‘Big boys stood up….’: Paine lauds ‘harshly treated’ Australia on Adelaide Test win

Melbourne [Australia], December 9 (ANI): Former Australian skipper Tim Paine lauded the side for their thumping 10-wicket win over India at Adelaide in the second Test following a 295-run loss at Perth, remarking that the team is "harshly treated at times" and the "big boys stood up" during the triumph.
The "big boys" indeed stood up for Australia as Travis Head's counter-attacking century, top-notch six and five wicket hauls by pacers Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins and a return to form half-century from Marnus Labuschagne left India with very little space to recover and they could only set a target of 19 runs for the hosts, a huge downgrade from their all-round show at Perth' Optus Stadium in first Test.
Speaking to SEN, Paine said, "A bit of relief I would have thought, no doubt (on how the Australian team must be feeling).
Paine also said that despite its achievements, this Australian side is a "harshly treated one" when all they have left to win is the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, something the team has not won since their win in 2014.
"We spoke a couple of days ago about the pressure that was on them and the response that people were wanting to see. This is a harshly treated team at times, but they are one of the great teams. They have won everything but the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and they know that, they have spoken about that, this is the one they want to tick off," he said.
"I thought the way they responded under immense pressure was huge, albeit in a pink ball Test where we have a great record and India don't get to see it that much. The big boys stood up I thought particularly the captain Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc - the pink ball wizard, Travis Head was amazing and Marnus I thought was really pleasing," he added.
While the pacers did stand out, including Scott Boland and Head-Labuschagne delivered once again when it mattered the most, Paine was impressed by the partnership between Labuschagne and an inexperienced Nathan McSweeney's on day one's last session against a bowling attack of Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Siraj and Ravichandran Ashwin motivated by the highs of Perth win.
"I thought the last session of the first day was Test cricket at its absolute best," Paine said.
"You have got an absolute champion running in full steam under lights with a pink ball. You have got one of our absolute champions who has averaged 60-plus at times fighting to save his career and you have got a kid in his second Test trying to establish himself."
"I thought both of those guys for different reasons were huge. That was just as good as professional sports get when you have got players that are so good fighting so desperately. It does not get any better than that ... it does not get any harder. For Marnus and Nathan McSweeney at different points of their career to be able to nail down get through ... that just put Australia so far out in front of that Test match," he signed off.
Coming to the match, India won the toss and opted to bat first. However, they had to face the wrath of a moving, erratic pink ball and its mastermind, Mitchell Starc (6/48). Except for a 69-run stand for the second wicket between KL Rahul (37 in 64 balls with six fours) and Shubman Gill (31 in 51 balls, with five fours) and a fighting 42 in 54 balls (three fours and three sixes) from Nitish Kumar Reddy, there was not much from India who were skittled out for 180 runs. Skipper Cummins and Scott Boland also took two wickets.
In the first innings, a 67-run partnership between Nathan McSweeney (39 in 109 balls, with six fours) and Marnus Labuschagne (64 in 126 balls, with nine fours) for second wicket set the platform for Travis Head to impose his domination over Indian bowlers yet again with a counter-attacking 140 in 141 balls, with 17 fours and four sixes, just when Aussies lost some regular wickets. His century took Australia to 337 runs and gave them a 157-run lead.
Jasprit Bumrah (4/61) and Mohammed Siraj (4/98) were top bowlers for India. Ravichandran and Nitish got a wicket each.
In their second innings, India appeared even more toothless as the star-studded top-order and middle-order returned back to pavillion despite starts from Jaiswal (24 in 31 balls, with four boundaries), Gill (28 in 30 balls, with three fours) while KL Rahul (7) and Virat Kohli (11 in 21 balls with a four) failed to score well. India ended day two at 128/5.
On the third day, Pant also lost his wicket for 28 in 31 balls, with five fours. From there on, it was not looking back for Aussies, who skittled out India for 175 runs in 36.5 overs. India lead by just 18 runs, setting Aussies 19 runs to win.
Skipper Cummins (5/67) took a majestic five-wicket haul, his eighth as a captain. Boland took 3/51 while Starc took 2/60.
Set a target of 19 runs, Khawaja (10*) and McSweeney (9*) chased it down without breaking a sweat in 3.2 overs.
The series is level 1-1 and Head walked away with the 'Player of the Match' award. (ANI)