Bumrah keeps battle alive, Australia score 311/6 after impressive Konstas debut

Jasprit Bumrahs knack of coming up with magic deliveries in crunch situations kept India alive after Australias toporder headlined by teen debutant Sam Konstas strokefilled halfcentury guided the hosts to 311 for 6 on the opening day of the fourth Test here on ThursdayIf Konstas audacious 60 off 65 balls enthralled the near sellout crowd of over 80000 at the MCG during a humid morning session Bumrahs 375 in 21 overs deception of length to dismiss Travis Head 0 also had its takers as chants of Boom Boom Booooomraaaaaaah reverberated through the standsComing into the Test with backtoback hundreds Head couldnt judge the length of a Bumrah delivery that was pitched slightly fuller than what the batter expected He shouldered his arms trusting the bounce but the 662 overs old Kookaburra nipped back to clip the offbailIn the next over he removed an outofform Mitchell Marsh 4 having got Usman Khawaja 57 off 121 balls with the halftracker in the postlunch sessionThe first two sessions however belonged to Australia with senior players Khawaja Marnus Labuschagne 72 off 145 balls and Steve Smith 68 batting 111 balls scoring halfcenturiesThe final session was all about Bumrah magic The Indian spearhead didnt let the hosts completely walk away with the game which they threatened to do at one stageHe now has 24 wickets in the series With Mohammed Siraj 069 in 15 overs offcolour Bumrah didnt have much support save offspinner Washington Sundar 137 in 12 overs who bowled a containing lineAkash Deep 159 in 19 overs though got Alex Carey with the second new ball at the fag end of the dayEven Ravindra Jadeja 154 in 14 overs leaked runs despite getting Konstas out and Nitish Reddy the batting allrounder was only used before the second new ball was takenThe morning was owned by the precocious 19yearold from New South WalesKonstas didnt show any nerves during his scintillating knock which comprised of two sixes off BumrahHe also didnt mind a good scrap with Indias superstar Virat Kohli whose shoulder brush with the 19yearold led to a brief confrontationIn fact Bumrah was hit for a six for the first time in a Test since Cameron Green hit him for one back in 2021 The gap between Konstas first six which was a lap scoop and the one that Green hit three years ago was 4000 legal Test match deliveriesAfter a conventional lap scoop for maximum Konstas also hit a reverse lap scoop towards third man for another boundary The second six was pummelled over midonThe way he attacked the Indian bowling with gusto gave his veteran opening partner Khawaja a chance to get back to form with a patient halfcenturyBut Khawaja would be really annoyed with himself as he couldnt time a pull shot off a Bumrah halftracker which went straight into KL Rahuls hands in the postlunch sessionThe duo added 89 runs in such quick time that Labuschagne and last matchs centurion Smith didnt need to show any urgencyFor Konstas it all began with a few play and misses off Bumrahs opening over but as soon as the teenager got his first couple of runs things changed dramaticallyThe fearlessness of youth stood out on the big stage as Konstas pulled off the lapscoop against Bumrah before smashing him over midon for another maximumThe fans and experts alike were forced to think the last time Bumrah 150 in 15 overs was hit for two sixes in his first spell of a Test match They couldnt because it never happened in a first spellThe stump mic caught Bumrah saying Beginners Luck but Konstas seemed to have enough wares to answer his probing queries And it was laced with a lot of spunk as he got into a verbal duel with Kohli after their shoulders brushed while crossing each otherHe often shuffled towards legstump to make room and on one occasion crunched Bumrah past coverMohammed Siraj was welcomed into the attack with a loud round of boos as he sledged the youngster due to his unconventional hitting styleIn all Konstas hit six fours apart from the two maximums Only Akash bowled a good channel among the pacers as Siraj was guilty of going too full or too shortAs Australia scored at more than a fair clip skipper Rohit Sharma had to introduce Ravindra Jadeja 133 in 11 overs in the 16th over to at least stem the flow of runs before it went out of handThe decision did pay dividends as the seasoned spinner got an arm ball to skid through with the angle to trap Konstas in frontKhawaja and Labuschagne then added 65 for the second wicket with the Pakistanborn opener hitting Akash for a couple of boundaries to complete his first fifty of the seriesWith agency inputs