Michael Clarke shone bright on a truncated day of cloud cover and persistent drizzle at the Adelaide Oval on Wednesday.
Braving a back injury that demanded pain-killing injections, the Australian captain, restricted in his movements, carved out an innings of 128 that dripped with character.
And Steve Smith, organised, assured, and growing in his repertoire of strokes, was batting on 162 as Australia progressed to a commanding 517 for seven on the second day of the first Test in the Border-Gavaskar series.
Multiple interruptions
In all, only 30.4 overs of play was possible on a day of multiple interruptions. Smith and Clarke were together for 30 of those, adding 163.
It was lion-hearted of Clarke to come out to bat – at the risk of aggravating an injury - in the morning.
His footwork, not surprisingly, was limited but the Indian bowlers operated poorly at the Aussie skipper. The pacemen needed to pitch the ball up and force Clarke to use his feet – this would have put his back under enormous strain – but instead bowled short enabling the Australian captain to cut, slash, whip and guide the ball over the cordon.
Common-sense bowling, not an elaborate strategy, was the need of the hour.
The conditions – the sky was covered by clouds – also demanded a fuller length from the Indians allowing the ball to swing. This was not a typical Australian pitch where a three-quarters length would work for the Indian seamers.
By opting to walk in again – he had retired hurt at 60 on Tuesday - Clarke was putting his participation in the rest of the series on the line.
Given the mental trauma he was under following the passing away of Phillip Hughes, it was a fulfilling occasion for Clarke when he reached his 28th Test century. He took in the moment in a subdued manner, introspecting.
Clarke coming to the crease denied the Indian pacemen the opportunity to have a crack at the lower order and the tail when the second new ball was still fresh. To Clarke’s credit – the ordinary Indian bowling should not diminish his effort — he innovated with some effective ‘stand and deliver’ stuff.
He walked back to a rousing ovation after being picked up at square-leg off leg-spinner Karn Sharma in the dying moments of the day.
However, Smith, with his refined technique, promises to be a sound all-round batsman with the temperament to match his ability. His backfoot play, punches through covers in particular, is reminiscent of some formidable Australian batsmen from the past.
When the 25-year-old Smith reached his fifth Test hundred, he quietly ambled to the spot – square off the wicket – where Phillip Hughes’s baggy green cap No. 408 was inscribed to celebrate the feat. Hughes has been in the consciousness of the players and the crowd in this Test and when the Aussie total got to 408, the spectators rose as one to applaud.
Smith cut loose after reaching his century, almost blowing bowler Varun Aaron’s hands away with an explosive straight hit. An inside-out cover-drive off Mohammed Shami rocketed to the fence.
The short-pitched balls were pulled and swatted away. The Indian pace pack, that requires Umesh Yadav’s incision, struggled. Shami and Aaron, despite his odd spirited delivery, leaked runs; Ishant was relatively tight but pressure had to be maintained from both ends to force mistakes.
Although Karn was predictable with his methods, he operated better as the day progressed. He delivered from a quick arm action – the leg-spinner did not spin the ball enough to bowl the teasing middle-and-off line nor did he send down a potent googly – but at least displayed the willingness to flight.
Karn was unlucky when ’keeper Wriddhiman Saha, otherwise tidy, fluffed a stumping with Smith, on 131, yards out. Later, Smith was put down by Cheteshwar Pujara at square-leg and Ishant at fine-leg, off the leg-spinner.
Apart from being partly cloudy on Thursday, the forecast for the remainder of the Test is good.
Scoreboard:
Australia — 1st innings: C. Rogers c Dhawan b Ishant 9 (22b, 1x4), D. Warner c Ishant b Karn 145 (163b, 19x4), S. Watson c Dhawan b Aaron 14 (33b, 3x4), M. Clarke c Pujara b Karn 128 (163b, 18x4), S. Smith (batting) 162 (231b, 21x4), M. Marsh c Kohli b Aaron 41 (87b, 5x4), N. Lyon b Shami 3 (14b), B. Haddin c Saha b Shami 0 (5b), M. Johnson (batting) 0 (4b); Extras (lb-4, w-9, nb-2): 15; Total (for seven wkts. in 120 overs): 517.
Fall of wickets: 1-50 (Rogers), 2-88 (Watson), 3-258 (Warner), 4-345 (Marsh), 5-352 (Lyon), 6-354 (Haddin), 7-517 (Clarke).
India bowling: Shami 24-2-120-2, Aaron 23-1-136-2, Ishant 27-5-85-1, Karn 33-1-143-2, Vijay 13-3-29-0.
