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Day one was a lot. Blast furnace heat across Victoria had wildfires raging across the state and sparked a batting inferno at the MCG as a cool 19-year-old opening batter from Sydney made his Test debut on cricket’s biggest stage, scorching his name into history and giving Australia the edge on day one of this crucial fourth Test.
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Sam Konstas, a brash teenager with just a handful of first-class games behind him, lit up the MCG with a display of batting pyrotechnics that had even the great Sunil Gavaskar proclaiming: “we are witnessing the future of Test cricket.”
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As Jack Snape captured yesterday, it was a triumph of the unorthodox. Ramp shots, reverse scoops, paddle slaps, murderous square cuts, slog sweeps. After playing and missing at five of his first six deliveries in Test cricket, Konstas went crazy as only callow youth can. It sparked a display of petulance from the King himself, as Virat Kohli initiated a midpitch spat after deliberately shoulder-charging the young Australian.
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Slammin’ Sam’s innings lasted scarcely an hour and 65 balls but produced 60 of the most scintillating runs ever seen by a debut batter. Even the great Jasprit Bumrah, India’s weapon of mass destruction in this series, was battered out of the attack as Konstas bamboozled the Indian bowlers and gave Australia a crucial early ascendency.
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Bumrah, who had not been hit for a six in 25 Tests across four years, was lifted into the grandstand twice inside an hour by Konstas. And yet, Bumrah returned later in the day to rip through Australia’s middle-order with three key wickets and put India back into the contest with Australians going to stumps at 311 for 6.
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Day two should be another ripper. Play starts at 10.30am AEST so batten ‘em down and buckle ‘em up because it is GAME ON in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
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main events
88th: Australia 320-6 (Smith 70, Cummins 15) Akash Deep will probably bowl the second over to allow Bumrah to charge from his preferred end. Deep started the day with a maiden as he went to Stamps with 1-59 from 19 wickets.
87th place: Australia 320-6 (Smith 70, Cummins 15) A great start for Australia. Smith taps in an easy single to break the ice, Siraj strays in the second, and Cummins pounces on him with a flash blade, driving him into the ropes. This time, Cummins took the leg-side ball off his hip and misfielded, a problem for India's defense, conceding three runs. 8 shots from the end of the first half! This is Smith's 9th single out of 6 full songs.
Steve Smith is walking to the crease, 123 runs shy of the magical 10,000 Test runs milestone. Of course, the first two to achieve that feat are the men whose names are emblazoned on the trophy contested in this series, the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Opposite Smith is captain Pat Cummins, with Mohamed Siraj warming up with the ball in hand. Come on, everyone…
Thankfully for Victorians under the threat of bushfires, it's a cool day in Melbourne today, with temperatures currently at 18C and a high of 22C. With clouds hanging over the MCG, Ricky Ponting has taken his eyes off this pitch and expects it to be a great day for batting.
Will Steve Smith and Pat Cummins play this morning? Or will India's batting line-up, minus Shubman Gill, who controversially replaced Washington Sundar's second spinner, be at its best on the second day?
The players are warming up on the field and the match will start soon.
Photo: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images
Constance's blitz saw cricketing hero Virat Kohli react in an extraordinary way, crossing three lanes of traffic to put his shoulder into the youngster.
Kohli tried to blame it on the teenager and Usman Khawaja played the role of peacemaker, but Kohli was given a 20% cut in his match fee, which was little more than a show of exaggerated anger. That's a big price to pay. Constas himself dismissed the incident as “just cricket”…
Check out the Konstas highlights package using this as your soundtrack…
Here's how local media viewed Constance Chaos at the MCG…
For those of you who joined us late, here's how Jeff Lemon solved the first day's thunder…
preamble
Angus Fontaine
Hello, cricket fans! Welcome to day two of the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne.
On the first day a lot. A cool 19-year-old opening batsman from Sydney makes his Test debut on cricket's biggest stage, burning his name into history and giving Australia an edge as the heat from blast furnaces causes wildfires to rage across Victoria. As a result, a batting hell broke out at the MCG. Day 1 of this important fourth test.
Sam Constas, a brash teenager with only a few first-class games under his belt, lit up the MCG with a display of batting fireworks and even the great Sunil Gavaskar said: “We are witnessing the future of Test cricket.'' ” he declared.
As Jack Snape captured yesterday, it was an unconventional victory. Ramp shots, reverse scoops, paddle slaps, killer square cuts, and slog sweeps. After playing and failing in five of his first six deliveries in Test cricket, Constas went crazy as only an insensitive young man can. This sparked a display of anger from the King himself, as Virat Kohli started an altercation in the midfield after deliberately shoulder-charging the young Australian.
Slammin Sam's innings lasted just an hour and consisted of 65 balls, but he produced 60 of the most brilliant runs a debutant batsman has ever seen. Even the great Jasprit Bumrah, India's weapon of mass destruction in this series, was beaten in the attack as Constance deceived the Indian bowlers and gave Australia a decisive early advantage.
Bumrah, who did not hit a six in 25 Tests over four years, was taken to the grandstand. 2 times within 1 hour Written by Constas. Still, Bumrah would come back later in the day and defeat the Australian mid-order with three important wickets to get India back into contention and the Australians would be at stumps at 311 for 6.
Day 2 should be another ripper. The match begins at 10:30am AEST. Batten down and buckle up, because it's game on for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
