- Australia extended their lead to 62 runs against India at the end of day 2 of the second Test here on Saturday. The visitors were on 61 for one when stumps were called.
- Earlier, Axar Patel (74) and Ravichandran Ashwin (37) added 114 runs before Australia bowled out India for 262 for a one-run lead. Shreyas Iyer completed a stellar catch as Usman Khawaja (6) was sent back by Ravindra Jadeja (1/23).
Brief Scores:
Australia:263 all out and 61 for 1 in 12 overs (Travis Head 39 not out; Ravindra Jadeja 1/23)
India 1st Innings:262 all out in 83.3 overs (Axar Patel 74, Virat Kohli 44; Nathan Lyon 5/67)
Scoreboard: 2nd Test, India vs Australia, Day 2
Australia 1st Innings: 263 all out
India 1st Innings:
Rohit Sharma b Lyon 32
KL Rahul lbw b Lyon 17
Cheteshwar Pujara lbw b Lyon 0
Virat Kohli lbw b Kuhnemann 44
Shreyas Iyer c Handscomb b Lyon 4
Ravindra Jadeja lbw b Murphy 26
Srikar Bharat c Smith b Lyon 6
Axar Patel c Cummins b Murphy 74
Ravichandran Ashwin c Renshaw b Cummins 37
Mohammed Shami b Kuhnemann 2
Mohammed Siraj not out 1
Extras:(B-8, LB-11) 19
Total:(All out in 83.3 overs) 262
Fall of wickets: 1-46, 2-53, 3-54, 4-66, 5-125, 6-135, 7-139, 8-253, 9-259, 10-262
Bowling:Pat Cummins 13-2-41-1, Matthew Kuhnemann 21.3-4-72-2, Nathan Lyon 29-5-67-5, Todd Murphy 18-2-53-2, Travis Head 2-0-10-0.
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All-rounders Axar Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin added 114 runs before Australia bowled out India for 262 on day two of the second Test here on Saturday. Axar (74 off 115) led the Indian fight-back, scoring a boundary-laden half century. The all-rounder smacked as many as nine fours and three sixes.
He was aptly complemented by Ashwin (37 off 71) as the duo looked set to give India the lead. However, a Pat Cummins strike tilted the match in Australia's favour as Ashwin was caught by Matthew Renshaw. An over later Axar too perished followed by Mohammed Shami (1) as India trailed by one run.
For Australia, premier spinner Nathan Lyon was the pick of the bowlers as he registered a five-wicket haul.
Brief Scores:
Australia 1st Innings: 263 all out in 78.4 overs.
India 1st Innings: 262 all out in 83.3 overs (Axar Patel 74, Virat Kohli 44; Nathan Lyon 5/67).
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- A determined Axar Patel (51) and R Ashwin (31) have narrowed the gap between the two teams as the lead for the Australians is just by 33 runs. Axar, who score his half century with a six, has been the highlight of India's innings with his aggressive short play.
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Australia's premier spinner Nathan Lyon took a five-wicket haul as India moved to 179 for seven at tea on day two of the second Test here on Saturday. Wickets continued to tumble in the second session of the day as Ravindra Jadeja, Virat Kohli and Srikar Bharat were sent packing by the spin trio of debutant Matthew Kuhnemann (1/64) Todd Murphy (1/37) and Lyon (5/41). Axar Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin were batting on 28 and 11 respectively when tea was taken.
Brief Scores:
Australia 1st Innings:263 all out in 78.4 overs.
India 1st Innings: 179 for 7 in 62 overs (Virat Kohli 44; Nathan Lyon 5/41)
Scoreboard: 2nd Test, India vs Australia, Tea Day 2
Australia 1st Innings: 263 all out
India 1st Innings: (Overnight 21/0)
Rohit Sharma b Lyon 32
KL Rahul lbw b Lyon 17
Cheteshwar Pujara lbw b Lyon 0
Virat Kohli lbw b M Kuhnemann 44
Shreyas Iyer c Handscomb b Lyon 4
Ravindra Jadeja lbw b T Murphy26
Srikar Bharat (wk)c Steven Smith b Lyon6
Axar Patelbatting28
Ravichandran Ashwinbatting11
Extras: (B-4,LB-7) 11
Total: (For 7 wickets in 62 overs) 179
Fall of wickets: 1-46, 2-53, 3-54, 4-66, 5-125, 6-135, 7-139.
Bowling: Pat Cummins 9-1-26-0, Matthew Kuhnemann 20-4-64-1, Nathan Lyon 20-3-41-5, Todd Murphy 13-2-37-1.
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- It's tea and India are at 179-7 with Axar Patel saving the hosts' day with aggressive shot playing.
- Ravindra Jadeja, who had started to look comfortable at the crease and was adding to the Indian scoreboard while forming a vital partnership with Virat Kohli was removed by Todd Murphy. The ball held the line after pitching and struck Jadeja's pad, who are looking to play for the turn. The review too couldn't save him as he was hoping the ball to waver towards the leg side. India in some trouble here as they still trail by 138 runs.
- India are 88-4 at lunch, all picked up by Australia's Nathan Lyon. He dismissed openers Rohit Sharma (32) and KL Rahul (17), then went on to pick Cheteshwar Pujara (0) before sending Shreyas Iyer back to the hut for a meagre four runs. Virat Kohli (14) and Ravindra Jadeja (15) are trying to stich a partnership but with Lyon in his elements, it would be a tall order for both of them before they take the crease after lunch.
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Here's what happened in the match:
New Delhi: KL Rahul's bad patch continued while Cheteshwar Pujara had a forgettable first innings outing in his 100th Test as premier Australian spinner Nathan Lyon reduced India to 88 for four at lunch on day two of the second Test here on Saturday.
Only skipper Rohit Sharma (32) looked in good touch as a vintage Lyon (11-1-25-4) was in his element, troubling the top-order repeatedly. The Kotla track had a bit more pace off the track compared to Jamtha and hence Lyon's deliveries at times hurried the batters. Also giving a bit more air created doubts in the minds of the batters.
Rahul (17), who survived two DRS appeals by Australia, was trapped leg-before as Lyon tossed one from round the wicket and got it to deviate enough and find his pads. Rahul's saga of failures continued and now a question would be asked whether the Indian team management is being unfair by forcing Shubman Gill to cool his heels in the dugout.
Rohit seemed to carry from where he had left in the first Test and was also playing the sweep shot to good effect. However, he played across the line to a straighter one from Lyon and was castled in the process. Rarely has Pujara walked into bat amid such fanfare and 20,000 plus Kotla crowd chanting his name but his milestone match turned out to be some sort of an anti-climax as he failed to bother the scorers.
In case of Pujara, it was another flighted one and it turned back enough with the orthodox Rajkot man trying to play a half-forward defensive stroke. The turn was enough for the umpire to raise his dreaded finger. Coming back from injury, Shreyas Iyer (4) looked confident in his brief stay at the crease but a stroke of bad luck brought about his downfall.
He played one of his legs towards the leg-side and Peter Handscomb latched on to a reflex catch which wouldn't get stuck nine out of 10 times. Handscomb actually fumbled but the ball simply stuck between his legs to see Iyer's back. At the break, Ravindra Jadeja (14 batting), one of India's best Test batters in recent years, was at the crease along with Virat Kohli (15 batting). (PTI)
