Finance
India openers Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma batted through the tricky 10 overs with relative ease, finishing unbeaten on 18 and 17 respectively as the hosts were 36/0 at stumps on Friday, trailing Australia by 444 runs.
With the pitch at the Narendra Modi Stadium still favoring stroke play, Rohit was flawless in his timing, flicking and cutting off Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon with relative ease. Gill, on the other hand, played a sweet short-arm jab on a short ball from Cameron Green before dancing down the pitch to smash a six off Lyon at stumps.
Earlier, Ravichandran Ashwin of India picked up a six-wicket haul in a magical display of skill and control to bowl out Australia for 480. With the pitch showing no signs of sharp turn, Ashwin single-handedly got India back into the game, especially after a wicketless morning session, finishing with 6/91 in 47.2 overs.
After taking three wickets in the second session, Ashwin took three more in the third session to complete his six-fer and end Australia’s innings at 167.2 overs. The visitors were able to post a large total on a good batting pitch thanks to left-handed opener Usman Khawaja’s marathon 180 and Cameron Green smashing his first Test century with an entertaining 114, as well as Nathan Lyon and Todd Murphy sharing a 70-run stand for the ninth wicket.
Green reached his half-century off 67 balls in the morning, with a single through long-off off Ravindra Jadeja. When Mohammed Shami was introduced into the attack in the third over of the day, there was some uneven bounce, but it wasn’t enough to separate a zen-like Khawaja and an enterprising Green.
Green’s timing was impeccable as he slashed a short ball from Ashwin off his back foot through the off-side. When Khawaja whipped twice through square leg for boundaries, an errant Umesh Yadav gave Australia the opportunity.
Umesh kept leaking runs as Khawaja slashed him through slip, before Green brought out a drive on the up through the extra cover gap for another boundary. Green feasted more on Umesh’s wayward bowling, driving thrice in the arc between straight down the ground and extra cover.
Green survived a short-ball barrage by nailing the pull shot and getting an outside edge wide of slip to collect a brace of boundaries off the fast bowler, keeping Australia in the driving seat.
Green scored his first Test century in 144 balls after lunch, with a square-cut off Jadeja through point. He scored runs in quick succession, with Shami driving on an overpitched ball and Jadeja drilling one through extra cover.
Green went for a sweep on an off break going down leg from Ravichandran Ashwin in the 131st over, giving India a breakthrough.
Green, however, could only glove it behind to KS Bharat, departing for 114 off 170 balls and hitting 18 boundaries as India broke the 208-run fifth-wicket stand.
In the same over, Ashwin outwitted Alex Carey with a lovely off break pitched outside off-stump. Carey attempted a big slog but was nowhere near the ball’s pitch, and the thick outside edge flew to point.
Mitchell Starc came out to defend, but the ball took an inside edge to short leg for a sharp catch, rewarding Ashwin’s perseverance. By the end of the session, Khawaja and Lyon had each taken a boundary, bringing Australia’s total to 400.
The final session began with an instant success for India, as Khawaja was struck plumb in front of stumps after missing a straighter ball from Axar Patel. This ended his ten-hour stay at the crease of 422 balls. Lyon and Murphy hit ten boundaries off Axar, Ashwin, and Shami while the pitch was still good for batting.
In his next over, Ashwin drew an outside edge off Lyon, which was caught by slip after ricocheting off the wicketkeeper’s pad, ending Australia’s innings at 167.2 overs.
Brief Scores: Australia 480 in 167.2 overs (Usman Khawaja 180, Cameron Green 114; Ravichandran Ashwin 6/91, Mohammed Shami 2/134) lead India 36/0 in 10 overs (Shubman Gill 18 not out, Rohit Sharma 17 not out) by 444 runs.
Source:OCN
