Just how difficult it is for a sizeable partnership to take shape in India is evident from the fact that in the last decade, only one overseas pair (Dominic Sibley and Joe Root, Chennai, 2021) has put on a stand in excess of 200 in Test cricket. Usman Khawaja and Cameron Green reprised the heroics of the English duo at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Friday, but the ace in India’s pack responded in kind to ensure Australia didn’t quite run away with the second day of the final Test.
R Ashwin has been bowling exceptionally all series long, admittedly on responsive surfaces. Faced with a vastly different challenge—a slow pitch, and absolutely no assistance worth the name—the off-spinner produced another high-class exhibition of probing bowling, using his tricks in the air as his ally to uncork one of his more self-satisfying spells. His six for 91 from 47.2 overs of guile and craft and patience was the bedrock around which India wended their way back into the contest, bowling Australia out for 480 when a total in the vicinity of 550 wasn’t beyond them.
Lower-order fires
Truth to tell, India will be a touch disappointed that they allowed the ninth-wicket pair of Nathan Lyon and Todd Murphy to put on 70, though they will also have been heartened by the fact that two lower-order batsmen with little proven credentials batted on untroubled on a strip still very good for batting. Armed with that knowledge and grateful to be presented with a true deck for once, openers Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill faced few alarms in taking 36 off the total, the fleet-footed Gill showcasing his trust in the track with a towering six off Lyon in the day’s last.
Nathan Lyon en route his 34
If Friday ended reasonably satisfactorily for the hosts, the start was anything but that. Khawaja, the immovable object, and irresistible force Green kicked on from where they had left the previous evening, the left-handed opener a picture of restraint and the giant right-hander peppering the straight field with gorgeous drives. For the second time in three sessions, India failed to procure a wicket as Australia saw off the two hours to lunch easily when the one slice of fortune Ashwin deserved reared its head.
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Bharat fumbles
Having blazed to the first of what should be several tons, Green gloved his first attempted sweep to be smartly snaffled down leg by KS Bharat, ending an innings-defining partnership of 208. Ashwin immediately grew fangs, winkling out Alex Carey and Mitchell Starc, and when Axar Patel evicted Khawaja after a marathon 611-minute 180 off the first ball after tea, India sensed the end was nigh. Lyon, with caution, and the enterprising Murphy thwarted their designs with a stirring alliance, forcing Rohit to requisition the third new ball for Ashwin to finish things off with his 32nd five-for.
Brief scores
Australia 480 all out (U Khawaja 180, C Green 114, T Murphy 41; R Ashwin 6-91, M Shami 2-134) v India 36-0
Todd Murphy and Nathan Lyon frustrate Indians with 70-run ninth-wicket stand after Usman Khawaja and Cameron Green share 208 runs for the fifth wicket as visitors score massive 480 in first innings; hosts reach 36-0 at stumps on Day 2
