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On Sunday, December 15, Australia put up a dominant show in the third Test of the five-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) series after ninth Test hundred from Travis Head and 33rd century from Steve Smith at The Gabba in Brisbane. Resuming the innings at 28/0 on Sunday after Day 1 saw rain play a spoilsport with only 13.2 overs being bowled, Head and Smith guided the hosts to put 400 plus runs on the board.
On Day 2 of the third Test, Indian pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah cut short Australian openers’ innings as Usman Khawaja and Nathan McSweeney departed having scored 21 off 54 and 9 off 49 respectively. Marnus Labuschagne (12 off 55) also could not replicate his performance from second Test as he was sent packing with Virat Kohli completing a catch at second slip.
Travis Head and Steve Smith stitch 241-run partnership; help Australia put 405 at Stumps on Day 2
Coming in to bat when the Aussie scorecard read 75/3, Travis Head carried his form from Adelaide Test with fantastic strokeplay as he notched his third Test hundred from last six innings against India. He also reached his ninth Test hundred before falling off Jasprit Bumrah’s over having scored 152 off 160 deliveries. Smith also departed quickly after notching his 33rd Test ton, first in 18 months with Rohit Sharma taking a clean catch. Thereafter none of the Aussie batters had a rather long stay, expect Alex Carey, who steadied the inning and was joined in by Mitchell Starc.
Alex Carey's quickfire 45 off 47 deliveries helped Australia cross the 400-run mark before on-field umpire Richard Kettleborough called for stumps. For India, Jasprit Bumrah was the lone warrior, scalping five wickets, reaching his 12th wicket haul. Mohammed Siraj and Nitish Kumar Reddy also found themselves among wickets, picking one each.
