16th over: Australia 31-0 (Khawaja 21, McSweeney 4) It’s Akash’s birthday, but Nathan McSweeney gets all the presents. Six dots in this over but none of them got the batsman playing. India need wickets and McSweeney, already a formidable stonewaller, will not risk his hand unless necessary.

15th over: Australia 31-0 (Khawaja 21, McSweeney 4) First runs! And it’s a nice back-foot swift-through cover from Khawaja. Two runs. Bumrah was a bit short yesterday and he starts the second day the same way. No signs of seam movement or swaying so far. Bumrah brings Khawaja level in the next game – a fine comeback from the master pacer who begins his seventh over at 0-10. Big celebration in the third when Khawaja missed a straight, but the edge was audible to me. Maybe jasprit just warmed up the almonds. He finishes with a flourish, hitting the batter with two zingers to close out the ball. Keep playing!

14th over: Australia 29-0 (Khawaja 19, McSweeney 4) Today is Akash Deep’s birthday and he gets a four-ball over first to celebrate. His first ball is… wide. It’s the same with his second one. Two sighters for McSweeney – what a gift for a batsman who starts the day with four runs from 33 deliveries and a strike rate of 11. The fifth ball is a no-ball. The last one is a vacation. This ends an over that took 22 hours to complete.

Here we go folks…. Strap her in and secure her!

As the players prepare to take the field here at the Gabba under increasingly blue skies, it’s great to hear Melbourne’s own Hunters & Collectors (street name: ‘Hunners’) providing the soundtrack for this summer’s Thali cricket festival…

Brisbane is not the only city to make Test cricket difficult due to the unpredictability of its weather conditions. England and New Zealand play the final Test of their series in scorching heat and strong winds. This is how Ali Martin saw the first day in Hamilton.

With only one in the series and the Border-Gavaskar Trophy now consisting of just three Tests – weather permitting – both teams are eyeing the bonus prize of a place in the World Test Championship, most likely against league leaders South Africa .

Yesterday’s rain gave us enough time to think about the possibilities if the weather interferes with this competition. As Martin Pegan sees it:

India are most at risk of paying a price if rain ruins this contest as the two-time WTC runners-up need to win all three remaining Tests against Australia to secure qualification for another final. Should Australia win back the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the first time since 2014-15, they would almost certainly return to the final after defeating India in the decider in 2023. Australia could still qualify for the final if the series against India ends 2-2, with two Tests in Sri Lanka early next year.

Our own Geoff Lemon had plenty of time on day one to ponder what the fate of both teams would be based on a coin toss…

preamble

Angus Fontaine