Australia dominate India on opening day of Bengaluru Test - Blog

#INDvAUS

Bengaluru – Day 1 – Stumps

Australia have dominated all three sessions on day one in Bengaluru. Eight wickets for Nathan Lyon and the Australian openers have got the visitors off to a perfect start. The Aussies trail only by 149 runs and have all 10 wickets intact while India are in a spot of bother once again. It’s going to be very difficult for the hosts to bounce back from this situation.

Ajinkya Rahane puts one down! Ishant Sharma induces an edge off David Warner which goes to the left off Rahane at wide second slip. Rahane does get both his hands to it but puts down in the end. David Warner can make you suffer if you give him chances!!

Good opening over by Ashwin! Two close calls by Ashwin in his first over against Renshaw but the umpire thinks that’s not out. Well bowled Ash!

8 for 50
– Career best figures for Nathan Lyon in Test cricket.
– Best bowling figures for a visiting bowler in India.
– Best bowling figures for an Australian bowler against India.

India bundled out for 189! Eight wickets for Nathan Lyon, what an unbelievable spell! Australia have all the time in the world to dictate terms against the hosts from this position. Indians have failed to cross the 200-run mark for the third successive time in this series. This is a huge psychological boost to the Aussies. O’Keefe in Pune and Nathan Lyon in Bangalore – excellent bowling by Australian spin duo. They are on fire and India under tremendous pressure!

Lyon gets the big fish! KL Rahul’s innings comes to an end and it’s the seventh wicket of the innings for Lyon. Double-hits this flighted delivery towards the fielder at mid off. 90 runs for the opener, that’s almost 50% of the total team score. India might get bowled out before 200.

Eight down! Things get worse for India. Nathan Lyon has taken his sixth wicket and it’s Ravindra Jadeja who has to depart. An inside edge onto the pads and straight to Smith at slip. 188 for 8 now! Australian spinners are choking India in their backyard. The hosts are in deep trouble.

Nathan Lyon gets a 5-wicket haul!! Was just a matter of time. Saha never looked comfortable playing against Lyon. Bowled around off and the batsman edges it to Australian skipper Steven Smith stationed at slip who takes it on the second attempt. Lyon completes a 5-wicket haul! Has been an exceptional spell by the offie so far. India have lost seven wickets with 178 on the cards.

Fourth wicket for Nathan Lyon!! Bowled on leg with a bit of bounce on it and Ashwin gloves it straight to the fielder at leg slip as India lose their sixth wicket. Indian batting has looked pretty ordinary against Australian spinners in this series so far. Getting a taste of their own medicine, you reckon?

OUT! Steve O’Keefe gets Karun Nair! Comes down the wicket and gets beaten due to the flight and spin. Matthew Wade does the rest as he takes off the bails in a flash. Karun has thrown it away after doing all the hard work. With tea around the corner and India are five down.

Ajinkya Rahane this season has now been dismissed by a spinner for the 11th time in 15 innings!
Steve O’Keefe doing it twice!#IndvAus

— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) March 4, 2017

STUMPED! Indian middle order is back in the pavilion without a valuable contribution yet again. Pujara, Kohli and now Rahane – all three batsmen are back in the hut. Nathan Lyon gets his third wicket as Rahane has been stumped by Wade. Time for the triple centurion to walk in next. Yes, Karun Nair is the man! Two Karnataka boys – Rahul and Nair join hands. Can they get India out of trouble on their home ground?

Two bowlers who have dismissed Virat Kohli 5 times each in Tests:
1) James Anderson (England)
2) Nathan Lyon (Australia)

OUT!! Virat Kohli’s gone! Third successive failure for Virat Kohli in this series. Indian skipper’s struggle in the series continues. Decides not to offer a shot to this delivery by Lyon and pays the price for it. That’s plumb and India are in trouble yet again, pin-drop silence at Chinnaswamy. India – 89/3!

A well complied fifty by KL Rahul! Scored a half-century on a challenging track in Pune and gets another fine fifty in this Test. It has been an elegant knock by KL so far. Needs to convert this start and build a solid partnership with his skipper now.

FIFTY! A watchful half-century from @klrahul11, his 3rd in Tests @Paytm #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/3mcKfnWH6l

— BCCI (@BCCI) March 4, 2017

Huge wicket for Australia!! Cheteshwar Pujara dismissed just at the stroke of lunch. Terrific end for Australia in the morning session. Just when the pair of Rahul and Pujara was looking solid out in the middle, Nathan Lyon has weaved his magic. Gets India’s number 3 batsman caught at short leg in the last over of session one. India – 72 for 2!

451 – The average first innings score at Bengaluru since 2004 is 451. Do you think India will be able to post a 450+ total in this Test?

56 – The number of Tests Abhinav Mukund missed between his last Test and this comeback Test. Only, Parthiv Patel (83) has missed more Tests between two appearances for India.

50-run stand up between Rahul and Pujara! After the early loss of Abhinav Mukund, KL Rahul and Cheteshwar Pujara have done well to bring up a 50-run partnership for the second wicket. Rahul has got most of the runs in the partnership but Pujara has negotiated the spinners nicely.

KL Rahul getting into the groove! Handscomb who took a couple of blinders in the previous match has dropped KL Rahul on 30. Meanwhile, Rahul has got most of his runs in boundaries in the morning session so far…

Steve O’Keefe into the attack! Hero of the first Test, Steve O’Keefe comes on to bowl his first over. Can he do the same damage in this match as well?

Abhinav Mukund’s comeback after 56 test matches be like. #IndvAus pic.twitter.com/3OlE7nAqhl

— Kuptaan ?? (@Kuptaan) March 4, 2017

Mitchell Starc draws first blood! Comeback man, Abhinav Mukund’s out for a duck! A low full toss on leg, Mukund fails to connect his flick and is rapped on the pads. Starc appeals and the umpire raises his dreaded finger. Not an ideal comeback for Mukund. India lose their first wicket for 11.

Cracking start!! Two boundaries in the opening over for KL Rahul and Mitchell Starc’s at the receiving end. Promises to be a good contest between the bat and ball!

Virat Kohli in his 25th Test match as captain is yet to play the same eleven in two consecutive Test matches!#IndvAus

— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) March 4, 2017

TOSS – India have won the toss and elected to bat first.

After a crushing 333-run defeat in Pune, the Indian cricket team was brought down to earth by the mighty Aussies who ended the hosts dream run on Indian soil. A century by Australian skipper and a splendid bowling effort by Steve O’Keefe were the top highlights of the match in Pune. Also, India were bowled out twice for a paltry total of close to the 100-run mark. The pitch in Bengaluru will be a better one for batting, so we’ve got a high scoring contest on the cards. Stay tuned in for all live action!!