Test evenly poised after Aussies' day

The Test match that seemed to be India’s to control after an hour’s play this morning now looms as a battle to set-up after it was wrenched from the tourists’ grasp in one brutal, Mitchell Johnson-dominated session.

But rather than his traditional role of destroyer with the ball, Johnson put the wind up the Indians as a batsman when he and his new captain Steven Smith blazed a record late-innings partnership that reversed the trend of the first two days.

By stumps this evening, India had moved cautiously to 1-71 but were doubtless rueing an opportunity lost after the disciplined, diligent bowling plans and field settings that had accounted for the first six Australian wickets then frayed in the face of an aggressive counter-attack by the local skipper and his bowlers.

India’s hopes of turning their current 26-run deficit into a lead of around 300 that will allow them to push for an historic maiden Test win at the Gabba will hinge on the nerve and skill of their specialist batsmen tomorrow and their capacity to shrug off the disappointment of today.

And their ability, to date unfulfilled, to plough through all 10 Australian wickets.

Even as Smith closed in on an utterly deserved century in his Test captaincy debut, the loss of Mitchell Marsh (11) and Brad Haddin (6) in today’s opening hour meant it was up to the Australian bowlers to hang in with the skipper and try and keep the first-innings deficit to 100 or possibly less.

But fired by a taste of his own short-pitched medicine and some even less palatable mouthfuls from the Indian bowlers and fielders, Johnson launched himself at the unsuspecting tourists and clubbed his highest Test score in two years (88 from 93 balls) to almost overshadow Smith’s knock.

Almost.

Because while Johnson and his fellow quicks dined out on an Indian attack that began to wilt under another day of stifling sub-tropical heat and captain MS Dhoni’s almost exclusive reliance on four front-line bowlers, Smith’s fifth century of the past year shone like a beacon.

Even if the foreboding black clouds that rumbled over Brisbane and unleashed their fury last night had given way to bright, energy-sapping sunshine for all of day three.

Wielding his bat as if a rapier, even to the point that the blade would at times catch and reflect that sun with a glinting menace, Smith effectively skewered India’s hard-earned advantage with the deftness of a master swordsman.

Those extravagant fleches that yielded sixes from spinner Ravi Ashwin after which the Australia captain would hold his pose with bat extended face up in front of his eyes, as if examining it for and resultant blemishes along its surface.

The self-explanatory stop cut delivered almost as an afterthought which deflected the ball expertly between exasperated members of India’s catching cordon and scurrying across the slick Gabba outfield.

Even an outrageous passata sotto where he found himself beneath a soaring bouncer but thrust his weapon defiantly at the ball’s underside to ramp it into the fence in front of his appreciative team’s viewing platform on its solitary bounce.

But amongst the bravado of his counter parry and even allowing for the restless, incessant fidgeting that is his constant companion, Smith looked as anxious as at any previous time in this Commonwealth Bank Series when he closed on his century.

A rare false stroke brought an inside edge that bounced then bobbled out of Dhoni’s ‘keeping gloves thus allowing his rival skipper to scamper another single to reach 97.

The next over he tucked Ashwin behind square leg and tore through for one, setting out for a second as the outfielder gathered and prepared to throw before deciding – just as Johnson committed himself to the run – that being caught short for 98 was no fitting end to this adventure.

He was only forced to wait another few deliveries until he was able to thread a short ball from Varun Aaron past point, his instinctive yelp of “yeeees” as ball left bat being as much a cry of triumph as the clear, concise call drilled into junior batsmen.

The series of celebratory gestures that followed – the thrash of the bat, the steely gesture to his teammates, the deep inhalation as he lifted his eyes to the sky, the kisses planted on his memorial arm band and helmet’s coat of arms, the obligatory man hug – conveyed the knock’s emotional significance.

The raw numbers added their own heavy, historical underscore.

By the time Smith, who seemed to aggravate the left quadriceps injury that had kept him out of that tragic Bupa Sheffield Shield match in Sydney last month, squeezed an Ishant Sharma inswinger on to his off stump, his 133 equalled the second-best first-up effort by an Australia captain.

Only Clem Hill’s 191 when Australia piled on almost 500 on day one of the 1910 Sydney Test against South Africa stands as a more emphatic statement by a new skipper.

His batting average in this Commonwealth Bank Series – albeit three innings into a four-match schedule – is 347 and not far short of the best recorded by an Australian batsman in a completed series (Steve Waugh’s 362 in two Tests against Sri Lanka in 1995-96).

And the match-altering stand of 148 with Johnson that snatched the advantage from India’s grasp in a couple of expensive hours was the best for that wicket seen at the Gabba, topping the 144 forged by Aravinda de Silva and Ravi Ratnayeke on Sri Lanka’s earlier Australian tour in 1989.

The tale of how India let slip their early grip on an unforeseen Gabba Test dominance is best explained by Australia’s tail.

When Haddin fell for his sixth single-digit score of seven-and-a-half Tests played this year, Australia were 6-247 and facing a first-innings deficit in excess of 150.

By the time Mitchell Starc’s breezy innings of 52 – in concert with Josh Hazlewood whose unbeaten 32 at No. 11 would have been hailed as a triumph if not for Ashton Agar – ended three balls after the tea break the home team’s total had more than doubled and they were almost 100 in front.

And while India pegged that advantage back as afternoon slowly wore into evening, Starc also came good with the wicket of Murali Vijay, whose quick-fire 27 was ended when he chopped onto his own stumps.