CHENNAI: On a day Virat Kohli became the second fastest to 25 Test centuries and Nathan Lyon took five wickets, a united show of hostility by the fast bowlers kept India in the match.
Having taken a lead of 43 and with that a psychological advantage, Australia’s bid to build on it was dealt body blows literally and otherwise before they closed Day 3 in Perth with a slight edge.
With an overall lead of 175 and news coming in that Aaron Finch is ready to bat after retiring hurt with an injured finger, the hosts would like to add about a 100 or more if possible to give themselves a chance of winning the second Test.
On the other hand, the Indians would believe that they can have a go at it if they manage to keep the target below 250.
It was due to a concerted effort mainly by Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Shami that India were still in the hunt despite conceding what appeared to be a decisive lead.
Kohli completed his sixth and arguably best century in Australia, Hanuma Vihari helped him add 50 for the fifth wicket and Rishabh Pant belted valuable runs towards the end. But in spite of their efforts, Lyon’s splendid show left Australia in a better position.
At 64 for one in the second innings, the home team looked on course for a sizeable total before the Indian quicks struck. Even before that, they had made life difficult for Australia’s batsmen, who took blows on the body, played and missed and saw edges land in gaps. Bumrah was the pick of the lot, with Ishant and Shami not too far behind. Umesh Yadav was the lone exception.
Marcus Harris, Shaun Marsh, Peter Handscomb and Travis Head succumbed to the onslaught. The common theme was, all were pressurised into making mistakes. Finch had to leave the field after being hit by Shami. Part-timer Hanuma played his part.
“Tomorrow the first session will be important. We want to take early wickets, to restrict the total to as less as possible. Our team is capable of chasing any total,” said Bumrah. “If you see the match, nobody has really gotten out (to balls that came) off the track. The crack is there but it doesn’t do a lot. It’s only in the mind,” he added.
Despite bowling splendidly, Bumrah has taken just one wicket in the second innings so far. “Sometimes you don’t get wickets off good balls and sometimes you get wickets off bad balls. As a bowling unit we wanted to create pressure from both ends. If I don’t get wickets, may be someone else will. That was the plan.”
SCOREBOARD
Australia 1st innings: 326
India 1st innings (o/n 172/3): Kohli c Handscomb b Cummins 123, Rahane c Paine b Lyon 51, Vihari c Paine b Hazlewood 20, Pant c Starc b Lyon 36, Shami c Paine b Lyon 0, Ishant c & b Lyon 1, Umesh not out 4, Bumrah c Khawaja b Lyon 4. Extras (b4, lb7, nb2, w5) 18. Total (all out, 105.5 ovs) 283. FoW: 4-173, 5-223, 6-251, 7-252, 8-254, 9-279. Bowling: Starc 24-4-79-2, Hazlewood 21-8-66-2, Cummins 26-4-60-1, Lyon 34.5-7-67-5.
Australia 2nd innings: Harris b Bumrah 20, Finch retired hurt 25, Khawaja (batting) 41, Marsh c Pant b Shami 5, Handscomb lbw Ishant 13, Head c Ishant b Shami 19, Paine (batting) 8. Extras (lb1) 1. Total (four wkts, 48 ovs) 132. FoW: 1-59, 2-64, 3-85, 4-120. Bowling: Ishant 9-0-33-1, Bumrah 13-5-25-1, Shami 10-3-23-2, Umesh 8-0-39-0, Vihari 8-4-11-0.