There were fielders prowling around the bat, eagerly waiting to pounce on the smallest of errors. There was the pressure of a sizeable first-innings deficit. And the spinners were at the batter ball after ball, seldom drifting from that probing line and length. This is what many visiting teams have encountered and succumbed to, especially in the third innings of Tests in India. On Day 2 of the third Test at Holkar Stadium on Thursday, it was the turn of India’s batters to face the music.
The hosts didn’t have the answer to the stern examination, getting bowled out for 163 at the stroke of stumps on Day 2. It leaves Australia, who responded to India’s first-innings total of 109 with 197 for an 88-run lead, needing 76 runs for victory on Day 3. Unless the Aussies collapse spectacularly on Friday, they should make it 1-2 going into the final Test in Ahmedabad.
If they can get past the finish line here, they have senior off-spinner Nathan Lyon to thank. The 35-year-old utilised the helpful surface to perfection, taking 8/64 after 23.3 overs of unrelenting accuracy.
For India, Cheteshwar Pujara hung on gamely for 142 balls and compiled 59, but he had little support from the other batters. When he was sent back courtesy a diving, one-handed catch by Steve Smith at leg slip, India’s hopes of stretching the lead beyond 100 also dissipated.
The Australian spinners -- Lyon, Matt Kuhnemann and Todd Murphy -- were engaged in a cat-and-mouse game with India’s batters right through the day. While Kuhnemann got the critical wicket of Virat Kohli, it was Lyon who caused the maximum hassle for India. He likes to create a bit of mystique about his bowling by talking up the variations that he’s working on, but it’s the stock off-break and the arm ball that he banks on for his wickets.
{{/usCountry}}The Australian spinners -- Lyon, Matt Kuhnemann and Todd Murphy -- were engaged in a cat-and-mouse game with India’s batters right through the day. While Kuhnemann got the critical wicket of Virat Kohli, it was Lyon who caused the maximum hassle for India. He likes to create a bit of mystique about his bowling by talking up the variations that he’s working on, but it’s the stock off-break and the arm ball that he banks on for his wickets.
{{/usCountry}}“This spell is up there. I am really proud of the way we have gone about it. Personal success is great to have, but after Delhi, we had some good conversations as a team. I am prouder of the way we have gone about it as a collective group. But this spell is certainly up there as one of my career highlights,” said Lyon after achieving match figures of 11/ 99.
Trailing by 88 runs going into their second innings, the Indian players were under tremendous pressure for the first time perhaps since the series began in Nagpur on February 9. That pressure seemed to show in Shubman Gill’s rash dismissal in India’s fifth over of the innings. Against Lyon, operating from around the wicket, Gill stepped out and heaved across the line, entirely uncharacteristic of someone who’s usually pleasing to the eye. He missed, heard the sound of the ball hitting timber and began his long walk back to the pavilion.
Rohit Sharma, too, was out cheaply, trapped leg-before to a Lyon delivery that seemed to deceive him in length. With Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja also not adding much to the score, India were 79/4 going into the tea break with Pujara and Shreyas Iyer at the crease.
There was a slight shift in momentum when India scored 32 runs in the first four overs of the final session thanks to Iyer’s initiative. He punished short balls from Kuhnemann for six twice through midwicket. Pujara was at ease using his feet, stepping down the track but minimising the threat by playing the ball along the ground. Just as Iyer was giving the Australians something to think about though, a flick against Mitchell Starc was snaffled brilliantly by Usman Khawaja at midwicket.
Lyon continued posing problems, finding that optimum pace and exacting length to challenge the Indian batters time and again. He got a straighter delivery to beat Bharat’s defence and hit off-stump while a conventional off-break was good enough to dismiss Ashwin leg-before.
Lyon’s effort has perhaps ensured that the Australians won’t rue their batting in the morning session on Thursday.
In contrast to the first day when the first hour presented plenty of drama, the Australian batting pair of Peter Handscomb and Cameron Green exuded a sea of calm at the start. Barring one occasion when Green charged down the track to Jadeja and lofted the ball over mid-on for four, the two batters did not feel the need to take the attacking route. They were untroubled in defence, preferring to build on that first-innings lead steadily.
It was largely Jadeja and Axar that operated with the ball in the first hour. Given what followed, though, Sharma may regret not bringing in Ashwin earlier into the attack. The ace off-spinner was given the ball an hour into Day 2, and didn’t take long to stamp his imprint on the contest. In his second over of the day, he got Handscomb caught at short leg. The breakthrough seemed to open the floodgates again as the Aussies inexplicably lost their last six wickets for 11 runs in 34 balls.
While Ashwin went on to dismiss Alex Carey and Lyon to finish with three wickets, Umesh Yadav also made his presence felt with three quick scalps. Brought into the attack when the ball was 71 overs old, he was able to get the ball to straighten after pitching and target the stumps. Green perished leg-before while the off-stumps of Starc and Murphy were sent cartwheeling.