Adelaide: India tottered to 128 for 5 in their second innings, still trailing Australia by 29 runs at stumps on day two of the pink ball Test here on Saturday.
The pace trio of Mitchell Starc, Scott Boland and Pat Cummins ripped through the Indian top order to put Australia in the drivers seat after Travis Head (140) and Marnus Labuschagne (64) helped the hosts take a sizeable 157-run first-innings lead.
The Indian batters struggled to find answers as the Australia quicks sizzled with the pink ball under the lights.
The Adelaide Oval was throbbing with life through the three sessions of play as Head dominated India with his wide range of strokes on way to 140 of 141 balls before the trio of Scott Boland (2/39), Mitchell Starc (1/49) and Pat Cummins (2/33) left the visitors in a spot of bother at 128 for five in their second innings and trailing by 29 runs.
At stumps, Rishabh Pant was living dangerously on a 25-ball 28 and Nitish Reddy was batting on 15 off 14.
Thanks to Head’s eighth Test century, which he reached in 111 balls after toying with the Indian bowling attack, Australia ended with 337 all out, and more importantly, a 157-run first-innings lead.
The hosts are looking to restore parity in the five-match series after the 295-run hammering in the opener at Perth.
Head’s hundred, the fastest in a pink ball Test, reduced Marnus Labuschagne’s (64) composed half-century, coming after a lean run of form, to a mere footnote.
India lost KL Rahul (7) early in their second innings and Yashasvi Jaiswal (24) was done in by a peach of a delivery from Boland, who again struck with his first delivery that had a hint of late movement.
Boland then had Virat Kohli (11) caught behind after he got one to land right in the channel which has been troubling the Indian batting mainstay for a while.
