18th over: Australia 38-1 (McSweeney 9, Labuschagne 2) Finally Akash makes McSweeney play… and he edges! But it’s low and wide of slip and scuds to the boundary rope. In one streaky stroke McSweeney just doubled the total it took him 44 balls to compile. Shackles sprung, he runs a single to celebrate. Labuschagne gets off the mark with a dodgy clip to fine leg, inside edging a straight one onto his pad and taking two. Akash had 0-3 from five overs but now has 0-10 from six.

17th over: Australia 31-1 (McSweeney 4, Labuschagne 0) Here comes Marnus. Can he pick up where he left off in the second Test? That strong knock led Australia to victory and saved a career which hung by a thread after two very ugly dismissals in the opening match. He gets behind the first few as Bumrah straight away attacks his pads.

WICKET! Khawaja c Pant b Bumrah (Australia 31-1)

16th over: Australia 31-0 (Khawaja 21, McSweeney 4) It’s Akash’s birthday but Nathan McSweeney is getting all the gifts. Six dots in this over but not one of them made the batter play. India need wickets and McSweeney, already a formidable astonewaller, isn’t going to chance his hand if he doesn’t have to.

15th over: Australia 31-0 (Khawaja 21, McSweeney 4) First runs! And it’s a handsome back foot swish through covers by Khawaja. Two runs. Bumrah was a tad short yesterday and he starts day two in the same vein. No sign of seam movement or swing so far. Bumrah squares up Khawaja on the next – good comeback by the master quick who starts his seventh over with 0-10. Big shout on the third as Khawaja misses a straight one but the edge was audible for mine. Maybe Jasprit was just warming up the tonsils. He finishes with a flourish, beating the batter with two zingers to close. Game on!

14th over: Australia 29-0 (Khawaja 19, McSweeney 4) It’s Akash Deep’s birthday today and he gets a four-ball over first-up to celebrate. His first ball is… wide. So is his second. Two sighters for McSweeney – what a gift for a batter who’s starting the day with four runs from 33 deliveries and a strike-rate of 11. Fifth ball is a no ball. Last one is a leave. So ends an over that took 22 hours to complete.

Here we go, folks…. buckle ‘em up and batten ‘em down!

As players prepare to take the field under increasingly blue skies here at the Gabba, it’s nice to hear Melbourne’s own Hunters & Collectors (street name: “Hunners”) providing the soundtrack for this summer’s thali feast of cricket…

Brisbane isn’t the only city complicating Test cricket with the unpredictability of its weather patterns. England and New Zealand are fighting out the final Test of their series in scorching heat and high wind. Here’s how Ali Martin saw day one in Hamilton.

With the series square at one-all and the Border-Gavaskar Trophy now down to a – weather permitting – three-Test shootout, both teams are eyeing the bonus prize of a spot in the World Test Championship, most likely against ladder-leaders South Africa.

Yesterday’s rain gave us plenty of time to ponder the permutations if weather intervenes in this contest.As Martin Pegan sees it:

India are the most at risk of paying a price if rain ruins this contest with the two-time WTC runner-up needing to win all three remaining Tests against Australia to guarantee qualification to another final. If Australia regain the Border-Gavaskar trophy for the first time since 2014-15, they would almost certainly return to the final after beating India in the 2023 decider. Australia could still qualify for the final if the series against India is drawn 2-2, with two Tests in Sri Lanka to play early next year.

Our own Geoff Lemon had plenty of time on day one to mull over where both teams’ fortunes lie based on the flip of a coin…

Preamble

Angus Fontaine