Smith century, Jaiswal run out lift Aussies on day two

A costly act of self-preservation by India's Virat Kohli gifted Australia two priceless breakthroughs on a day when wickets were tough to find at the MCG, and suddenly raised the home team's hopes of breaking the Border-Gavaskar Trophy Series deadlock.

After another brilliant Steve Smith century lifted Australia to their highest first innings total in more than a year (474) and skipper Pat Cummins strike twice early with the ball, India wrestled back momentum through an untroubled third-wicket stand between Kohli and star opener Yashasvi Jaiswal.

The pair took the visitors to 2-153 with Jaiswal seemingly set for his second century of the series having launched Mitchell Marsh into the Shane Warne Stand for an imperious six when his innings was stunningly and summarily ended by Kohli's refusal to run.

Jaiswal stroked Scott Boland to mid-on where Cummins was set sufficiently deep for the batter to take off immediately for a single which he would have comfortably completed had his senior partner responded to his call.

But metres from the safety of the non-striker's crease, Jaiswal stopped dead upon seeing Kohli simply turn his back and ground his bat as Cummins gathered and threw to gleeful keeper Alex Carey who completed the simple, if unlikely, dismissal.

Jaiswal cut a forlorn figure as he dragged himself from the field with 82 against his name, while the Australians celebrated their luck and doubtless let Kohli know of the injustice perpetrated upon his teammate.

Whether or not it affected the former skipper is not yet known, but in Boland's next over he nicked off in a manner that has become something of the master batter's trademark of late and India had slumped to 4-154, still a distant 320 runs in arrears.

Nightwatch Akash Deep was sent out at the fall of Jaiswal's wicket to try and negotiate the final half-hour without further damage, but he too succumbed to Boland in fending a catch to a diving Nathan Lyon at leg gully.

It will therefore rest upon keeper-batter Rishabh Pant and allrounder Ravindra Jadeja to forge India's fightback tomorrow with the score 5-164 (310 in arrears) and Australia eyeing a 2-1 series lead if they can turn their dominant position into a win over the remaining three days.

Smith's 34th Test century, and his highest Test score since a double-ton against West Indies at Perth two summers ago, was a typically eclectic mix of studied defence, sublime shot-making and myriad eccentricities along the way.

A highlight was his battle against India's best bowler and most potent threat Jasprit Bumrah, who fizzed three consecutive deliveries past the bat of Smith who became becalmed on 78 and acknowledged his rival's mastery with a demonstrative thumbs-up.

But the former Australia skipper had the most decisive say shortly after a spectator had jumped the fence and made a beeline for Kohli, with Smith moving into the nineties with a clinically struck hook shot that sailed over fine leg for six.

His century arrived in a more classical manner – a clinical cover drive between two fielders off Nitish Kumar Reddy that scooted to the boundary as Smith slowly removed his helmet, nodded knowingly to his teammates before acknowledging the record day two MCG crowd of 85,147.

The moment was also recognised by Kohli who – for the second time in as many days – made contact with an opposing player although this encounter consisted only of a light congratulatory tap on Smith's shoulder.

Smith's obvious affinity for the MCG sees him with an average of 82.2 at the famous ground which is second only (among players with five or more Test appearances) to Don Bradman's 128.5.

Only Bradman (nine) and ex-Australia opener Matthew Hayden (six) have posted more Test hundreds in Melbourne than Smith's five.

Jaiswal seemed set to join that list of MCG milestone holders until he was publicly burned, and Australia finished the day with bowling momentum after posting their highest total since 487 against Pakistan at Perth at the start of last summer.

Cummins landed the initial blow of his team's bowling innings when India had reduced the sizeable deficit by just eight, removing rival skipper Rohit Sharma whose series becomes more forgettable with each journey to the crease.

Rohit's dismissal from the fifth ball he faced suggested a scrambled mindset, with a half-hearted flick to the leg side from a well-directed short ball floating off a leading edge to the right of mid-on.

Running back with the ball's flight, Boland accepted the simple chest mark at the same time of afternoon the annual Australian Football League grand final kicks off at the venue and accompanied by a roar reminiscent of that sold-out event.

That noise was dwarfed by the din that erupted when Cummins, having switched to operate from the MCG's members' end, produced a near-unplayable seed to bewilder India's most consistent batter of the summer, KL Rahul.

Cummins had uncharacteristically sent down a handful of half volleys in his initial spell, perhaps in the belief the breezy conditions better favoured swing than the traditional movement off the seam that's been a staple of the Melbourne surface.

And it was with an outswinger grip that he did for the right-handed Rahul who pressed forward to defend the final ball of the session only to see it fizz past the edge of his perfectly perpendicular bat and into the top of off stump.

It meant the on-stage arrival of arch-villain was theatrically delayed until the start of the final session, when the former India skipper was greeted by a booming chorus of boos for the third time in the day.

The first occasion came as his team took the field this morning, looking to the second new ball (just six overs old) to snare the final four Australia wickets without significant addition to their overnight tally of 311.

But Smith and Cummins put paid to those plans with an enterprising and occasionally adventurous seventh-wicket stand that would eventually 112 from only 135 deliveries, with 100 of those runs coming in a fruitful morning session.

Within a single of his fourth Test 50, Cummins fell in pursuit of quick runs with his attempted lofted drive from spinner Jadeja sliced to long-off where Reddy held a neat catch sprawling to his left.

By that stage Smith had powered past his own milestone, and when he and Mitchell Starc took the total beyond 450 by lunch India appeared bereft of both spirit and answers.

However, two wickets in as many overs – one of which came in bizarrely unforeseen fashion – ensured Australia's innings did not surge past 500.

Starc misread a Jadeja delivery that snuck past the outside edge of his forward defence even though it spun into the left-hander, while Smith's memorable hand was ended by cruel misfortune.

But India were not spared a final dose of frustration as Australia's last man Boland successfully overturned on review two lbw decisions given against him.

The first, adjudicated by Michael Gough, revealed a sizeable inside edge off Jadeja while the second (by Joel Wilson) was shown to be missing leg stump dashing Mohammed Siraj's hopes of a consolation wicket and ensuring he finished with an unflattering 0-122.

Having claimed seven wickets for the series at an average of 21.4 when he aimed an angry send-off at Travis Head in Adelaide, Siraj has since returned six wickets at almost 45 while conceding around 4.6 an over suggesting his villain status has impacted his bowling.

Boland's tenth-wicket batting partner Lyon decided he would also try his luck when pinned lbw by Bumrah, but had already taken several steps towards the pavilion before signalling for a review, and had all-but removed his pads by the time the on-field verdict was upheld.

Bumrah again finished as India's most potent bowler with 4-99 from 28.4 overs, which represented the most expensive innings figures he's returned in his 45-match, six-year Test career.

Furthermore, after sending down more than 700 overs across four years in Tests without having a six hit from his bowling, Bumrah conceded four in Australia's latest innings (two by debutant Sam Konstas, one each by Smith and Starc) which might be symptomatic of his heavy workload.

NRMA Insurance Men's Test Series v India

First Test: India won by 295 runs

Second Test: Australia won by 10 wickets

Third Test: Match drawn

Fourth Test: December 26-30: MCG, Melbourne, 10.30am AEDT

Fifth Test: January 3-7: SCG, Sydney, 10.30am AEDT

Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Travis Head (vc), Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Jhye Richardson, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster

India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Devdutt Padikkal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar. Reserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed, Yash Dayal