Tim Paine (left) paddle sweeps the ball in Adelaide on Friday.
In a day that Indians will like to forget as quickly as possible, brought a lot of joy and excitement for Australians as they packed the star-filled Indian batting line-up for a farcical 36 to eventually clinch a comfortable 8-wicket win on Day 3 of pink-bal Test in Adelaide on Saturday.
Asked to chase a paltry 90 runs with two days to spare, Oz top-order chased down the target in 21 overs with slight niggles.
The protagonists of the Indian batting carnage were two Australian pacers Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins who didn’t put a foot wrong in the morning session to get the best out of the conditions to deal the heavy blow to Indians. However, it was Tim Paine, who revived Australian innings earlier on Day 2 after a top-order collapse with a crucial 99-ball 73 to take to a respectable 191 and was duly adjudged man of the match.
Speaking at the post-match presentation ceremony, Australian skipper Tim Paine admitted that the victory came quicker than he anticipated as he expected a tough fight from the visitors.
“I said in the media both these attacks have the ability to take quick wickets. Didn't expect it to come that quick. Was expecting a real dogfight,” said the 36-year-old wicket-keeper, who scored an important 73 in the first innings.
Praising his bowlers for the morning spell, Paine admitted that they still need to work on their batting while stressing that opener Joe Burns, who scored a not out 51 after string of failures, is important to the team.
“To hang in, give our bowlers a chance, and then turn up and start the day the way we did. Full credit to our bowling attack again. Nice to get off to a good start. Chuffed with the way we bowled in this Test. Still a bit of work to do with our batting. Burns is a really important part of our team. All cricketers know how hard it is to come out of a rut like that,” Burns concluded.
