Bowlers R Ashwin (4/55), Jasprit Bumrah (2/52) and Umesh Yadav (3/40) were on fire for India as they wrested back control off the first Test match against Australia at the Adelaide Oval.
Australia began Day 2 in pole position to press home their advantage further, however ended up conceding a 53-run first innings lead, and were a further 9 behind when stumps were drawn on Friday evening, a day which also saw 15 wickets fall. This is the first time in eight day-night Tests Australia have failed to secure a first innings lead.
India, who bowled out Australia for 191, could have had a bigger lead than 53 runs had they not dropped a few catches in the field. India will resume Day 3 with the score at 1/9 with the lead extended to 62 runs.
Overnight batsmen for India, Wriddhiman Saha and R Ashwin failed to add to their scores in the morning as the visitors lost their final four wickets for 11 runs in the first half hour of the day. Mitchell Starc, who had started things off with a wicket in the first over on Day 1, finished with 4/53, his best in Tests against India, who were bundled out for 244.
India, who looked like they would take control on Day 1 with Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane batting well, lost their last seven wickets for 56 runs after the captain departed for 74.
Bumrah Takes Charge
Australia’s openers Matthew Wade and Joe Burns, a new combination, played out four maiden overs first up before getting off the mark as Bumrah and Yadav were a tad bit off the mark. A short breather later, Bumrah fixed that and trapped both the openers LBW for 8.
Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne had their task cut out as Bumrah and Mohammed Shami were bowling some very probing lines and lengths before the dinner break.
Smith, normally very good against India in Tests, wasn’t having a comfortable start to his stay as Labuschagne was afforded a couple of early breathers when India dropped a couple of catches.
Post-Dinner Collapse
Nonetheless, Smith (1) could not keep them out for too long and it was Ashwin who caught the edge and Ajinkya Rahane at first slip gobbled it up gleefully. Travis Head was the next wicket to fall as he was caught and bowled by Ashwin at his individual score of 7.
Cameron Green (11) then tried to steady the ship alongside Labuschane but the debutant was undone by some brilliant fielding from Kohli who took a flying catch at mid-wicket to leave the hosts reeling at 5/79.
After Tea, Umesh joined the party with the wickets of Labuschagne (47) and Pat Cummins off the same over to give India hopes of a big lead.
However, that’s when Tim Paine (73*) took charge and batted along with the likes of Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon, adding 80 runs for the final four wickets as India once again failed to polish off the lower order quickly.
Shaw Fails Again
After the fantastic bowling performance, India had less than an hour to negotiate under the lights with all eyes understandably on Prithvi Shaw and Mayank Agarwal, all this with a lead of 53 runs.
Shaw managed to hang in there for only four deliveries before Cummins went through the gap between bat and pad yet again as India lost their first wicket with the score at 7.
Nightwatchman Bumrah and Mayank kept the Australians at bay for the rest of the evening as India finished Day 2 with a lead of 62 runs, with 9 wickets in hand and the score on 1/9.
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