Indian cricket team KL Rahul showed excellent presence of mind on the field and took a crisp catch on the second day of the fifth Test match against Australia in Sydney. A catch by KL Rahul resulted in the dismissal of Australia’s lower-order batsman Mitchell Starc at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Saturday, January 4.
The Australian team started the second day 9-1. However, they lost regular wickets against the Indian bowling attack. Starc got the breakthrough when the home team lost seven wickets for 162 runs. However, the left-handed batsman failed to contribute to the team with the bat at a crucial stage.
Watch: KL Rahul takes a low sharp catch at slip to remove Mitchell Starc
The dismissal came in the 47th over of Australia’s first innings. Nitish Kumar Reddy bowled a backward ball which Mitchell Starc tried to save. However, the ball caught the outside edge of Starc’s bat and went towards KL Rahul, who leapt forward to take the ball at second slip.
The ball appeared to die in the slip but Rahul managed to steady it. The referee on the field forwarded the decision to the third referee, who confirmed that the catch was legitimate. With the dismissal, the Australian team was reduced to eight wickets and Starc departed with a score of 1 (4).
Television house Star Sports took to social media account X (formerly known as Twitter) to share a clip of KL Rahul’s catch with the caption, ‘EDGED & GONE! ☝ #NitishKumarReddy adds two to the wicket column as #PatCummins & #MitchellStarc depart in quick succession! 🔥’
Watch the incident here:
INVESTIGATED AND MISSING! ☝#NitishKumarReddy adds two to the wicket column as #PatCummins and #MitchellStarc leaves in quick succession! 🔥#AUSvINDOnStar 👉 5th test, 2nd day | LIVE NOW! | #Toughest rivalry #BorderGavaskarTrophy pic.twitter.com/Y5LjMS1FWN
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) January 4, 2025
Australia were bowled out for 181 runs in the first innings despite the absence of Jasprit Bumrah
The focus was on Jasprit Bumrah and Sam Konstas after their heated exchange on Day 1. Bumrah made an early impact, getting his maiden breakthrough this morning off just eight balls. The tourists reviewed the delayed decision after Marnus Labuschagne (2) passed the ball to the goalkeeper.
Konstas played a quick shot from Bumrah, but was dismissed by Mohammad Siraj in the very next over. He produced a swinging delivery to Yashasvi Jaiswal at gully. Siraj struck again by dismissing Travis Head and KL Rahul took a simple catch at second slip. Steve Smith was five runs short of 10,000 career runs.
Beau Webster and Alex Carey tried to stabilize the innings before Prasidh dismissed the Australian wicket-keeper batsman. India managed to take the last five wickets despite captain Jasprit Bumrah being out. Australia were bowled out for 181 runs in the first innings, conceding a narrow lead of four runs.
For India, Siraj and Krishna took three wickets each, while Bumrah secured two. Webster was the best batsman for Australia on the second day, scoring 57 runs off 115 balls with the help of five boundary strikes.
Also read: Scott Boland reveals the Australian plan that made Virat Kohli’s life hell on BGT
