Fifties from Cheteshwar Pujara and KL Rahul along with some stoic lower-order resistance meant the fourth India-Australia Test is still in the balance after day two. After bowling Australia out for 300 on day 1, India ended day two still 52 runs behind with four wickets in hand.
Following Murali Vijay’s early dismissal, Rahul and Pujara took it upon themselves to put India back on track. Both scored their fifties but unfortunately couldn’t convert as Pujara was dismissed by an in-form Lyon while Rahul top-edged a pull shot.
Extra Cover: Stats: Cheteshwar Pujara breaks Gautam Gambhir's Indian record
Stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane took the fight to the visitors but fell just short of his fifty and courtesy of some defiant knocks from Ravichandran Ashwin and the pair currently at the crease (Wriddhiman Saha and Ravindra Jadeja), India have ensured that the game is still hanging by a knife’s edge after day two.
For the visitors, Nathan Lyon was the star of the show as he generated plenty of bounces and finished with a four-fer that brought Australia back into the game.
Nathan Lyon:
"There was a bit out there for me," says Nathan Lyon. “ (Enjoyed) Each and every one of them (wickets). We bowled well in partnerships. I thought we were brilliant with the ball. It was a pretty good effort to restrict them to 240-odd. In the first couple of sessions, didn't do much, but as the day progressed there was variation in spin and also bounce.
“There are similarities to the Bangalore wicket. The quicks will be in too with up-and-down bounce. We would like to come out and bowl well and take the four wickets and then bat well. It is fully healed and I'm lucky to have recovered (referring to the injured finger).
“They are a world-class batting line-up, and you have to challenge them consistently, that is where I am proud of our bowling unit as we have challenged them in their backyard. Long way to go in the rest of the series.”
Here are the reactions from the cricket fraternity:
Michael Clarke:
Mitchell Johnson:
Aakash Chopra:
Harsha Bhogle:
Sanjay Manjrekar:
RP Singh:
Click here to get India Squad for T20 World Cup 2024. Follow Sportskeeda for the T20 World Cup Schedule, Points Table, and news
