Aus vs Ind 2nd Test – Stats – What makes Australia so formidable in day-night Tests at home?

On By Littum

The upcoming day-night Test in Adelaide gives Australia a perfect opportunity to avenge their 295-run defeat to India in the first Test. But Australia, who have not won a Test series after being behind for over 25 years, can be proud of their record in pink-ball Tests, having won all seven at Adelaide Oval and all but one of the 12 day- evenings at home. Here’s a statistical guide to what has worked and what hasn’t in the day-night Tests in Australia.

The key to success in day-night Tests in Australia is batting first and putting up significant totals. Australia have used this strategy effectively – successfully going their way with the toss – winning on all seven occasions they have struck first. In six of those games they have submitted 400 plus totals.
The West Indies did the same earlier this year. Electing to bat, they posted 311 and went on to secure an eight-run victory to end Australia’s winning streak in pink-ball tests.
In total, the team that wins the toss has chosen to bat first in ten of the 12 day-night Tests in Australia. England have been the only exception – in Adelaide in 2017 and in Hobart in 2022. They let their team slip on both occasions, allowing Australia’s middle and lower order to score big. New Zealand in 2015 at the Adelaide Oval and Sri Lanka at the Gabba in 2019 failed to capitalize on batting first as they were bowled out for 202 and 144 respectively.
South Africa were 259 for 9 in Adelaide in 2016 but declared their innings to test the Australian batters in the final hour under lights. However, the move didn’t work as Australia went all the way without losing a wicket.
In 2020, India were the only team to lose a day-night Test in Australia despite taking a lead in the first place. Defeat was sealed when they were bowled out for 36 in the second innings, failing to make the most of a 53-run first innings lead.

New ball makes a difference

One of the common trends seen in Australia is that the new ball performs much better in day-night Tests than in Day Tests. Since the 2015-16 season, fast bowlers have averaged 33.02 in the first 20 overs of an innings in red-ball Tests. That number drops to 24.56 in pink-ball games.

A big reason behind that is the success of Australia’s fast bowlers, who average 18.87 with the new pink ball against 25.01 with the new red ball. Even the visiting quicks have done better in pink-ball Tests, averaging 33.94 in the first 20 overs against 45.91 in red-ball Tests.

The batting’s struggle against the new pink ball is obvious – wickets fall about two overs faster on average in the first 20 overs against seamers in pink-ball Tests than in red-ball matches.

Batting is not easy in the last session

Fast bowlers have generally thrived under lights in Australia, making it the most challenging phase for batsmen. They averaged 20.30 in the last session, compared to 23.03 in the first and 32.01 in the second session. The figures for Australia’s fast bowlers are even more impressive: they currently average 14.66 under lights across 12 day-night Tests at home. Their corresponding figures for the first and second sessions are 20.82 and 24.57 respectively.

Conversely, Australia’s batters have fared better under lights compared to the first two sessions. The visiting fast bowlers have averaged 32.08 in the last session, despite conceding only 25.04 per wicket in the first session.

However, Adelaide Oval’s day-night Test presents a unique scenario with fast bowlers who excelled in the first session, averaging 23.02, but their performance drops to 25.66 in the third. Visiting seamers have also performed better in the afternoon session (average of 32.37) compared to the third session (average of 41.37).

On the other hand, Australia’s pacers enjoy bowling equally in the first and third sessions. They average 17.42 in the afternoon and 18.26 under lights. It has meant only one team have managed to surpass the 300-run mark against them in Adelaide in day-night Tests – 302 by Pakistan in 2019, but that came after they conceded 589 in the first innings.

Lyon are doing better than the visiting spinners

Australia has been a challenging country for visiting spinners, be it with the red ball or the pink ball. The visit of spinners have averaged 62.31 in 36 red balls in Australia since the 2015-16 season, while their average in day-night Tests is 64.44.
Nathan Lyon, however, has been different. Since 2015-16, he has been average 25.58 in day-night test against 31.80 in red-ball test at home. Lyon also takes seven fewer balls to bat in the pink-ball Tests than in \red-ball matches.

Labuschagne and Starc lead the charts

With his remarkable success in pink-ball Tests, Marnus Labuschagne has a golden chance to turn his batting fortunes around. He is the leading run-getter in pink-ball Tests in Australiaa total of 894 runs in 14 innings at an average of 63.85. Labuschagne has made four centuries in these Tests; Travis Head with two is the second best.
Mitchell Starc’s dominance in pink-ball Tests is also unparalleled. He is the only one with 50 plus wickets pink-ball tests in Australia. His 66 wickets are at an average of 18.71. Josh Hazlewood (37 at 18.86) and Pat Cummins (34 at 18.35) also average under 20 and Scott Boland, who is likely to replace Hazlewood in the second Test against India, has seven wickets at 13.71 in two pink-ball outings.