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Konstas and Khawaja Provide Australia with a Strong Start
Konstas and Khawaja Provide Australia with a Strong Start
Sam Konstas got his fifty off 52 balls at MCG while Usman was stuck at 57.
Usman Khawaja has achieved the second Australian batter position. He scored a half-century and dispersed just after that but the home team kept making the decisions on a festive first day of the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne. At the time of the tea interval, they were able to score 176 for 2 with Marnush Labuschagne being able to score a half-century on its own.
After a fast-paced beginning to the Test match, the second session became more of a battle as India's fast bowlers adjusted to the softball and the slow pitch by bowling very accurate lines. Akash Deep and Jasprit Bumrah each bowled two overs without giving any runs at the start of the period after lunch until Khawaja hit the 25th ball for a boundary.
Both fast bowlers troubled the batters and created some chances, but the advantages they gained didn’t extend to the slips. Khawaja managed to guide another thick edge past the fielders behind the stumps to secure his first half-century of the innings, but runs were difficult to find. In fact, after scoring nearly 4.5 runs per over in the first session, the first hour of the second session yielded only 26 runs in 13 overs.
Rohit switched his fast bowlers and even brought in Nitish Reddy for a short two-over spell, but he still couldn't get a breakthrough. Eventually, the 65-run partnership ended with a simple delivery at the start of Bumrah's next spell, when Khawaja accidentally hit a harmless short ball to mid-wicket. Khawaja's out for 57 surprised even Bumrah, who now had five dismissals against the Australian opener in the series.
In the meantime, Labuschagne faced a rigorous test from Mohammed Siraj, even though he also had a couple of painful blows to the crotch, yet he managed to find ways to score singles and inch closer to another half-century.
Earlier in the morning session, after Pat Cummins won his first toss of the series, the Australian team got off to a strong start, with the debutant making an impressive 60 runs off just 65 balls in a thrilling attack on India's bowling. The 19-year-old displayed his fearlessness by reverse-scooping and taking on the fast bowlers, racing to his score before Ravindra Jadeja finally took his wicket.
Before the match, Konstas hinted that he had a strategy in mind to take on the top-ranked Jasprit Bumrah. When the game began, Bumrah got the better of him, beating the edge of his bat four times in the early stages. In response, the young batsman attempted a couple of reverse scoops but ended up missing entirely, only making contact with the air above Melbourne.
However, everything changed in the seventh over when Konstas finally connected with his reverse scoops, hitting three successful shots. Two of them raced away for boundaries, and one soared over the fence—the first six Bumrah had given up in this format since the Sydney Test in 2021. This sudden shift unsettled the Indian team, prompting Bumrah to adjust his strategy and start bowling lengths more typical of white-ball cricket.
Once he got India to switch to a defensive field in the early stages of the Test match, Konstas decided to change his approach: he started backing away and driving the fast bowlers through the off-side. He confidently dispatched anything short through mid-wicket, not hesitating to hit the ball in the air. Bumrah’s opening spell of six overs went for 38 runs, with Konstas scoring 34 off the 33 balls he faced from India’s star bowler. This was significant because it meant that Usman Khawaja, who had fallen victim to Bumrah four times in this series, faced only three deliveries from him in that first spell, allowing him to settle into his innings against the other bowlers.
Konstas became the second youngest Australian to score a half-century in Test matches, reaching the milestone in just 52 balls. He celebrated this achievement by smashing Siraj for a four and then a six off the next two balls, bringing his boundary total to eight (six fours and two sixes). His impressive innings came to an end at 60 when Jadeja bowled him on the inside edge, successfully appealing for LBW, thus ending the productive 89-run opening partnership. However, the young batsman returned to the pavilion to a warm round of applause, having set a solid foundation for the rest of the Australian batting lineup, especially for Khawaja and Labuschagne, who had relatively smooth starts to their innings.
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