India vs Australia 2nd Test: Day 3 final scores, highlights, analysis and talking points

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Liam O'Loughlin
• 9 min read
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Australia have again been torn apart on the third day of a Test match, with another horror batting collapse seeing them fall behind 2-0 in the four-game series and allowing India to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. 

Steve Smith, Matt Renshaw and Pat Cummins were all dismissed due to poor batting, while the rest of the Aussie lineup struggled to defend the likes of Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin.

After a solid day two following a Nathan Lyon five-fa and some Travis Head power-hitting, the visitors completely capitulated with the game on the line. 

With a fourth innings chase of just 115, India were never in doubt and cruised home mid-way through the second session to lock up an unassailable series lead. 

Earlier in the game, David Warner was ruled out due to concussion, with Matt Renshaw replacing him in the side, and is no guarantee for the do-or-die third match of the series.

DAY 1 TALKING POINTS | DAY 2 TALKING POINTS

The Sporting News had highlights, analysis and talking points throughout the day's play below.

India vs Australia 2nd Test final scores

AUSTRALIA (1st Innings)

263 (78.4)

Khawaja 81

Shami 4/60

INDIA (1st Innings)

262 (83.3)

Patel 74

Lyon 5/67
AUSTRALIA (2nd Innings)

113 (31.1)

Head 43

Jadeja 7/42
INDIA (2nd Innings)

4/118 (26.4)

Cheteshwar Pujara 31*

Nathan Lyon 2/49

India vs Australia Day 3 talking points and analysis

Australian greats condemn 'frenetic' series-defining collapse

Allan Border and Matthew Hayden have both condemned the Australian batting lineup, with the visitors now down 2-0 in the four-game series against India. 

After starting their second innings with plenty of aggression and promise on Saturday evening, the Aussies lost eight wickets for just 28 runs inside the first session on Sunday and were handily-defeated by the hosts.

Speaking on Fox Cricket, Border took aim at the panicked nature of the batting and the continued failures with the sweep and reverse-sweep shots. 

“I’m angry about the way they went about it today,” he said.

“It was panicky, frenetic sort of batting - nobody got in there to stem the flow with some good defensive cricket.

"They were all just getting out playing sweep shot, reverse sweep to just about every ball.

“You can’t get away with that on that sort of track. You’ve got to have a method.”

Pat Cummins and Steve Smith both fell in disappointing fashion, while wicket-keeper Alex Carey was sent on his way reverse-sweeping for the third time in just four innings during the series.

Hayden struggled to hide his disappointment and took aim at the disastrous performance.

“These are world-class players, and they’ve got everything to win and everything to lose in this session,” he said on Fox Cricket. 

“They did it so well last evening in those few overs. Strong scoring rate, good defence, proactive batting - but what we’ve seen here is a disaster for Australia.

"They’ve gone way over the edge in terms of their aggressive play.”

Veterans help India cruise to day three victory 

With a low fourth innings chase and almost three days to spare, you could have forgiven India for taking the cautious approach.

But that quite simply isn't Rohit Sharma's game, with the skipper punishing the Aussie bowlers early in the innings to set up an easy eight-wicket victory in Delhi, taking the game into his own hands and eliminating any chance of an upset. 

The opener blasted 31 from just 20 deliveries, hitting three fours and two maximums in an attacking cameo before being run out. 

Cheteshwar Pujara was a lot more patient, but was able to help steer the Indian side to a convincing six-wicket win in the second session of day three with a unbeaten knock. 

Virat Kohli was unable to see out the day however, falling to a stumping for the first time in his career thanks to some tidy work from Todd Murphy and Alex Carey. 

Ravindra Jadeja rips through fragile lineup

While the shot selection from the likes of Smith and Cummins can certainly be questioned, it's hard to take anything away from left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja.

The all-rounder has returned to the Test arena from injury like a house on fire, dominating the visitors with both bat and ball in Nagpur before coming in clutch in Delhi.

India would rather nobody else with the ball in hand than fan-favourite 'Jaddu' when the game and the series is on the line. 

Jadeja finished with figures of 7/42 from 12.1 overs and put the Indian side in a commanding position, continuing his career-long torment of Australian batsmen. 

Batting collapse costs Aussies the series as sweep shots backfire

Death, taxes and an Australian batting collapse in foreign conditions.

After a solid day with the ball that saw the visitors take a first innings lead and an attacking start from Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne, they were left reeling mid-way through the first session on day three as another batting collapse commenced.

Following the early departure of Head, Steve Smith was dismissed playing an awful sweep shot on the stumps and was trapped LBW, before partner in crime Marnus Labuschagne was knocked over soon after.

To make matters worse, Matt Renshaw - who was only returning to the side as a concussion substitute - was out cheaply and also burned a review in a poor moment for the Aussies.

Peter Handscomb would fall moments later, before skipper Pat Cummins played one of the silliest shots of all-time from just his very first ball.

Wicket-keeper Alex Carey was also out playing a sweep shot as the Aussies completely fell apart. 

In the collapse, Australia lost their final eight wickets for just 28 runs, as the Indian spinners turned the game back in their favour. 

The major issue for the visitors was their struggles with the sweep and reverse-sweep shots, which have been responsible for a quarter of their dismissals this series and half of the dismissals in the second innings of this Test. 

Head departs early after blistering start - but should he stick to opening?

After a fantastic start to his switch to the top of the order, Travis Head was dismissed inside one over on the third day of play in Delhi in a massive blow to the Aussies.

The 29-year-old had turned the game in the visitors' favour late on Saturday, coming out as a replacement for David Warner and blasting countless boundaries to set the tone for a big second innings total.

But after less than six balls - including an early boundary - Head was caught behind off the bowling of Ravichandran Ashwin and sent on his way for 43 from 46 deliveries.

Despite falling short of a half-century, it was an important knock in the context of the game and also begs the question whether Head should remain in the opening role for the remainder of this series. 

India vs Australia 2nd Test confirmed lineups

Australia: Matt Renshaw*, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Peter Handscomb, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins (c), Nathan Lyon, Todd Murphy, Matt Kuhnemann

*Concussion substitute for David Warner

India: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KS Bharat, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj

What time does India vs Australia start?

All four Test matches will begin at 3pm AEDT and 9.30am IST. 

How to watch or live stream India vs Australia

Fox Cricket will broadcast each game live and exclusive in Australia, while Star Sports holds the rights to the series in India. 

  Australia India
TV Channel Fox Cricket Star Sports
Live Stream Foxtel Go/Kayo Sports Disney+ Hotstar

 

Author(s)
Author Photo
Liam O'Loughlin
Liam is a content producer for The Sporting News Australia.
Cricket
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