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BREAKING. David Warner will be ruled out. Concussed. Matthew Renshaw to play.
— Peter Lalor (@plalor) February 18, 2023
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Hello everybody and welcome to the OBO for day two of the second Test between India and Australia. We’ll be under way at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi at 9.30am local time (3pm AEDT).
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Honours went to the hosts on the opening day, but for the first time this series they didn’t have things all their own way. Australia built four handy partnerships after winning the toss and electing to bat, but none of them blossomed into the kind that can define a contest. 91/1 became 108/4, 167/4 became 168/6, and 227/6 became 263 all out.
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Most of the work was shouldered by Usman Khawaja and his reverse-sweeps, and Peter Handscomb staying leg-side of the spinning ball. There was also a timely return to form with the bat for Pat Cummins, providing rare justification of his status at No 8.
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India were typically reliable with the ball. Mohammed Shami hit an excellent length for his four wickets, in the process perhaps making Australia rue their decision to select only one frontline seamer. Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja shared the remaining wickets, continuing their stranglehold on Australia’s middle order.
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It promises to be a cat and mouse day with India in no hurry to repeat their strategy of the first Test and bat long enough once to close out the game. Australia’s trio of spinners will be put through their paces on a surface offering uneven bounce but, so far, nothing spiteful.
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Remember, you can join in by sending me an email or fly a tweet to @JPHowcroft.
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GMT”,”blockLastUpdated”:1676689034000,”blockLastUpdatedDisplay”:”02.57 GMT”,”blockFirstPublished”:1676690184000,”blockFirstPublishedDisplay”:”03.16 GMT”,”blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone”:”03.16″,”title”:”Preamble”,”contributors”:[{“name”:”Jonathan Howcroft”,”imageUrl”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/uploads/2017/09/26/Jonathan-Howcroft.jpg?width=300&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=cb5003fe5eff6155ec0853623012c25c”,”largeImageUrl”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/uploads/2017/10/06/Jonathan_Howcroft,_L.png?width=300&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=679a374e5a4d21202917588299331ddc”}],”primaryDateLine”:”Sat 18 Feb 2023 03.45 GMT”,”secondaryDateLine”:”First published on Sat 18 Feb 2023 03.16 GMT”}],”filterKeyEvents”:false,”format”:{“display”:0,”theme”:2,”design”:10},”id”:”key-events-carousel-mobile”}”>
Important events
What is the weather like in Delhi? It’s dry and still with temperatures starting in the low 20s and climbing into the high 20s. Watch the smog.
If a Test match isn’t enough for you, feel free to watch New Zealand v England here. The tourists continue to breathe new life into the old format, scoring 6 rpo as they look to put the Black Caps through a challenging fourth term.
And here it is Geoff Lemons view from the press box.
On the first day of the Delhi Test, Peter Handscomb seemed to have solved the puzzle. For a while, Usman Khawaja also found a way. On a pitch that offered sharp turn from the first ball, even if it was slow enough to sometimes play off the surface, their middle-innings partnership was worth 59, with Khawaja the steady presence helping to add 108 upfront and Handscomb in another. 94 after. A total of 263 does not equate to riches in cricket, but it was an improvement on the previous week’s capitulation in Nagpur.
Here’s the report from the close of day one.
This is a valuable opportunity to address the issue of concussion in sport and the particular challenge it presents to cricket. Replacements like this are definitely a step in the right direction.
Here’s replacement Renshaw, pouncing on the ground in full kit like a cousin of a third-rate soldier, roped in at the last minute after a stint of cooking through the village. Someone somewhere can be heard muttering “the time is coming…”.
👀 #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/8IC3cdaUMn
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) February 18, 2023
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David Warner ruled out the game with a concussion
Some notable breaking news from the Australian camp ahead of play on day two. David Warner was ruled out of the remainder of the Test with concussion after being hit on the helmet while batting yesterday. Matthew Renshaw is his replacement.
BREAKING. David Warner will be ruled out. Concussed. Matthew Renshaw to play.
— Peter Lalor (@plalor) February 18, 2023
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BREAKING. David Warner will be ruled out. Concussion. Matthew Renshaw will play.
— Peter Lalor (@plalor) February 18, 2023
Preamble
Jonathan Howcroft
Hello everyone and welcome to OBO for the second day of the second test between India and Australia. We will be underway at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi at 9.30 am. local time (3pm AEDT).
The honors went to the hosts on the opening day, but for the first time this series they didn’t have things all their own way. Australia put up four serviceable partnerships after winning the toss and electing to bat, but none of them blossomed into the kind that can define a contest. 91/1 became 108/4, 167/4 became 168/6 and 227/6 became 263 all out.
Most of the work was shouldered by Usman Khawaja and his reverse sweeps, and Peter Handscomb was left to the leg of the spin ball. There was also a timely return to form with the bat for Pat Cummins, providing rare justification for his place at No.8.
India were typically reliable with the ball. Mohammed Shami hit an excellent length for his four wickets, in the process perhaps making Australia reverse their decision to pick just one front-rower. Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja shared the remaining wickets, continuing their stranglehold on Australia’s middle-order.
It promises to be a cat and mouse day with India in no rush to repeat the strategy of the first Test and bat once enough to seal the game. Australia’s trio of spinners will put their pace on a surface that will offer uneven bounce but, so far, nothing vicious.
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