Off-spinner Nathan Lyon picked up four crucial wickets for Australia in the post-tea session of day two of the Dharamsala Test to hand his side an advantage over India. The hosts were looking well settled at 153/2 at tea, in response to Australia’s 300 all out, before Lyon got his tail up and ran through the Indian middle order. At stumps, the hosts were at 248/6 with Wriddhiman Saha and Ravindra Jadeja at the crease. India still trail Australia by 52 runs.
The pitch in Dharamsala has played out really well over two days so far. The fast bowlers got enough purchase because of the light covering of grass, while it was quite good for batting as well, with the ball coming on to the bat. However, assuming that the pitch will deteriorate over the last two days, unless India can get a lead of around 100, it would still be advantage Australia considering the hosts will have to bat last.
KL Rahul and Cheteshwar Pujara both got to half-centuries, but could not go on to convert them into bigger scores. Stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane was in the same boat, dismissed for 46 in identical fashion to his counterpart Steve Smith after edging the spinner to slip. India opted for the patient approach, with the run-rate barely being over two an over. It was all looking good until the tea break, after which Lyon began his wicket-taking spree in the final session of the day.
The Australian off-spinner got his over-spin to work for him on this pitch which provided him with enough bounce. He let it rip and got big wickets, including Pujara, Rahane and triple centurion Karun Nair. Lyon now has 63 wickets against India, behind only Muttiah Muralitharan and Lance Gibbs. He’s also got as many as 18 wickets in this series.
This is turning out to be quite a fantastic series, and it’s almost certain that we will have a result in this match. This is now more or less a second-innings contest, but Australia are favourites at this stage, unless India manage to score 150 more runs. Quite remarkable, considering, it was the hosts who were on top at the end of day one.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!