Relentless rain in Brisbane forced the opening day of the third Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) between India and Australia to be called off on Saturday.
At the end of Day 1, Australia’s scoreboard remained at 28/0, with Usman Khawaja and Nathan McSweeney unbeaten on 19 (47) and 4 (33), respectively.
“Play for Day 1 in Brisbane has been stopped today due to rain. Play will resume tomorrow, and all following days at 09:50 AM local time (5:20 AM IST), with a minimum of 98 overs to be bowled,” the BCCI wrote on X.
On the first day of the highly anticipated match, where fans turned up in numbers to witness the spectacle, rain played spoilsport. Throughout the day, only 13.2 overs could be bowled.
The overcast conditions had initially hinted at rain, and it lived up to the prediction, restricting play to just 13.2 overs in the first session. After that, not a single over could be bowled for the rest of the day.
India captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and invited Australia to bat, aiming to make the most of the gloomy skies over The Gabba.
The first interruption by rain occurred in the middle of the sixth over. The drizzle intensified, forcing the covers to come out and halting play.
Rain reappeared during the 14th over, forcing the players off the field again. This interruption lasted long enough to bring an early end to the first session.
Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj shared the new ball, hoping for an early breakthrough. However, the star pace duo struggled with consistency, allowing the Australian openers to settle in confidently.
Runs were hard to come by as Usman Khawaja and Nathan McSweeney navigated through the opening spell with ease. Only a few appeals were made, but the duo remained largely untroubled in the first 13.2 overs.
India began to gain momentum after the introduction of Akash Deep. The right-arm seamer, who missed the first two Tests, was included in place of Harshit Rana.
Akash Deep caused discomfort for Khawaja and McSweeney with his inward-angling deliveries. He initially partnered with Bumrah and later bowled alongside Siraj in an attempt to make inroads.
His deliveries were sharp and had a hint of lethal movement. McSweeney narrowly escaped when one of Akash’s deliveries nipped back in and missed the stumps by a small margin.
Brief Scores: Australia 28/0 (Usman Khawaja 19*, Nathan McSweeney 4*) vs India.
