India went from a commanding position of 75/3 at Lunch to losing all control at 316/4 midway through the third session, courtesy of a match-defining 251-run stand between Travis Head and Steve Smith. Both men racked up individual centuries in contrasting fashion but equally effective as Head went after the bowlers to score boundaries on a whim while Smith was happy to stay in the shadows and quietly keep the scoreboard ticking. It was not the first time these two had come together to haunt India with their stand reminiscent of their winning contributions in the World Test Championship Final 2023 and red flags were ablaze in the Indian camp. Yet, with Head further impressing in this series and scoring a ton in Adelaide, the visitors had failed to chalk up their plans for Head’s carnage but when they did come up with something creative, they failed to execute it.
On the first ball of the 60th over, Siraj banged in a bumper at Head angling towards off-stump and Head nonchalantly stood on his toes to ramp the Kookaburra over the slip cordon for a two-bounce four. Simon Katich, a highly renowned New South Wales captain of his team and one of the most sought-after head coaches in the T20 circuit currently, was on comms at the time and wasted no moment in highlighting the amateurish attitude the delivery resonated.
“That is unbelievable from Mohammed Siraj because an over before he had a man right in that spot, and he has run in, and bowled what they were planning without the fielder there. That is dumb. Dumb cricket. They got two men on the leg side, they got deep point… they had a man in that right very spot for this very plan to Travis Head, and then he doesn’t have the fielder. And now he is going to put the fielder back down there right now — horse has bolted, buddy!”
Head, on 53 at the time, was unbeaten on 150 with 25 overs of play left in the day.
