Australia 28 for 0 (Khawaja 19*, McSweeney 4*) vs India
Solely 13.2 overs had been doable on a rain-hit first day in Brisbane, the place India strove with out success after selecting to bowl first within the third Border-Gavaskar Take a look at match.
Overcast situations and a grassy pitch prompted India to insert Australia after profitable their third straight toss, and maybe current historical past knowledgeable their choice too, with the group bowling first having gained six of the final seven Exams at this venue. It took some time for India’s quicks to search out their lengths, nevertheless, and the openers seemed largely untroubled within the first 5.3 overs earlier than a drizzle despatched the gamers off the sphere, with Usman Khawaja placing away something a contact too straight or brief whereas attending to 13 off 22 balls.
Play resumed after a half-hour interruption, and the bowlers started to ask extra questions, shifting their lengths fuller and discovering extra motion. Akash Deep, who got here into the aspect instead of Harshit Rana, seemed significantly spectacular as first change, swinging and nipping the ball into the right-handed Nathan McSweeney and getting the odd ball to climb awkwardly too.
However simply as the competition was starting to warmth up, with India conceding solely 9 runs in 7.5 overs after the break, the rain returned, this time with larger depth. The fast-draining Gabba outfield promised a fast resumption as and when the rain stopped, however the anticipate that to occur dragged on and on, taking in each the lunch and tea breaks. The downpour relented at round 3 pm however returned quickly after. Play was finally referred to as off at 4.13pm.
Other than Akash Deep, India additionally introduced Ravindra Jadeja into their aspect for his first look of the sequence, instead of R Ashwin. This variation meant that they had performed three totally different spinners in every of the primary three Exams. For Australia, Josh Hazlewood returned after recovering from his aspect pressure, displacing Scott Boland from the tempo assault.
