Aussies deliver on day one for first innings lead
AUSTRALIA has snatched a first innings lead on day one of the third Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test, after second-gamer Matt Kuhnemann spun India into a web. Having won the toss and elected to bat in Indore, five of the hosts’ batters were removed by the Queensland tweaker and all 10 wickets fell to spin in a modest total of 109.
India was seven down by lunch and failed to get its tail wagging, with the calamitous runout of Mohammed Siraj ending the innings on a fitting note. The promoted Travis Head (9) was dismissed early in Australia’s response, but the visitors took control from there against an uncharacteristically impatient and wayward Indian attack.
Opener Usman Khawaja (60) combined with first drop Marnus Labuschagne (31) for the Aussies’ most prolific partnership of the series, but it fell just short of triple figures when the latter was skittled by Ravindra Jadeja‘s arm ball. It wasn’t the first time in the innings that had happened either, with the fortuitous batter bowled off a no ball earlier.
Australia eventually took the lead at two down after 37 overs and began to turn the screw. That was until Jadeja threw a spanner in the works, coming over the wicket to Khawaja and forcing a brash sweep to claim his wicket, enacting a nervy closing half-hour for the visitors.
Stand-in captain Steve Smith showed positive intent but was also felled by Jadeja for 26, as the left-armer ended the day with 4-63 off 24 overs. He was searching hard for more, too, having burned all three Indian reviews and leaving skipper Rohit Sharma gun shy on what would have been a correct one.
Peter Handscomb (7) and Cam Green (6) survived the final overs of the evening and will resume on day two with Australia 47 runs ahead at 4-156. The tourists will look to press towards a triple-figure lead before batting last on a spinning Indore pitch.
SCORECARD
INDIA 109 (33.2)
Virat Kohli 22 (52), Shubman Gill 21 (18), Srikar Bharat 17 (30)
Matt Kuhnemann 5-16 (9), Nathan Lyon 3-35 (11.2), Todd Murphy 1-23 (6)
AUSTRALIA 4-156 (54.0)
Usman Khawaja 60 (147), Marnus Labuschagne 31 (91), Steve Smith 26 (38)
Ravindra Jadeja 4-63 (24), Umesh Yadav 0-4 (2), Mohammed Siraj 0-7 (3)
Australia leads by 47 runs with 6 wickets remaining.
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