India was made to wait before the inevitable wrapup of Australia’s innings. Not by Carey or Lyon, who both wafted unconvincingly at wide deliveries; but by Starc and Hazelwood, of all people. The latter has no pretensions to batsmanship, but he is a stout competitor in all weathers. And Starc? He has been horribly out of form with the bat; but his highest Test score is 99, and against India too. Their last-ditch stand of 25 – the highest of the entire innings – occupied well over an hour and kept the visitors waiting until Starc flailed once too often and holed out. His 26 – also the innings top score – was a fine effort, and Hazelwood also deserves praise for getting in behind the line and not losing his head.
And yet. When your no.9 top-scores, it say much about the other batsmen, and none of it complimentary. Worse, their stubborn resistance told India that the pitch was quietening down by the hour. And so it proved. Hazelwood was tight and accurate. His ten overs have cost just nine runs. Lyon was busy and occasionally demanding. Starc beat the bat repeatedly, but failed to gain the requisite edges. Cummins and Marsh proved broken reeds with the ball. The former was reduced to bowling Labuschagne’s brisk bouncers before the close. And India? Jaiswal and Rahul batted, and batted, and batted.
By stumps they had reached 0/172. Neither looked in much danger, although Jaiswal edged Starc to Khawaja, who spilled it. Jaiswal is a breath of fresh air in this team. He is young, surprisingly patient (given his stellar IPL form), and adaptable. Clearly he had taken due notice of India’s first-innings error and played mostly deep in his crease, looking to pick off the shorter ball when it arrived. And Rahul was Patience on a Monument. His unbeaten 62 has taken over four hours, and more than 150 deliveries. He will not care a jot. There is plenty of time to set the home side an impossible target. Don’t expect a declaration any time soon, however. The pitch is flattening out into a concrete aerodrome; Perth’s notorious crevasses are not expected until Whitsuntide; and anything under 400 is gettable. If Australia can restrict the target to that, they will feel fortunate.