just reached his 50, Louis into the 90s.

This lad Alick Athanaze, looked a good prospect when he emerged against India last year. Hasn't quite kicked on though he has shown continued potential. Playing nicely here, took his time early on, then got going. Hasn't tried to hit everything out of the park, looking to get the ones and twos always, in between playing some good shots.

Bumrah removes Carey with his first ball this morning...easy keeper catch. 70/8

Starc and Lyon battled away for a while but Rana has bounced out the latter now and it's 79/9 so India are looking at a solid lead nobody would have expected after their own innings

Rana sprays it a bit but has genuine pace and an aggressive approach well suited to these conditions. A handy prospect for India I think.

Starc swinging the bat effectively...and Hazlewood collecting a boundary as Pant is unable to reach the edged chance that would have given Bumrah his sixth. Up to 92/9 so Bumrah continues...

Last pair still battling away...Bumrah eventually taking a rest and Siraj having a go. Field rather oddly has become more defensive though the runs are hardly flowing (95/9 from 41 overs) Reddy to have a bowl at last...

As this stubborn last wicket stand persists, the message from both innings is quite clear : try to get to about 30-35 overs with as many wickets as possible in hand - it gets vastly easier from that point on as the ball has aged and lost its menace (obviously this sort of idea applies generally to all matches; but seems particularly important in the conditions and type of ball we have here) The difference in the contest from about 33 overs on , despite the fact both sides were into their " non specialist " bats , has been quite stark. On that subject, Starc is now Australia's top scorer...22 from 81 balls. 98/9 ...frustrating for India

Last wicket has annoyed India annoyed India on one hand and on the other showed the pitch is not so bad for Aus to be 79-9

Massive cheers greet the hundred...Starc mainly shielding Hazlewood from the strike , turning down a few singles , though the number 11 has kept out 22 balls so far. Wonder if it might be time for Washington to have a go ?

17 overs now for this stand...only added 23 but putting more work on India's bowlers. Bumrah back on again to try and end it.... Pitch now seeming "easy" to bat on...

Just two overs for Washington, who posed no threat to batsmen not in any hurry. Rana back...and he takes the wicket as Starc hits it straight up in the air, gone for 26....104 all out so 46 behind. Lunch can be taken right on time...

50 run lead is handy.
pitch looks like eased out.

Mitch Marsh's speed has dropped by about 8kph from his already medium pace

Highlight of 2nd session
Labuschagne charging into to bowl at 135+ kph

Been off at my own club for the last couple of hours so not seen much of this innings... but it would seem the conditions have changed considerably in favour of the batsmen ? A lead of 133 now with ten wickets in hand should have Indian fans pretty happy eh ? Have to see if I can jinx a couple of wickets to get Australia back into the contest...

Batsmen cruising along , though at no great speed. Jaiswal making up for yesterday's duck with a solid fifty and Rahul once again digging in nicely. At 101/0 India are certainly well ahead in the game ; but given the way this has apparently flattened out , they will want to turn this into an overwhelming lead - as bowling the home team out might be a lot harder second time around. Big contrast : day one 217/17...today so far 138/3 : so a fourth innings chase of even a pretty formidable target might be possible. I know which dressing room will be more comfortable though

Nothing going right for Australia: missed chance at slip and missed run out in successive balls... Khawaja was a bit too slow to get down to that low catch and Smith's throw not close enough to the stumps to give Lyon a chance... need a bit of magic from somewhere...though Starc is bowling we in this spell...

Australia trying all options.. Travis Head bowling now. He's probably more likely to break through than Marnus ; but I doubt he was pencilled in as a bowling weapon for Perth... 145/0 and apart from that chance to slip these two haven't looked like getting out. Lead growing ominously...

One thing also different today : over rate. Yesterday just 77 overs bowled - all pace , lots of wickets. Today some spin and they've managed another 76 already though still looking at overtime. But due to the ridiculous rules of the WTC , neither team will incur a penalty for the first innings because the innings didn't reach 80 overs. I don't really care about the lack of penalty in this case but it does highlight the inequity surrounding the points penalties , depending basically on pitch conditions and innings duration.

Nearly stumps. Jaiswal on 89 but KL is counselling him not to throw it away in a rush for the milestone. If they get to the close India will start tomorrow in a wonderful position. Not sure the crowd will.match the 32000 from today - unless there are a lot of Indian fans in Perth 171/0 , five minutes left...

172/0 at the close. Think we can call that India's day

It's been a Dream Run and a rare super strong position in the opening Test of a difficult foreign tour.....220 ahead and all wkts in hand.
These opportunities come once in decades sometimes in two decades.
India has to not let the grip off....bat allnday tomm and a session of D4.
Run them into the ground.
While pitch has eased scoring is still difficult, there is bounce and a bit of nibble and outfield slow. At best going will be 3RPO of batters bat very well.
Then hope that the predicted cracks open and thr pitch goes uneven
And if it doesn't Aus can well bat out 4.5 sessions for a draw.
Pitch must deteriorate to produce a result and in hindsight India got the worse of batting conditions after winning the toss.

It was never a bad pitch. I don't know what really happened on the first day, but the second day was closer to a true reflection.

Hazlewood and Starc were perhaps unlucky to not pick up wickets, but some of Jaiswal's shots were sublime.

218 the lead. I think if Australia can limit India to no more than 375, they've still got a fair shot on this, though that's going to require a herculean bowling effort in the first session.

West Indies/Bangladesh had some interesting ebb and flow. Louis and Athanaze steered their side from 84/3 to 224/3, but both fell late on and in the 90s, denying them both a first test ton, so it's 250/5 at stumps. West Indies didn't pick a frontline spinner, yet Bangladesh got through 38 overs of spin on the opening day.

It wasn't a bad pitch ... but it was certainly a much livelier one on the first day , at least while the ball was new. Don't think it should have seen 17 wickets fall in a day , mind : but it changed massively for the second day as we saw even when the Australian tailenders were digging in. In truth both these teams are currently vulnerable to good bowling on any pitch with a serious amount of life in it : too many older players in decline , good players out of form , and newish players trying to establish themselves and possibly not in their ideal positions in the order.

You'd think a chase of anything up to 400 could be possible if the pitch flattens out further and doesn't develop any tricks (not unlikely) ; but I wouldn't be putting money on it. India will want to bat them right out of the game tomorrow : Australia have serious problems if Lyon isn't able to exert any influence. I will be surprised to see this turning into a blocked out draw , despite KP_fan's concerns. But the way Tests around the world have been going lately I am prepared for just about anything to happen from here ...

India have a prize chance to grind the Australia attack down here and potentially impact them for the rest of the series.

It's an incredible bowling unit. The way they've managed to repeatedly get Cummins, Starc and Hazlewood fit for the big series and events is remarkable. They aren't as young as they once were though. They've also fallen away drastically in the latter stages of long series before due to Australia's refusal to rotate. If this Indian team have any sense, keep them out there for as long as possible.

Cummins looks well short of his best here in reality. Hazlewood was brilliant in the first innings and miserly today, but, in reality, he's looked innocuous by Hofs standards in this second dig. His speeds were about the same as Marnus' by the end of the day. Slightly Ollie Robinson feeling. Starc is one of my favourite cricketers currently playing and remains capable of the sublime. He's also a pace bowler who's less than a couple of months shy of his 35th birthday. Keep them in the field. Put overs in their legs. Force Australia to go back to Scott Boland or risk one of the kids. England criminally failed to do it in the 2nd Ashes Test at Lords just after Lyon hobbled off. Winning T1 is obviously the priority. With a platform this dominant the best sides are looking ahead to T5 as well though.

West Indies taking control thanks to an unlikely big stand from Greaves and Roach. Greaves getting his first test fifty in quite brisk fashion, and Roach supporting with an obdurate knock.

349/7.

A commanding day in the office for the Indians. For the first time since Gautam Gambhir took over, the Indian batters showed a willingness to trust their defense. Yashasvi Jaiswal has always been capable of playing in this tempo too. His debut innings showed his range in this regard. As for KL Rahul, yet again, this shows once again, as to what could have been possible from him, for the team over the years... After Unlucky Ishant and Talented Rohit, hopefully, KL Rahul will also have a late blooming of career in his 30s.

msp83 wrote: After Unlucky Ishant and Talented Rohit, hopefully, KL Rahul will also have a late  blooming of career in his 30s.

Shastri & Kohli got the best out of Ishant as a wkt taker, while Dhoni used him merely as a stock, hold one end bowler.

Ditto Rohit blossomed under Shastri Kohli and quite late
KL few die-hard fans and many detractors, fortunately he has the trust of BCCI and management