gremlins in the pitch not showing yet

cummins bowling back of a length which will keep it tight but you could argue wastes the new ball

he bowls a fuller ball as a change up though and has taken a few edges

Reckon Kohli is more vulnerable when he does not score for some time. 

More gremlins yesterday.

Kohli has 4 runs from his last 30 balls. Been totally shut down. Will he play a rash shot?

some balls not carrying very well to the keeper

has the pitch slowed up a bit?

Looks that way.

Hazlewood still too full. First ball of that over when he had Kohli on his tip toes defending. That is where I wanna see him concentrate.

Couple of probing overs from Haze.. building pressure on Kohli.

India has not hit a boundary since the 10th over.. That is what I call turning the screws.

both indian batsmen over 80% control according to espn

better than any of ours. We'll have to fight hard for this wicket if the pitch suddenly is dormant

The Aussie fast bowlers have lost pace.

Few balls are over 140 kph.

Grazor

I’m not sure what you mean by ESPN saying Indian batters are over 80 percent control?

Cummins is bowling a good line and is starting to get balls 139- 142 kph.

Maybe he has more control at this slower speed around 135-8 Kph?

Pujara out to an awfully bad ball from Starc!

Maybe it is accumulated pressure from the combined Aussie attack ?

Letting Rahane get away to a quick start is very disappointing

I will say that also. Concerted pressure bowling. 

This deck now lacking its earlier life.

One more before stumps and we are well on top.

 Our three quicks have bowled 16 maidens between them.

test match is in the grind phase now...

Pant will be the next interesting phase...

Did not expect Rahane to do well but with Kohli and Rahane well set and Vihari to come India have reason to be positive that they can get close to the Australian total. Still the very weak tail, 4 number 11s, will hamper them a lot.

Got easier to bat on the longer day went. 

man how does even make sense that the pitch stopped showing variable bounce

hopefully tomorrow gremlins resurface

think starc was underbowled with the new ball

was our most threatening

cummins down on pace

Live in Perth & went to some tests at the WACA, cracks from memory were just part of it.
Done some research to make sure my memories were correct.
As most of you know the WACA & Perth Stadium pitches have a high percentage of clay.
This is what gives them the hardness that makes the pace & bounce, the downside being due to same they crack & more so in high temps .
The WACA would crack so bad, that in a grade match WA V NSW in 2010, the captains were asked if they wanted to abandon play on the last day.
Then there are images on the fingers of a hand fitting into the cracks.
In regards to the first day, Tony Greig was known for his car keys, which easily fitted into cracks prior to first days play at the WACA.
As they made the pitch more docile with different soils, later pitches seemed to be greener with fewer cracks at the start.
With the weather turning unusually docile for us, this could mean, like yesterday, that the cracking will slow down.
Still, makes for an interesting game.
jaszyjim


jaszyjim

They use rollers on the pitch, that flattened out the pitch, knocked down the edges of the cracks and there was not the heat to open them up more and give edges to hit and alter the bounce. Also David Saker was quoted in the media as saying the ball went very soft, much more than the balls in Adelaide, not that I understand why that would happen.

That is my view too.

Kholi and Rahane were travelling at just over a run a ball at one stage. Then our pacemen put on the screws. That sent a message to BCCI that we were not going to be a pushover. My view was Cummins just shaded our other two. A great concerted effort. 

Lets take a look at the state of play as we enter the third day. The game is evenly poised. Our pace cartel never wavered from the task yesterday despite not getting much assistance from this jekyll and hyde pitch. The longer the day went the easier was the batting. Nevertheless we managed to build sufficient pressure to remove one of their best in Pujara and made life a battle for their other stars Kohli and Rahane. The bottom line is those two are still at the crease after some fine application. Both have to be removed by lunch.. if we are to take a lead into the second innings and the momentum. Lyon also needs to hit his straps after a largely ineffective performance yesterday.

I think Australia has a bit of advantage because of the quality of the batting to come, especially the 4 bowlers who are number 11s. So an early wicket could see them out well before lunch. A lead of 30-50 runs seems most likely which would be handy but not decisive. .
Lyon was getting hardly any assistance but still bowled tightly and I do not see him being an attacking option in this innings. It might change in the 4th innings. Vihari did get two wickets but that had nothing to do with the quality of his bowling, he just rolled them out and was gifted two wickets. One by the pitch and one by an awful shot to a nothing ball.

The elephant in the room was the 38C first day stinker. Some are saying due to lack of air flow at this impressive stadium the temp in the middle was more like 45C. Almost on cue the cracks opened and the ball started misbehaving. Had we had another scorcher yesterday the cracks would have widened and the Indians would have been batting on a minefield. But the weather gods smiled on them providing this strong Indian batting lineup with  a far cooler day with mostly overcast. So the cracks contracted I expect with use of the heavy roller and remained so. Consequently batting was easier.

Forecast for Perth is tops of #30 with sunny periods.

Must not let these first 11 overs drift along waiting for the new ball. India let things get away from them a bit heading up to the new ball, Australia cannot do the same thing. Must be tight and attacking.