Plan of bowling fuller worked perfectly: Hazlewood

Brisbane, Dec 18 (IANS) After serious questions were asked of them on the first day of the second cricket Test, the Australian bowlers struck back impressively in the morning of Day Two by picking up the remaining six Indian wickets for barely 97 runs -- with the hero of the fightback 23-year old debutant pacer Josh Hazlewood saying the team's plan of bowling fuller worked to perfection.

With the wickets of Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli already in his bag overnight, Hazlewood added three more to his kitty to claim a five-wicket haul on debut. He finished with five for 68 as India were bowled out for 408.

"It gives me massive confidence," he said at the end of the second day.

"I felt like I was bowling really well (coming into this Test), even though most of it was with the white ball - I played only one (Sheffield) Shield game. I felt like the ball was coming out the best it ever has. And now, to put a performance like this in a Test match is very good for the confidence."

Hazlewood said the team formed fresh plans for Thursday morning.

"We started a bit hesitant, through the middle we bowled really well and towards the end we bowled some of our worse balls. We bowled well only in patches," he summed up Australia’s bowling performance on the opening day. 

“In the morning, we came back and bowled beautifully. We bowled a bit fuller and on the fourth stump line, which was our plan. We got a few nicks back to (Brad) Haddin, so yes, the plan worked.”

Hazlewood himself struggled with cramps in the scorching Brisbane heat on his first day out in Test cricket. He said it was the worst he had ever experienced.

“I’ve never experienced cramps like that before. I was a bit nervous in the morning yesterday and the physio thought that contributed to it. It was pretty tough at that time but I got out there today and got through. Very happy with the way I bowled today.”