Australia vs India, First Test: 5 Talking Points

2. Australian lower-order displayed good resilience

Cummins remained steadfast

Saying that the bowling was tougher than the earlier days, shouldn't take any credit away from the Australian lower order, who for their own merit, batted extremely well, even while staring down the throat of defeat.

The day began with Aussies needing 219 runs to win with 6 wickets remaining, and that they reached to a point just 32 runs shy of the winning target, speaks a great deal about how they wielded the bats for a greater part of the day.

Australia lost its fifth wicket at 115, sixth at 156 and seventh at 187, and still, the side continued to show a lot of resilience and put on another 104 runs before their wickets dried up. They managed to hold their nerves and place a load of pressure back on the Indian bowlers, with their very spirited approach to batting.

Take a look at the scores of the Australian top order: Finch (11), Harris (26), Khawaja (8), Handscomb (14), Head (14), with Shawn Marsh (60) the only exception among the remainder of the lot with their meager scores. Now take a look at the scores of the Australian lower order: Paine (41), Cummins (28), Starc (28), Lyon (38*), Hazlewood (13).

Thus, of the Australian total, their top-6 scored 133 runs only when their bottom-5 accounted for 148 runs (10 other runs were extras). Had the top order plied their trade in a better fashion, we may have seen the match move toward a very different result, given that there was time for another 15 or 20 overs till the day's actual close of play.