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India's ace speedster Jasprit Bumrah continued to be a headache for the Australian batters as Steven Smith and Travis Head led the resistance on Day 2 of the third Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Brisbane on Sunday.
At the stroke of Lunch, Australia managed to put 104/3 on the board, with Steven Smith and Travis Head unbeaten with scores of 25(68) and 20(34), respectively. After the opening day was lost to rain, sun rays pierced through the clouds and fell at The Gabba, indicating a gripping day of Test cricket would be on the cards. The second day resumed with Australia's scoreboard reading 28/0 in 13.2 over and the new ball in Akash Deep's hand. A classic battle between the bat and the ball became a sight to behold, with spectators filling in the empty seats at The Gabba. Akash bowled in tandem with India's A-Lister Jasprit Bumrah, producing a breathtaking Test cricket spell that left the fans at the edge of their seats. It was Akash who created pressure from one end and Bumrah who executed his skillset to perfection. Despite his reputation in Test cricket, Usman Khawaja seemingly looked out of his wits while facing Bumrah. On the other end, McSweeney spent the majority of his time covering his stumps to negate Akash's deliveries that sharply nipped into him. Runs became scarce as Bumrah and Akash hunted for wickets. The resistance eventually came to an end when Bumrah forced out an outside edge of Khawaja (21). Bumrah struck once again and got rid of both openers when McSweeney's trust in his back-foot defence came back to haunt him. He looked to negate the delivery but didn't cover his line well. In the process, he gave away a thick outside edge, which flew straight to Virat Kohli, who was stationed at the second slip. With Australia reduced to 39/2, Steven Smith and Marnus Labuschagne decided to tread with caution. They left deliveries, which landed in the fourth and the fifth stump channels and attacked the ones closer to the leg stump. As the partnership started to swell, the level of frustration on the field slowly rose in the Indian players simultaneously. With the Indian seamers looking for a breakthrough, Mohammed Siraj thought out of the box and tried to pull off a Stuart Broad by changing the bails on the stumps. Labuschagne (12) quickly put the bails back into their position, but it wasn't enough to change his fate. Young Nitish Kumar Reddy tempted Labuschagne to go for a drive shot by pitching his delivery up. The Australian was lured into the shot but only managed to get a thick outside edge, which once again flew to Kohli. The 37-run partnership ended, and Bumrah came back into the attack with Akash. Akash notched up and produced some fiery deliveries, especially against Travis Head. After witnessing Akash's precision, even the Australian southpaw was left with a smile on his face. The duo managed to see off the rest of the session and ensured Australia didn't suffer any more casualties. Brief Score: Australia 104/3 (Steven Smith 25*, Travis Head 20*; Jasprit Bumrah 2-26) vs India. (ANI)
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