Led by openers KL Rahul and Murali Vijay, India fought back with the bat after Australia had posted a total of 451 in their first innings on day two of the third Test in Ranchi.
India were 120/1 at the end of day’s play, with KL Rahul getting dismissed after he scored his fourth half-century of the series. Murali Vijay [42*] and Cheteshwar Pujara [10*] will resume batting on Saturday.
Earlier, captain Steve Smith and Glenn Maxwell’s centuries helped the Australians put up a sizeable score on the board. Smith remained unbeaten on 178 at the end of the innings, while Maxwell scored 104.
As expected, on Twitter, there was much praise for Smith and Maxwell after their sublime knocks.
Former Australian captain Michael Clarke hailed Indian left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja, who picked up five wickets despite not getting much assistance from the pitch.
Here, we collect the top tweets of the day.
Well played Smudge! Terrific knock as the norm with you! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻@stevesmith49
— Dean Jones (@ProfDeano) March 17, 2017
Once again 5 wickets for Jadeja. On a wicket that hasn't had much spin or bounce in this first innings he has been a class above 👍🏏
— Michael Clarke (@MClarke23) March 17, 2017
Yes yes yes @Gmaxi_32 very happy for you mate! #100 #INDvAUS
— Mitchell Johnson (@MitchJohnson398) March 17, 2017
Congrats @Gmaxi_32 on your maiden 💯. Tough start to the Aussie summer, but a great way to answer critics. Have @CricketAus found their No6?
— Lisa Sthalekar (@sthalekar93) March 17, 2017
So proud of @Gmaxi_32!! Great work mate 👍🏼👊🏼 #AUSvIND
— Aaron Finch (@AaronFinch5) March 17, 2017
Big admirer of Ravindra Jadeja the Test player. Walks into the Test team as a pure bowler & he is not just a support cast to Ashwin.👏👏👏
— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) March 17, 2017
If India bat through the day tomorrow, it will set this test match up beautifully.Teams almost level with 2 days to play on an Indian wicket
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) March 17, 2017
Pat Cummins is bowling in a Test Match. Since his last over in Tests Australia has had four different Prime Ministers.
— Jarrod Kimber (@ajarrodkimber) March 17, 2017
4 50s without a 100 by Indian openers in a series:
— Bharath Seervi (@SeerviBharath) March 17, 2017
C Chauhan v WI 1978-79
C Chauhan v Aus 1979-80
Sidhu v Aus 1997-98
KL RAHUL, this series
Two things are consistent in life:
— The Gujarat Lions (@TheGujaratLions) March 17, 2017
1. The sun rising from the east.
2. @imjadeja taking 5 wickets in an innings. #INDvAUS #GameMaariChhe