Head and Smith hammer centuries to put Australia in control of third India Test

Twin century-makers Travis Head and Steve Smith put on a magnificent fourth-wicket partnership as Australia reached a commanding 405-7 at stumps on day two of the third Test against India on Sunday.

Head scored a blistering 152 and Smith a gritty 101 at the Gabba in Brisbane to put Australia in a strong position to go 2-1 up in the five-Test series.

With rain forecast over the next three days, India seem to have virtually no chance of winning the match and can only realistically hope for a draw.

But overall, it was a day to forget for India who were taken to cleaners easily, with no plan to counter the threat from Head, the lack of bowling depth and absence of proactive field settings coming under the scanner yet again.

After all but 13.2 overs of the first day were washed out on Saturday, India started strongly with three wickets in the first hour.

But Head and Smith batted India out of the game despite a superb spell from pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah (5-72) after tea with the second new ball.

“The way he can put the bowlers under pressure from the outset is incredible,” Smith said of Head, who smacked a sparkling 140 in a big Australia win in the second Test.

“It’s nice to get into a partnership with him. The scoreboard moves so quickly.”

At the close of play, Alex Carey was on 45 and Mitchell Starc was on seven.

Head, who hadn’t scored a run in his previous three innings at the Gabba, looked to be playing on a different surface to his teammates.

While the other Australian batsmen struggled, Head came out firing, smashing an increasingly demoralised Indian attack to all parts of the ground.

The visitors bowled a lot straighter to Head than they did in Adelaide in the second Test but he was watchful early and punished any loose deliveries.

He brought up his century off 115 balls and his 150 off 157, hitting 18 fours in the process.

Smith’s innings was in stark contrast to Head’s.

He looked badly out of touch early, playing and missing multiple times and was lucky to survive several lbw shouts.

But as his innings progressed he looked more and more confident, playing with far more fluidity once he passed 50.

He brought up his 33rd Test century and his first in 18 months to a rapturous reception from the big Gabba crowd.

“It was nice to get to three figures, it’s been a little while,” Smith said.

“You need a bit of luck playing on these surfaces and I think I got a bit of luck early on.

“It’s been pretty challenging, the new ball’s been doing a fair bit on most of the wickets we’ve been playing on.”

He fell soon after reaching his ton, edging Bumrah to Rohit Sharma at first slip with the score on 316.

Australia resumed the day at 28-0 and lost the wickets of Usman Khawaja (21), Nathan McSweeney (9) and Marnus Labuschagne (12) in the extended first session. But Head and Smith’s partnership of 241 put India firmly on the back foot until Bumrah struck back with the new ball.

He was far more potent than the other Indian bowlers, who pitched too short for long periods, and had his fourth wicket when Mitchell Marsh was caught by Virat Kohli at second slip for five.

One run later Head finally departed, edging Bumrah to wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant to leave Australia 327-6. India’s bowling coach Morne Morkel said that while Head was in superb form, the visitors’ attack had strayed from the game plan.

“From overs 50 to 80 is where we fall short, leaking runs a bit, so that’s where we need to get better,” he said.

“I thought first up this morning we were pretty good and at 3-70, get two more (wickets) in the scorebook and we’re right back in the game.

“We’ve got the game plans, but executing those game plans with the softer ball is an area we have to focus on.”

Agencies

Brief Scores:

Australia 405/7 in 101 overs (Travis Head 152, Steve Smith 101; Jasprit Bumrah 5-72, Nitish Kumar Reddy 1-65) against India.