Match report: India vs Australia, 2nd Test, Day 1

It was expected that India would field 4 spinners in the second Test match starting from today at Hyderabad, but that did not happen as India went with the same side that won the Chennai Test. Australia, on the other hand, made some changes, with young Glenn Maxwell making his debut. It was Australia who won the toss and decided to bat on a pitch that was expected to turn. Here is a session-by-session recap of how things unfolded on the first day of play.

First Session - The first session belonged entirely to the Indians as they took 4 wickets in the session and kept Australia in a strangle hold. It was Bhuvneshwar Kumar who gave India their first breakthrough, dismissing Warner for 6 in the second over of the innings. He followed up his first with a second wicket two overs later, dismissing Cowan in the fourth over of the innings. Next, it was Watson taking to the crease, and he looked solid during his stay, playing some delightful shots. The highlight of his innings was a placid straight drive off Ishant Sharma. His stay was cut short by a delivery from Kumar which kept short and struck him plumb before the wicket. Hughes was the other batsman dismissed during the first session of play with Ashwin picking his only wicket. It was a difficult session for the Australians as they were troubled by Kumar initially and the spin trio all through. Australia reached 50 in the 15th over of the innings which goes to prove that it was down to really good bowling by the Indians and that they made the Australian batsmen earn every run. Australia went into lunch with the score at 83/4, with Clarke and Wade at the crease just starting to rebuild the Australian innings.

Second Session - The second session belonged to Australia as Clarke and Wade put together a partnership of 130 odd runs with Clarke completing his half century in the process. They were bold enough to play their shots and took the charge to the Indian bowlers. They played some good shots all over the ground and looked confident as well. They took the score to 150 inside 50 overs, much to the happiness of the team and the players. India, on the other hand, had their share of bad luck as Pujara dropped Clarke off Ashwin when the Aussie skipper was on 53. Needless to say, Ashwin did not appreciate the effort from Pujara. With 12 already wickets to his name on this ground, much was expected of Ashwin in this match, but although he tried his best, the fielding let him down. The Aussies went in to tea without any more wickets falling and Clarke and Wade looking settled to score big. The Australian score at the time had just crossed 200.

Final Session – The final session once again belonged to the Indians as they had the opposition tottering at 237 for 9 before what was a sudden declaration from Clarke. This session had the spinning trio in operation, picking wickets at regular intervals. Australia lost the last 6 wickets for only 29 runs with Jadeja and Harbhajan sharing the wickets between themselves. It was again Clarke to the rescue, scoring 91 to help his team, this time with the support of Wade. After being put into bat, India batted for 3 overs, scoring 5/0.

Thus, the day was dominated by the Indian spinners who made merry on a spinning track and took control of the game on the very first day.