Melbourne: Jasprit Bumrah’s knack of coming up with magic deliveries in crunch situations kept India alive after Australia’s top-order, headlined by teen debutant Sam Konstas’ stroke-filled half-century, guided the hosts to 311 for 6 on the opening day of the fourth Test here on Thursday.
If Konstas’ audacious 60 off 65 balls enthralled the near sell-out crowd of over 80,000 at the MCG during a humid morning session, Bumrah’s (3/75 in 21 overs) deception of length to dismiss Travis Head (0) also had its takers as chants of ‘Boom, Boom, Booooomraaaaaaah’ reverberated through the stands.
Coming into the Test with back-to-back hundreds, Head couldn’t judge the length of a Bumrah delivery that was pitched slightly fuller than what the batter expected. He shouldered his arms trusting the bounce but the 66.2 overs old Kookaburra nipped back to clip the off-bail.
In the next over, he removed an out-of-form Mitchell Marsh (4), having got Usman Khawaja (57 off 121 balls) with the half-tracker in the post-lunch session.
The first two sessions, however, belonged to Australia with senior players Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne (72 off 145 balls) and Steve Smith (68 batting, 111 balls) scoring half-centuries.
The final session was all about Bumrah magic. The Indian spearhead didn’t let the hosts completely walk away with the game which they threatened to do at one stage.
He now has 24 wickets in the series. With Mohammed Siraj (0/69 in 15 overs) off-colour, Bumrah didn’t have much support save off-spinner Washington Sundar (1/37 in 12 overs), who bowled a containing line.
Akash Deep (1/59 in 19 overs) though got Alex Carey with the second new ball at the fag end of the day.
Even Ravindra Jadeja (1/54 in 14 overs) leaked runs despite getting Konstas out and Nitish Reddy, the batting all-rounder, was only used before the second new ball was taken.
‘Sam Jams at the G’
The morning was owned by the precocious 19-year-old from New South Wales.
Konstas didn’t show any nerves during his scintillating knock, which comprised of two sixes off Bumrah.
He also didn’t mind a good scrap with India’s superstar Virat Kohli, whose shoulder brush with the 19-year-old led to a brief confrontation.
In fact, Bumrah was hit for a six for the first time in a Test since Cameron Green hit him for one back in 2021. The gap between Konstas’ first six, which was a lap scoop, and the one that Green hit three years ago was 4000 legal Test match deliveries.
After a conventional lap scoop for maximum, Konstas also hit a reverse lap scoop towards third man for another boundary. The second six was pummelled over mid-on.
The way he attacked the Indian bowling with gusto gave his veteran opening partner Khawaja a chance to get back to form with a patient half-century.
But Khawaja would be really annoyed with himself as he couldn’t time a pull shot off a Bumrah half-tracker, which went straight into KL Rahul’s hands in the post-lunch session.
The duo added 89 runs in such quick time that Labuschagne and last match’s centurion Smith didn’t need to show any urgency.
For Konstas, it all began with a few play and misses off Bumrah’s opening over but as soon as the teenager got his first couple of runs, things changed dramatically.
The fearlessness of youth stood out on the big stage as Konstas pulled off the lap-scoop against Bumrah before smashing him over mid-on for another maximum.
The fans and experts alike were forced to think the last time Bumrah (1/50 in 15 overs) was hit for two sixes in his first spell of a Test match. They couldn’t because it never happened in a first spell.
The stump mic caught Bumrah saying “Beginner’s Luck” but Konstas seemed to have enough wares to answer his probing queries. And it was laced with a lot of spunk as he got into a verbal duel with Kohli after their shoulders brushed while crossing each other.
He often shuffled towards leg-stump to make room and on one occasion, crunched Bumrah past cover.
Mohammed Siraj was welcomed into the attack with a loud round of boos as he sledged the youngster due to his unconventional hitting style.
In all, Konstas hit six fours apart from the two maximums. Only Akash bowled a good channel among the pacers as Siraj was guilty of going too full or too short.
As Australia scored at more than a fair clip, skipper Rohit Sharma had to introduce Ravindra Jadeja (1/33 in 11 overs) in the 16th over to at least stem the flow of runs before it went out of hand.
The decision did pay dividends as the seasoned spinner got an arm ball to skid through with the angle to trap Konstas in front.
Khawaja and Labuschagne then added 65 for the second wicket with the Pakistan-born opener hitting Akash for a couple of boundaries to complete his first fifty of the series.
