Facing a near insurmountable task against India, Australia can hope only to find some positives in Perth with a view to being more competitive in Adelaide after another disastrous day in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the hosts.
After a day where dashing opener Yashasvi Jaiswal and Indian icon Virat Kohli scored centuries before Jasprit Bumrah again wreaked havoc with the nation’s top-order, Australian fast bowler Josh Hazlewood said the goal in Perth now was to find form and rhythm.
Australia will resume at 3-12 in its second innings, 522 runs behind India, with two full days of cricket remaining. Whether the First Test lasts a fifth day is extremely doubtful given the pitch at Perth Stadium is starting to deteriorate as cracks emerge.
One of the few Australians to live up to their world-best reputations in Perth, Hazlewood was left to front the music on Sunday night after Australia was comprehensively out-performed yet again.
Resuming at 0-172, India added another 315 runs before declaring at 6-487, with Jaiswal starring with 161 and Kohli unbeaten on 100.
Quizzed as to whether it is one of the hardest days he has endured in the field in his 70 Test career, the 33-year-old responded; “It’s up there.”
“I think it probably speaks for itself. They piled on the runs and had a couple of really big partnerships there,” he said.
“It was hard work out there bowling it at certain stages. There was a little bit in it at times. I guess the new ball probably has a little bit, but if you get through that, then it’s a bit easier batting.
“We saw a little bit up and down towards the end of the day, obviously, so that’ll be something the batters will be watching tomorrow.”
Hazlewood, who has match figures of 5-57 from 34 overs and also showed resistance with the bat at the end of Australia’s first innings collapse, said it would be handy if the hosts could extend the Indian bowlers on Monday.
After the first innings rout, the Australian bowlers were put through a marathon on a hot day in Perth, with Hazlewood contributing 21 overs. Mitchell Starc bowled 26 overs, Pat Cummins 25 and off-spinner Nathan Lyon 39 overs.
“It’s (about) the batters sticking to their plans tomorrow (and) batting some time. It’s obviously a long series. It’s a five match series,” he said.
“So if we can put some overs into their top quicks, I guess that’s probably (a) couple of goals that we need to tick off tomorrow. And if a couple of guys find some form and score, you know, an 80 or 90 or even 100, that’s probably (one of) the positives we can take out of it.”
That chance will not be on offer for debutant Nathan McSweeney, who fell for a duck after scoring 10 in his first innings, or for No.3 Marnus Labuschagne, whose horrors continued when he was out LBW to Bumrah without offering a shot for three.
Cummins assumed the role of nightwatchman from Lyon but was unable to reach stumps when edging Mohammed Siraj to Kohli for two.
Despite Labuschagne’s sustained slump — he has only passed 10 once in the past five Tests — Hazlewood said the Queenslander appeared in good spirits.
“He’s been his normal self. He seems normal to me,” he said.
“I know he’s always a big thinker of the game (and) he loves talking cricket (and) playing cricket. He sleeps and breathes it, so yeah, I haven’t noticed anything different in Marnus.
“He’ll talk to the coaches and talk to probably Smithy (Steve Smith), most of all, about his batting. They’re obviously very close, so hopefully things turn around quickly.”
Hazlewood also defended the performance of Cummins, who did not play any Sheffield Shield cricket leading into the Border Gavaskar Trophy.
While the Aussie captain declared prior to the series that he felt as fit and strong as he had been in years, he was more expensive than usual and finished with combined figures of 3-153 from 40.4 overs.
“I think he bowled the most out of the quicks and I think his pace was probably the pick of the quicks as well. He kept his pace up the whole game. His bouncers were on track most of the time,” Hazlewood said.
“He looked his normal self to me. I can usually pick up with the other two quicks when they are a little bit off and I didn’t see any sort of signs of that.
“(There) may have been a little bit of rust in the first innings, but you sort of take the freshness, I think, over that, and throughout this game, he obviously got better and you’ll just see him get better as he goes along. The freshness ... I think, trumps playing that (Sheffield) Shield game for him.”
