The heaviness of the atmosphere 32 years ago evoked the expectations for this one. Australia’s fight to erase a 1-0 deficit, after their battering in Perth, has been termed the most important of all matches for Pat Cummins’ gifted but ageing generation.
Victory here will provide parity in the series, revive the Word Test Championship campaign and offer the hope of a 1-2 punch against India, with the Gabba Test to follow soon afterwards. But defeat would leave Australia needing to do what only Sir Donald Bradman’s 1936-37 team have achieved in all Test history.
The lights go out at Adelaide Oval.Credit: Getty Images
And even after Starc had swung and seamed his way to 6-48, his best Test figures of all, and Boland had assisted things with two top order victims, the game was still left very open by a tally of 180.
After all, 150 had proven enough in Perth for India to take a decent lead on the way to an enormous victory.
All day long, spectators and pundits speculated on how the biggest looming factor in the game was the presence among the tourists of the outstanding bowler on either side: Bumrah. Curtly Ambrose held that mantle 31 years ago, and his supremacy would allow West Indies to finish an undulating match and series in triumph.
No lesser judge than Bradman went on to describe Ambrose as the “best fast bowler they have ever sent us”.
It is impossible to know what Bradman would have made of Bumrah. But his somewhat smaller shadow was also cast over the first day’s play, as every Indian run gave him more to bowl at with the pink Kookaburra in that muggy air.
Khawaja navigated Bumrah’s first over with skill, pinging a boundary to square leg when he aimed for pads and stumps, but more than a third of the day’s play still remained. But he did not quite survive the first spell, fencing an away seamer into the slips and exposing Labuschagne.
McSweeney’s third Test innings was not the most fluent, but in these circumstances, fluency was subservient to survival. He evaded a slips chance that Rishabh Pant diverted away from Rohit Sharma, then unfurled a decent pull shot or two.
Labuschagne, meanwhile, remained intent on keeping his bat out of harm’s way until he was well established. As it was, the openers ensured that Labuschagne only needed to get through seven balls from Bumrah before Rohit rested his spearhead.
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He fought 18 scoreless balls before taking two off his pads, and a couple of balls later glanced four from Siraj. Another followed off Nitish Kumar Reddy – suddenly Labuschagne had the bowlers chasing him.
Indian frustration at meeting Australian resistance was not far beneath the surface. An errant beer snake, carried across Labuschagne’s eyeline as he faced up to Siraj, brought an explosion from the bowler, who threw angrily at the striker.
Labuschagne, now well into the contest, cuffed the next delivery through gully to the boundary, bringing one of the biggest roars of the night.
By stumps, McSweeney was closing on a first Test 50 and Australia nearing 1-100. In difficult conditions, after a nightmare start to the series, the top order had kept the lights on – those phone torch flickers giving way to vibrant LED for Cummins’ team.
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