Ton-up head, Smith tango despite Bumrah’s five in the Brisbane Test

Brisbane: The Gabbatoir was once the most intimidating cricket venue in the world. The first Test of Australia’s home season was usually held here to set the pace for the tour. The wicket was fast, the crowd was raucous and there was no more belligerent team in the world than Australia.

It’s in the heart of the city, and when you walk to the stadium in the morning you’ll meet so many others – everyone who’s desperate to make some noise, everyone who’s happy to stick around and not flow quietly by like the Brisbane River. The stadium itself is located on Vulture Street (the sign outside the Gabba reads “Vulture St. One way”), but the real celebration only begins after Australia beat their opponents on the field.

However, a venue is only as intimidating as its team. And in recent years, Australia has had a 50-50 record at the Gabba, having had two wins and two losses since 2021. But on Sunday that old feeling returned, the buzz returned, to an extent, as Travis Head (152 runs off 160 balls) and Steve Smith (101 off 190) beat India in different ways during a 241-run stand.

At the end of the second day Australia had reached odds of 405/7 with Alex Carey (45) and Mitchell Starc (7) at the crease.

This is a series that will be played in two parts – one when Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah bowls and the other when Australian left-hander Travis Head bats.

The first session got off to a rousing start thanks to Bumrah, who somehow just seems to know what is needed on a particular wicket. The Australian openers have been vigilant and at times against the brilliant pacer, which is a counterproductive strategy.

He will work the batsman until he finally gets them and he did that with Usman Khawaja (21) and Nathan McSweeney (9) in a first move that read 5-3-4-2. It was the kind of pressure that the Indian pacer seems to apply at the drop of a hat.

To be fair, the others also helped in that first session. Akash Deep and Mohammed Siraj went over the edge many times but just couldn’t find it. When Nitish Reddy finally defeated Marnus Labuschagne (12 off 55), Australia were at their slowest at 75/3 after 33.2 overs. Just a little over two runs and an over.

That was the signal for Head to come in and do his thing. The lefty has been doing this the entire series and his method is really no secret anymore. He will come out, score quickly and put pressure on the opponent.

The fact that India has no clear plan against Head is worrying to say the least. The runs began to progress quickly and it took the pressure off the scoreboard from the struggling Steve Smith.

On Fox Cricket, former Australia opener David Warner was not happy with India’s preparation for Head.

“I don’t understand India’s plan to get Head out,” Warner said. “You’re making it too easy for him.”

There were a few plays and missed shots, but there were also a lot of middle shots in between. Head scored 50 from 71 balls, 100 from 115 balls and 150 from 157 balls, and with each milestone India’s shoulders seemed to sag a little.

As the partnership between Smith and Head progressed, some of the earlier hesitations in the right-hander’s batting disappeared. Finally he started playing some shots and it looked like India were out of the game. Maybe it’s already happened.

Just as we saw in Adelaide, Australia really stepped on the accelerator just before the second new ball was due. From 234/3 in the 70th over, the score rose to 297/3 in the 80th over.

“First of all, we can say he is in pretty good form,” said Indian bowling coach Morne Morkel when asked about India’s performance. “People who play like that… that way… back-to-back innings, we can only really appreciate that, but I think for us with the ball, if you look at it from over 50 to 80, even in the last game, that’s where we are at the moment somehow fell behind schedule and have slacked off a bit. So that’s an area where I think we need to get better.”

But the new ball gave Bumrah an opportunity to take a few wickets again. It was clear to see that the day had taken its toll on his pacer, but he forced himself to take another stab at a field that seemed to have flattened out nicely.

The first shot was to send back Smith (101 off 190) and he followed with the wicket of Head. He looked defeated but the joy and relief on his face as he took those wickets showed what a champion he is. His statement (6-1-21-3) towards the end of the day showed not only his skills but also his heart.

However, Australia are in a very good position on a pitch where the ball moved quite a bit for a long time. The predictions for Day 3 and Day 4 aren’t great, but games tend to move very quickly these days and India’s batsmen need to be at their best to help their team fight their way back into this game.