Beau Webster (left) and Steve Smith (right) had very different performances at the slip, while Rishabh Pant (centre) was hit several times while batting. (Getty Images: Cameron Spencer, AAP: Dan Himbrechts)
Beau Webster, making his Test debut, took two brilliant catches, Steve Smith took a sitter, and India’s Rishabh Pant was hit on his arms, head, back, stomach and crotch.
Here is a quick rundown of the first day of the fifth Test between Australia and India.
- Catch controversy: Kohli almost lost the golden duck
- Scorecard: View all live scores and statistics
1. Beau’s got buckets
Beau Webster made his debut alongside Steve Smith and Usman Khawaja and impressed.
The 31-year-old first-class veteran scored the match-winning goal in just eight overs, while Yashasvi Jaiswal was fit in the defensive line.
The ball would not have reached second baseman Smith, but the tall Tasmanian moved to his right, grabbed the ball with both hands and made a successful catch, beginning his Test career in beautiful fashion.
2. Pant turns down a single, then Kohli nicks off
Virat Kohli tried to hold on for a long innings after third umpire Joel Wilson ruled a wide ball fell before Steve Smith blocked it to Marnus Labuschagne.
Kohli scored 17 runs off 69 balls in the innings but was desperately trying to find his groove.
In the 68th over, Kohli hit the ball to the leg side and called on his partner Rishabh Pant for a quick single.
But Pant refused to comply and sent Kohli back to face another ball from Scott Boland.
The next ball will be his last.
Kohli’s weakness in hitting the edge of the ball was his undoing again in this series as he hit the ball to third base where Beau Webster took another perfect catch.
In hindsight, the decision to reject a single was costly for both the Indian team and Kohli.
3. Smith drops a sitter in the slips
The aforementioned Steve Smith’s brilliant performance helped Virat Kohli to get not out, so it’s hard to imagine the Australian star slipping up in a routine catch.
Unfortunately for Smith, bowler Scott Boland and the Australian team, the sitter was bowled.
Indian third baseman Boland caught the ball on the outside edge of Ravindra Jadeja. The ball went to second baseman Smith, who was at waist height.
But Smith appeared to get himself into an awkward position, with the ball hitting the bottom of his palm and falling to the ground.
The catch would have put India in a tough spot by dropping to 5-76 on the first day.
This wasn’t the first time Smith dropped a routine catch this series.
Impressively, the Australian player caught a similar ball off the edge of KL Rahul in the first ball of the fourth day at the Gabba.
The third Test match ended in a draw after more than half of the matches were cancelled due to rain. On that day, the Australian team tried to take wickets quickly in order to continue the match.
4. Rishabh’s pain
You know it’s a bad match when a hit to the helmet is the least painful blow. (Getty Images: Morgan Hancock/Cricket Australia)
When Rishabh Pant is batting, the game rarely moves slowly, and that was the case even when he had trouble scoring in the afternoon session.
His retreat at the non-batsman’s end led to Kohli’s undoing, he was nearly chopped down when he tried to knock Pat Cummins off the ground, and then was on the firing line when Mitchell Starc came up to bowl.
A ball flew up and hit Rishabh on his left arm, causing a bruise. He tried to handle it like a boxer, not wanting his opponent to see him get hit, but eventually had to seek treatment from his trainer, though it’s anyone’s guess how much of an impact the ice pack had.
Pant had to call for a trainer as he tried to shake off a blow to his biceps. (Getty Images: Cameron Spencer)
The next blow was even more horrific, hitting the grille of his helmet and bouncing off his shoulder. The coach was called out again, and Stark quickly checked on him.
Under the shadow of the tea trees, he led with 19 overs off 63 before bursting into action, hitting Beau Webster out for the first six overs of the match.
However, Rishabh still had enough time to take more blows, the most painful of which was probably when Cummings attacked diagonally and hit him in the crotch, breaking him in half.
5. Boland’s near hat-trick
Earlier in the day, Scott Boland came close to a hat-trick when Virat Kohli took the first ball, but the crowd favourite reignited the excitement at the SCG in the final over of the day.
Can’t get enough cricket from Grandstand?
Listen to the latest cricket news, interviews and analysis from the ABC team on the Grandstand Cricket Podcast.
After tea, Boland started his third over and made it almost unplayable for Ravindra Jadeja and Rishabh Pant.
After an extremely slow period of partnership, Rishabh finally tried to increase the pace of his run and sent a high pull pass to Pat Cummins in midfield.
The next ball, MCG century scorer Nitish Kumar Reddy hit the ball towards the outfield and Steve Smith caught it at second slip.
The hat-trick ball was perfect – it flew diagonally from Washington Sundar and nearly hit the post as it passed to Alex Carey, who somehow managed to get the ball over his head. Fortunately, there was nothing on the ball.
6. Snicko in the spotlight again
After the Yashasvi Jaiswal drama in Melbourne, nothing on Snicko was overturned by a clear deviation, with Washington Sundar defeated by the slightest of confusion late in the first day.
A gentle push down the leg side brought out strong protests from bowler Pat Cummins and wicketkeeper Alex Carey.
a little snicko spike led to Washington Sundar’s ejection. (Twitter: @7Cricket)
No one seemed to really think Washington had grabbed the ball, but Australia, seemingly out of hope, looked back.
The call proved to be a masterstroke, as third umpire Joel Wilson ruled, based on Snicko’s evidence, that the ball had grazed Washington’s glove.
Snicko’s hit showed a slight spike as the ball approached Washington’s glove, but Snicko did not record a flatline before the noticeable spike.
From a frontal camera angle there may be visible deviation, but it’s hard to say with any confidence that it hits the glove.
Wilson, however, believes the small spike as the ball approached the glove was enough to overturn the on-field umpire’s call.
Former International Cricket Council Umpire of the Year Simon Taufel told Seven News he supported Wilson’s decision.
“What Joel Wilson was looking for was to snap the ball through the glove one frame, and he did that. There was nothing else there, the ball was under the glove,” Taufel said.
“According to the rules, the third umpire had every right to determine that this was conclusive evidence that the ball was in the glove.”
The ABC of SPORT
Sports content that makes you think.. or makes you not think. A newsletter sent every Saturday. Your information will be processed in accordance with the ABC Privacy Collection Statement.