A captivating second day in Delhi has left the second Test between Australia and India evenly poised. India managed 262/10 in their first innings in response to Australia’s 263/10, thanks in large part to a stunning 74 from Axar Patel.
Australia was 61/1 at Stumps and was ahead of India by 62 runs. Labuschagne is batting on 16 off 19 while Head scored 39 off 40 balls.
India came back from 139-7 thanks to Axar Patel’s counter-attacking 74 in a 114-run stand with Ravichandran Ashwin.
Nathan Lyon took 5-67, surpassing 100 wickets against India, while Todd Murphy and rookie left-arm spinner Matthew Kuhnemann each took 2-72 and 2-53. Nine of India’s wickets fell to spin.
With opener David Warner unavailable for the remainder of the Test due to a concussion, Travis Head was elevated to the top of the order and was 39 not out at close. Warner, who has been replaced by Matt Renshaw, also suffered an elbow injury on Friday, making it uncertain whether he will be able to continue the series.
Warner failed a concussion test despite continuing to bat, and he later that day didn’t take part on the field. Later scans revealed that his left elbow has a minor hairline fracture.
A 200 against South Africa in December was Warner’s sole century in 17 Test matches dating back to January 2020, making his form a fiercely disputed topic.
India won the first Test in Nagpur by an innings and 132 runs, taking a 1-0 lead in the four-match series.
Australia must draw one of the four Tests to guarantee a spot in the World Test Championship final, which will be played at The Oval in June.
India is second in the standings and will advance if they win this series 3-1 or better.
Axar Patel: “It feels good to score runs”
“Obviously, it feels good to score runs, but the important thing was coming back from a pressure situation. I think because I was able to defend off the middle, my confidence rose and then I was attacking balls that were in my slot. I was asked in WI if I’m a batting or bowling all-rounder.”
“My answer is simple – if I score runs I’m a batting all-rounder, if I get wickets I’m a bowling all-rounder. I got used to the pace of the wicket today, and the ball wasn’t coming on too quickly so I got time. I was trying to attack the left-arm spinner because that’s my match-up. We’d like to reduce them to as low a target as possible, I think the morning session tomorrow will be important. We need to bowl well and pick a couple of wickets.”
Full Scorecard 2nd Test: Ind vs Aus
Australia 1st Innings
| BATTING | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| David Warner | c †Bharat b Mohammed Shami | 15 | 44 | 3 | 0 | 34.09 |
| Usman Khawaja | c Rahul b Jadeja | 81 | 125 | 12 | 1 | 64.80 |
| Marnus Labuschagne | lbw b Ashwin | 18 | 25 | 4 | 0 | 72.00 |
| Steven Smith | c †Bharat b Ashwin | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Travis Head | c Rahul b Mohammed Shami | 12 | 30 | 1 | 1 | 40.00 |
| Peter Handscomb | not out | 72 | 142 | 9 | 0 | 50.70 |
| Alex Carey † | c Kohli b Ashwin | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Pat Cummins (c) | lbw b Jadeja | 33 | 59 | 3 | 2 | 55.93 |
| Todd Murphy | b Jadeja | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Nathan Lyon | b Mohammed Shami | 10 | 26 | 2 | 0 | 38.46 |
| Matthew Kuhnemann | b Mohammed Shami | 6 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 |
| Extras | (b 13, lb 1, nb 2) | 16 | ||||
| TOTAL | 78.4 Ov (RR: 3.34) | 263 | ||||
| Did not bat: Matt Renshaw | ||||||
| Fall of wickets: 1-50 (David Warner, 15.2 ov), 2-91 (Marnus Labuschagne, 22.4 ov), 3-91 (Steven Smith, 22.6 ov), 4-108 (Travis Head, 31.2 ov), 5-167 (Usman Khawaja, 45.5 ov), 6-168 (Alex Carey, 46.6 ov), 7-227 (Pat Cummins, 67.2 ov), 8-227 (Todd Murphy, 67.6 ov), 9-246 (Nathan Lyon, 74.2 ov), 10-263 (Matthew Kuhnemann, 78.4 ov) |
| BOWLING | O | M | R | W | ECON | WD | NB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mohammed Shami | 14.4 | 4 | 60 | 4 | 4.09 | 0 | 1 |
| Mohammed Siraj | 10 | 2 | 30 | 0 | 3.00 | 0 | 0 |
| Ravichandran Ashwin | 21 | 4 | 57 | 3 | 2.71 | 0 | 0 |
| Ravindra Jadeja | 21 | 2 | 68 | 3 | 3.23 | 0 | 1 |
| Axar Patel | 12 | 2 | 34 | 0 | 2.83 | 0 | 0 |
India 1st Innings
| BATTING | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rohit Sharma (c) | b Lyon | 32 | 69 | 2 | 0 | 46.37 |
| KL Rahul | lbw b Lyon | 17 | 41 | 0 | 1 | 41.46 |
| Cheteshwar Pujara | lbw b Lyon | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Virat Kohli | lbw b Kuhnemann | 44 | 84 | 4 | 0 | 52.38 |
| Shreyas Iyer | c Handscomb b Lyon | 4 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 26.66 |
| Ravindra Jadeja | lbw b Murphy | 26 | 74 | 4 | 0 | 35.13 |
| Srikar Bharat † | c Smith b Lyon | 6 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 50.00 |
| Axar Patel | c Cummins b Murphy | 74 | 115 | 9 | 3 | 64.34 |
| Ravichandran Ashwin | c Renshaw b Cummins | 37 | 71 | 5 | 0 | 52.11 |
| Mohammed Shami | b Kuhnemann | 2 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 22.22 |
| Mohammed Siraj | not out | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 25.00 |
| Extras | (b 8, lb 11) | 19 | ||||
| TOTAL | 83.3 Ov (RR: 3.13) | 262 | ||||
| Fall of wickets: 1-46 (KL Rahul, 17.1 ov), 2-53 (Rohit Sharma, 19.2 ov), 3-54 (Cheteshwar Pujara, 19.4 ov), 4-66 (Shreyas Iyer, 25.2 ov), 5-125 (Ravindra Jadeja, 46.5 ov), 6-135 (Virat Kohli, 49.3 ov), 7-139 (Srikar Bharat, 50.5 ov), 8-253 (Ravichandran Ashwin, 80.2 ov), 9-259 (Axar Patel, 81.6 ov), 10-262 (Mohammed Shami, 83.3 ov) |
| BOWLING | O | M | R | W | ECON | WD | NB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pat Cummins | 13 | 2 | 41 | 1 | 3.15 | 0 | 0 |
| Matthew Kuhnemann | 21.3 | 4 | 72 | 2 | 3.34 | 0 | 0 |
| Nathan Lyon | 29 | 5 | 67 | 5 | 2.31 | 0 | 0 |
| Todd Murphy | 18 | 2 | 53 | 2 | 2.94 | 0 | 0 |
| Travis Head | 2 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 5.00 | 0 | 0 |
Australia 2nd Innings
| BATTING | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Usman Khawaja | c Iyer b Jadeja | 6 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 46.15 |
| Travis Head | not out | 39 | 40 | 5 | 1 | 97.50 |
| Marnus Labuschagne | not out | 16 | 19 | 3 | 0 | 84.21 |
| Extras | 0 | |||||
| TOTAL | 12 Ov (RR: 5.08) | 61/1 |
