Adelaide [Australia], December 10 (ANI): Former cricketer Tim Paine heaped praise on Australia batter Travis Head following his blitzkrieg knock against India in the Adelaide Test of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy, as reported by Fox Cricket.
India’s inconsistent pink-ball Test record continued as Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins demolished a helpless Indian batting attack, helping the side secure a morale-boosting, series-levelling 10-wicket win after a massive 295-run loss at Perth in the first Test. With this, the series is level 1-1.
Head played a 140-run knock from 141 balls at a strike rate of 99.29 during Australia’s first inning. He slammed 17 fours and 4 sixes.
Speaking to SEN Breakfast, Paine said that Head doesn’t care about others what people think about his technique.
“He doesn’t worry about what (works for others), and I’ve played a little bit with him, he doesn’t care what people think about his technique or how it looks. He does a lot of things where commentators would say, ‘Oh, why has he done that?’ or his feet are off the ground and he’s playing away from his body,” Paine was quoted by Foz Cricket as saying.
He added that it is amazing to watch Head, who wants to play at the peak of his powers and at the moment.
“But Travis Head plays how Travis Head plays and he has absolute conviction in the way he goes about it. It is amazing to watch a guy just at the peak of his powers at the moment,” he added.
Recapping the Adelaide Test, India won the toss and opted to bat first. However, they had to face the wrath of a moving, erratic pink ball and its mastermind, Mitchell Starc (6/48). Except for a 69-run stand for the second wicket between KL Rahul (37 in 64 balls with six fours) and Shubman Gill (31 in 51 balls, with five fours) and a fighting 42 in 54 balls (three fours and three sixes) from Nitish Kumar Reddy, there was not much highlights from India who were skittled out for 180 runs. Skipper Cummins and Scott Boland also took two wickets.
In the first innings, a 67-run partnership between Nathan McSweeney (39 in 109 balls, with six fours) and Marnus Labuschagne (64 in 126 balls, with nine fours) for second wicket set the platform for Travis Head to impose his domination over Indian bowlers yet again with a counter-attacking 140 in 141 balls, with 17 fours and four sixes, just when Aussies lost some regular wickets. His century took Australia to 337 runs and gave them a 157-run lead.
Jasprit Bumrah (4/61) and Mohammed Siraj (4/98) were top bowlers for India. Ravichandran and Nitish got a wicket each.
In their second innings, India appeared even more toothless as the star-studded top-order and middle-order returned back to pavillion despite starts from Jaiswal (24 in 31 balls, with four boundaries), Gill (28 in 30 balls, with three fours) while KL Rahul (7) and Virat Kohli (11 in 21 balls with a four) failed to score well. India ended day two at 128/5.
On the third day, Pant also lost his wicket for 28 in 31 balls, with five fours. From there on, it was not looking back for the Aussies, who skittled out India for 175 runs in 36.5 overs. India led by just 18 runs, setting Aussies 19 runs to win.
Skipper Cummins (5/67) took a majestic five-wicket haul, his eighth as a captain. Boland took 3/51 while Starc took 2/60.
Set a target of 19 runs, Khawaja (10*) and McSweeney (9*) chased it down without breaking a sweat in 3.2 overs. (ANI)
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