Bumrah bags five but Head, Smith tons flatten India

Travis Head and Steven Smith brought up centuries in a 241-run stand • Cricket Australia via Getty Images

Brisbane, December 15:

Australia 405 for 7 (Head 152, Smith 101, Carey 45*, Bumrah 5-72) vs India

Centuries from Travis Head and Steven Smith, those two great India tormentors, put Australia in control of the third Border-Gavaskar Test at the Gabba, on a fast-moving second day that produced 377 runs and seven wickets. Five of those wickets fell to the exceptional Jasprit Bumrah, who kept India in the contest almost singlehandedly while swelling his overall Test tally in Australia to 49; Kapil Dev (51) is now the only Indian bowler ahead of him.

Almost singlehandedly, because Bumrah wasn't the only India quick to trouble Australia here. Akash Deep kept landing the ball in testing areas and induced almost as many false shots (45) as Bumrah did (66), but ended the day wicketless. Mohammed Siraj put in a solid shift too, and for most of the first session India applied pressure from both ends and had Australia on a tight leash.

The lack of depth in India's attack began to tell as the day wore on, though, and Australia pulled away as Head and Smith added a rollicking 241 for the fourth wicket in 302 balls. The second new ball gave India some respite, with Bumrah dismissing Smith, Mitchell Marsh and Head in the space of 12 balls, but Australia were already in a superb position by then.

At stumps, they were 405 for 7, and in a position to dictate the shape of the rest of this Test match, although time (all but 13.2 overs of day one were washed out) and the weather may yet complicate their push for a win