PUNCH FOR PUNCH! Konstas, Bumrah dazzle on Boxing Day

Melbourne, PTI: Jasprit Bumrah's knack of coming up with magic deliveries in crunch situations kept India alive after Australia's top-order, headlined by teen debutant Sam Konstas' stroke-filled half-century, guided the hosts to 311 for 6 on the opening day of the fourth Test here on Thursday. If Konstas' audacious 60 off 65 balls enthralled the near sell-out crowd of over 80,000 at the MCG during a humid morning session, Bumrah's (3/75 in 21 overs) deception of length to dismiss Travis Head (0) also had its takers as chants of 'Boom, Boom, Booooomraaaaaaah' reverberated through the stands. Coming into the Test with back-to-back hundreds, Head couldn't judge the length of a Bumrah delivery that was pitched slightly fuller than what the batter expected.

He shouldered his arms trusting the bounce but the 66.2 overs old Kookaburra nipped back to clip the off-bail. In the next over, he removed an out-of-form Mitchell Marsh (4), having got Usman Khawaja (57 off 121 balls) with the half-tracker in the post-lunch session. The first two sessions, however, belonged to Australia with senior players Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne (72 off 145 balls) and Steve Smith (68 batting, 111 balls) scoring half-centuries. The final session was all about Bumrah magic. The Indian spearhead didn't let the hosts completely walk away with the game which they threatened to do at one stage. He now has 24 wickets in the series.

With Mohammed Siraj (0/69 in 15 overs) off-colour, Bumrah didn't have much support save off-spinner Washington Sundar (1/37 in 12 overs), who bowled a containing line. Akash Deep (1/59 in 19 overs) though got Alex Carey with the second new ball at the fag end of the day. Even Ravindra Jadeja (1/54 in 14 overs) leaked runs despite getting Konstas out and Nitish Reddy, the batting all-rounder, was only used before the second new ball was taken.

'Sam Jams at the G': The morning was owned by the precocious 19-year-old from New South Wales. Konstas didn't show any nerves during his scintillating knock, which comprised of two sixes off Bumrah. He also didn't mind a good scrap with India's superstar Virat Kohli, whose shoulder brush with the 19-year-old led to a brief confrontation. In fact, Bumrah was hit for a six for the first time in a Test since Cameron Green hit him for one back in 2021.

The gap between Konstas' first six, which was a lap scoop, and the one that Green hit three years ago was 4000 legal Test match deliveries. After a conventional lap scoop for maximum, Konstas also hit a reverse lap scoop towards third man for another boundary. The second six was pummelled over mid-on. The way he attacked the Indian bowling with gusto gave his veteran opening partner Khawaja a chance to get back to form with a patient half-century.

But Khawaja would be really annoyed with himself as he couldn't time a pull shot off a Bumrah half-tracker, which went straight into KL Rahul's hands in the post-lunch session.

Scoreboard: Sam Konstas lbw b Ravindra Jadeja 60 Usman Khawaja c Rahul b Bumrah 57 Marnus Labuschagne c Kohli b Washington Sundar 72 Steve Smith batting 68 Travis Head b Bumrah 0 Mitchell Marsh c Pant b Bumrah 4 Alex Carey c Pant b Akash Deep 31 Pat Cummins batting 8

Extras: (LB 7, NB 4) 11 Total: (For six wickets in 86 Overs) 311

Fall of wickets: 1-89, 2-154, 3-237, 4-240, 5-246, 6-299 Bowling: Jasprit Bumrah 21-7-75-3, Mohammed Siraj 15-2-69-0, Akash Deep 19-5-59-1, Ravindra Jadeja 14-2-54-1, Nitish Reddy 5-0-10-0, Washington Sundar 12-2-37-1.