India picked up four wickets on Day Four of the Adelaide Test against Australia to stay on course for victory in the opening match.
Off-spinner Ravi Ashwin and pacer Mohammed Shami picked up two wickets each as Australia went to stumps on 104-4, still needing 219 runs to reach the 323-run target set by the visitors.
Earlier, half-centuries from Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane put India on track for a big second innings total before a dramatic collapse saw them lose the last five wickets for 25 runs and get dismissed for 307.
Off-spinner Nathan Lyon was the wrecker in chief again, finishing with figures of 6-122 from 42 overs.
THE GRAND STAND
"There you go, there you go... the wicket! You've called it Shane Warne, absolutely perfect" @ShaneWarne was on the money with this one 👌 pic.twitter.com/iWMt1DUV1A
— Fox Cricket (@FoxCricket) December 9, 2018
Pujara and Rahane are two of the most solid batsmen in the Indian side and they took charge of proceedings in the morning session. Pujara moved on to 71 from 204 balls while Rahane finished with 70 as the two added 87 runs for the fourth wicket.
Pujara was out to the second new ball with Lyon getting the ball to jump and take the batsman’s glove to short leg.
Wicketkeeper batsman Rishabh Pant tried to up the ante, smashing 28 from 16 balls with four fours and one six but went for one shot too many against Lyon, slicing the ball to deep cover.
THE COLLAPSE
India lose 4 wickets for four runs. Last time they won a Test in Australia (read Perth 2008), they lost 4 wickets for two runs. The Winning way? @bhogleharsha #AusvInd
— Mazher Arshad (@MazherArshad) December 9, 2018
At one point, it seemed India would bat until the final session and set Australia a target of close to 400, effectively taking their defeat out of the equation. But India’s lower order undid all the hard work done by the top order batsmen.
Once Pujara went, the wheels started to come off. Rohit Sharma was caught at silly point while Pant mistimed a wild swing off Lyon. Rahane, who had moved on to 70 after some exquisite drives and cuts off the pacers, tried to reverse sweep Lyon but was caught at deep point as the off-spinner picked up his 13th five-wicket haul in Tests.
Mitchell Starc returned to polish off the tail, taking the scalps of Ravi Ashwin and Ishant Sharma with India losing their last four wickets for four runs.
THE FIGHTBACK
Mohammed Shami.
A target of 323 was enticing for both teams. India needed to start well and they almost did, with Ishant trapping opener Aaron Finch lbw only for it be called a no-ball.
However, the visitors kept the pressure up. Ashwin got a lucky dismissal as Finch was adjudged caught behind off the glove even though there wasn’t any conclusive evidence even as the batsman strangely refused to review.
There was no luck involved in the next three dismissals as pacer Shami got opener Marcus Harris to edge a full ball behind before having Peter Handscomb caught at short mid wicket off a pull shot. Ashwin, at the other end, beat Usman Khawaja in flight to have the batsman pouched acrobatically at cover by Rohit Sharma. Australia’s hopes now rest on the shoulders of Shaun Marsh (31 not out) and Travis Head (11 not out).
