Border Gavaskar Trophy: 3 key moments from the India vs Australia 2nd Test

Australia defeated India in the pink-ball Test by 10 wickets to level the five-match series 1-1. The hosts continued their dominance in day-night Tests and successfully continued their winning run in such matches played at the Adelaide Oval. It was a completely one-sided encounter as Australia sealed the encounter in the first session of the third day.

After opting to bat first, India could only post 180 runs despite being 69/1 at one stage. It seemed as if the visitors wouldn’t even be able to post 150 runs at one stage. But Nitish Reddy stepped up and propelled India to a fighting score. But the Aussies batted sensibly this time around and despite losing quick wickets on the second morning, they rode on Travis Head’s exceptional knock of 140 runs to take a massive lead of 157 runs.

In response, India never looked like putting up a fight as their batters were found wanting in testing conditions at the Adelaide Oval. They lost five wickets in the final session of the second day and Australia didn’t have to sweat much to clean up the tail on the third day. India were bundled out for just 175 runs with a lead of 18 runs. Australia gunned down the 19-run target comfortably much to the delight of the home fans.

However, the win didn’t come as easy as it seemed for the home team with India threatening to make a comeback at one stage.

Hence, here we bring you 3 key moments from India vs Australia second Test played in Adelaide.

1. Mitchell Starc’s second spell in first innings

After opting to bat first, India lost Yashasvi Jaiswal on the very first ball of the match with Mitchell Starc pinning him in front of the stumps. However, post the early blow, the visitors recovered with Shubman Gill and KL Rahul blunting the new ball. At 69/1, India were up for the pink ball challenge and this is when, in the 19th over, the game turned on its head.

Starc was brought back for his second spell and he made the ball talk yet again. The left-arm fast bowler sent back the dogged Rahul first, who was batting comfortably until then on 37 off 64 balls. Starc then got the better of Virat Kohli for the second time in three innings to bring Australia back in the game.

After slipping to 77/3 from 69/1, India never recovered and were eventually skittled for just 180 runs even as Starc registered his career-best figures in the format (6/48). It was also his first-ever five-wicket haul against India in the longest format.

2. Drop catches by India

Catches win matches. This phrase works perfectly, especially in Test cricket and India dropped a couple of them in the first innings. Nathan McSweeney was only on five runs when Rishabh Pant and Rohit Sharma combined to reprieve the youngster. He ended up scoring 39 runs and most importantly played out the tricky final session before getting out on the second morning.

Travis Head was then given a chance while he was on 76. The left-hander top-edged one off Ravi Ashwin and Mohammed Siraj dropped a tough catch while running back. Head ended up scoring 64 more runs and stretching Australia’s first-innings lead to 157 which proved to be enough for them to win the match by 10 wickets.

3. Scott Boland’s incisive spell under lights

India struggled to pick wickets under the lights in the final session on the opening day. But Australia bowlers picked five wickets, courtesy of some excellent bowling from their pacers, especially Scott Boland. He was introduced into the attack for the first time when Yashasvi Jaiswal was looking extremely confident and he nipped the left-hander out of the very first delivery.

He didn’t stop there and kept bowling in the channel of uncertainty to dismiss the most important batter, Virat Kohli as well. Kohli has been fiddling with the fourth stump line a lot these days in the longest format and Boland kept bowling in the same channel right through his spell.

Despite making a conscious effort to leave such deliveries, Kohli finally edged one while trying to defend a ball from Boland. His wicket was a huge dent in India’s hopes of taking a significant lead in the second innings. Even though Pat Cummins picked up a five-wicket haul, Boland’s first spell of second innings worked massively in Australia's favour as they managed to level the series with three matches to go.