Khawaja shows guts as Australia reach 28 for no loss at lunch

The Australian openers especially local hero Usman Khawaja displayed a lot of grit as they confidently negotiated Jasprit Bumrahs opening spell to reach 28 without loss against India during the rainaffected first session of the third Test here on SaturdayOnly 132 overs of play were possible during the first session as the weather forecast predicts more interruptions throughout the gameBumrah 08 in 6 overs bowled his least potent opening spell of the series so farDespite overcast conditions and enough bounce on offer he didnt bowl too many wickettaking deliveries in that sixover first spell while Mohammed Siraj 013 in 4 overs was guilty of occasionally pitching it shortIn case of Bumrah he rightly pitched it up but there was very little hint of swing on offer and only on few occasions was he able to square up Khawaja 19 batting 47 balls while coming round the wicket The lines werent exactly exciting and were drifting towards the legside more oftenAlso ReadPlay resumes after rain interruption on opening day of Gabba TestWith not many probing questions asked the first 25 minutes before the steady drizzle stopped proceedings for some time saw Australia reach 19 for no loss While Nathan McSweeney 4 batting 33 balls defended dourly Khawaja did pull Siraj for a boundary before the break and added one more after play resumedSiraj was removed after a threeover first spell and it was Akash Deep 02 in 32 overs who looked good first up keeping the ball on the offstump channel with his stock delivery that would dart in to put batters in uncomfortable positionsBut where Australia won the session was how Khawaja dealt with Bumrah He defended well by dropping his bottom hand and trying to play as late as possible The balls that went past Khawajas outside edge werent about being beaten rather he kept the bat close to his body allowing the ball to deviate past the willow He only played deliveries that were bowled into his bodyHe knew that if they can manage Bumrahs first spell which is generally between six to eight overs they can dominate other bowlersThe second rain break came due to a sharper spell of showers just as Akash and especially Siraj in his second spell began pitching the ball further up and started using angles wellThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever