Adelaide, Dec 7: Travis Head smashed a brilliant 140 – his eighth hundred in the format –third on his home ground, as Australia took a lead of 157 runs over India after being bowled out for 337 in 87.3 overs on day two of the second Test at the Adelaide Oval on Saturday.
It was a tremendous attacking innings from Head, who mixed his usual free-flowing cuts and pulls with some sumptuous drives while hitting 17 fours and four sixes to Australia firmly in the box seat of the match via his third hundred in day-night Tests.
He was well-supported by Marnus Labuschagne coming out of poor run of form to hit an assured 64, while opener Nathan McSweeney gave a good account of himself through his knock of 39.
For India, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, who was subjected to boos from crowd after giving Head an almighty send-off, picked four wickets each, while Ravichandran Ashwin and Nitish Kumar Reddy took a wicket each, with Harshit Rana struggling to hit the right areas and conceded 86 runs.
Siraj came back after tea to have Mitchell Starc chip to mid-off and then castle number eleven Scott Boland in successive overs to end with 4-98. With the floodlights coming on in the final session, Australia will have two hours of bowl under it against an Indian batting line-up, who made 180 in first innings.
Brief Scores: India 180 in 44.1 overs trail Australia 337 in 87.3 overs (Travis Head 140, Marnus Labuschagne 64; Jasprit Bumrah 4-61, Mohammed Siraj 4-98) by 157 runs
IANS