NEW DEHLI (AP) – Australian spinner Nathan Lyon took four wickets to restrict India to 88-4 at lunch on Day 2 of the second test after an opening stand of 46 between KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma.
India resumed yesterday on 21-0 after bowling Australia out for 263 on the opening day and was building the innings steadily before losing four wickets for 20 runs in the space of seven overs as Lyon (4-25) ran through the top order.
Virat Kohli was unbeaten on 14 and Ravindra Jadeja was 15 not out at the interval.
There was a hectic passage of play in the first hour when Australia lost two reviews in successive overs against Rahul (17). In the 14th over, Rahul survived an lbw shout from rookie spinner Matthew Kuhnemann (0-35). In the next over, he survived an appeal for caught at slip off Pat Cummins (0-17).
Lyon didn’t miss in the 18th over, though, as he trapped Rahul lbw. The batsman reviewed but the decision stayed in Australia’s favour.
Cheteshwar Pujara came out to bat to a loud applause in his 100th test but his innings didn’t last long. He could have been out lbw for a two-ball duck off Lyon, but Australia didn’t opt for DRS.
In his next over, Lyon bowled Sharma (32) with a delivery that turned and kept low. Two balls later, Lyon trapped Pujara lbw for a duck. The veteran batter put his bat just behind the pad and was caught plumb in front.
Pujara became the eighth cricketer to fall for a duck in his 100th test match, joining the likes of Dilip Vengsarkar (India), Allan Border (Australia), Courtney Walsh (West Indies), Mark Taylor (Australia), Stephen Fleming (New Zealand), Brendon McCullum (New Zealand) and Alastair Cook (England).
The first hour of play saw four DRS reviews, one non-review from Australia, three wickets and only 33 runs scored by India.
Australia then lost its third DRS review, within an hour and 20 minutes of yesterday’s session, when Todd Murphy (0-5) appealed for lbw against Shreyas Iyer (4) in the 25th over.
