Head-Smith register 2nd double century partnership against India, one away from equalling Ponting-Clarke's record
Dec 15, 2024
Brisbane [Australia], December 15 : The partnership between Steve Smith and Travis Head proved to be extremely troublesome for India after an initial fine start with the ball on day two of the third Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy at The Gabba in Brisbane on Sunday.
After the Aussies were down three wickets for 75 runs, Smith slowly found himself some much-needed runs as Head motored to his second-successive Test ton, continuing his unstoppable run against India. The partnership lasted 241 runs before Bumrah got Smith caught behind by skipper Rohit Sharma at slips.
This is their second 200-plus run partnership against India, just one away from equalling the record of Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke, who put on three 200-run plus stands against India. During the ICC World Test Championship final last year at The Oval in the UK, Smith and Head put together 285 after starting things off at 76/3.
The 386-run partnership for the fourth wicket between Ponting and Clarke against India during the fourth and final Test of 2011-12 BGT at Adelaide remains the highest partnership for any wicket in series' history. As a result of this partnership, both Ponting and Clarke scored double tons and helped their team win by 298 runs while defending 500 runs.
This 241-run stand is the 12th-highest partnership in the history of BGT.
Also, this partnership helped Australia cross 400-run mark. It is the first time in 11 Tests across three home series, that Australia has managed to post 400-plus total against India. The previous instance was 572/7 declared against India at Sydney back in 2015. Before this, Indian bowlers had dominated Australia and the highest Aussies could make was 369/10 during the fourth and final Test of the 2020-21 series at Brisbane, which India had won to win the series.
Coming to the match, India won the toss and opted to ball first. After a wicketless run on day one that lasted around 13 overs, India returned fresh on day two and removed Usman Khawaja (21 in 54 balls, with three fours), Nathan McSweeney (9) and Marnus Labuschagne (12) quickly to reduce Australia to 75/3.
However, a 241-run stand between Smith (101 in 190 balls, with 12 fours) and Head (152 in 160 balls, with 18 fours) proved to be a massive headache for India that left India without answers. After Bumrah (5/72) broke the partnership, there were some quick wickets, but Australia ended the day strongly at 405/7, with Alex Carey (45*) and Mitchell Starc (7*) unbeaten.
