After toiling hard in the heat on the first day of the Gabba Test, the Australian bowlers struck back impressively on the morning of day-two by picking the remaining six Indian wickets for 97 runs. The hero of the Australian fightback was 23-year old debutant fast bowler, Josh Hazlewood.
With the wickets of Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli already in his bag overnight, Hazlewood added three more to his kitty to claim a five-wicket haul on debut. He finished with 23.2-6-68-5 as India were all-out for 408.
No wonder then, that Hazlewood felt he was living a dream. “It gives me massive confidence,” he said at the end of the second day. “I felt like I was bowling really well (coming into this Test), even though most of it was with the white ball – I played only one Shield game – I felt like the ball was coming out the best it ever has. And now, to put a performance like this in a Test match is very good for the confidence.”
The Aussies were at sea on the first day after MS Dhoni’s batsmen vindicated his decision to bat first on a pitch known for its pace and bounce. The heat got to the pacers as they struggled to stand their ground in the middle, and that affected their discipline in bowling.
Hazlewood said they had gathered at the end of the day and formed fresh plans for this morning. “We started a bit hesitant, through the middle we bowled really well and towards the end we bowled some of our worse balls. We bowled well in patches yesterday,” he summed up Australia’s bowling performance on the opening day.
“Today in the morning we came back and bowled beautifully. We bowled a bit fuller and on the fourth stump line, which was our plan. We got a few nicks back to Haddin, so yes, the plan worked.”
Hazlewood himself struggled with cramps in the scorching Brisbane heat on his first day out in Test cricket. He said it was the worst he had ever experienced.
“I’ve never experienced cramps like that before. I was a bit nervous in the morning yesterday and the physio thought that contributed to it. It was pretty tough at that time but I got out there today and got through. Very happy to come out on the other side of that and with the way I bowled today.”
By: BCCI
