India’s bowlers toiled hard but were outplayed by some resilient batting from the Australians on Saturday. At the close of play on Day Two at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, the visitors were 237/6 in their first innings, with a slender lead of 48.
Unlike the Indian batsmen, the Australians displayed patience and were happy to meander along and slowly grind the bowlers down. The scoring rate was only a shade over two runs an over. Rookie batsman Matt Renshaw (60) brought up his second half-century on the tour while Shaun Marsh (66) anchored his side in the final session of day with a crucial 57-run stand with Matthew Wade for the sixth wicket.
All the Indian bowlers impressed but it was Ravindra Jadeja’s (3/49) left-arm spin that the Aussies struggled against. The 28-year-old’s fine showing in the second session gave India the faint hope of triggering a collapse in the Australian ranks.
The pacers, Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma, made it hard work for the batsmen to score. But the older Marsh’s grit and concentration after tea break helped his side win the day’s honours.
India were let down, once again, by occasionally sloppy fielding, and poor use of the Decision review system.
Brief score:
- Australia 237/6 (Shaun Marsh 66, Matt Renshaw 60; Ravindra Jadeja 3/49, Ishant Sharma 1/39) lead India 189 (KL Rahul 90; Nathan Lyon 8/50) by 48 runs
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