An inspired bowling spell from Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon in the post-tea session pegged back India on day two of the fourth Test between the two sides at the HPCA Stadium, Dharamsala.
Lyon picked up all four Indian wickets to fall in the session as the hosts ended the day on 248-6, still trailing Australia’s first innings total by 52 runs.
Earlier in the day, KL Rahul struck another half-century, his fifth in this series, but once again failed to convert it into a big score. He showed a lot of patience in the morning session, but a loose shot just after he got to his fifty saw him fall to Pat Cummins for 60.
Cheteshwar Pujara looked like he was continuing from where he left off in Ranchi, with Rahul and him adding 87 runs for the second wicket. Pujara would later go on to hit a fifty of his own.
Going into tea with the score reading 153/2, the Indians would have been feeling comfortable as they seemed to hold the upper hand. But wickets fell in a heap in the final session of play, with the Indian batsmen succumbing to the off-spin of Lyon.
It was Pujara who first fell for 57 and was soon followed to the pavillion by Karun Nair who could manage just five runs.
Stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane and Ravichandran Ashwin – just like Rahul and Pujara – were guilty of not converting their starts, as they were dismissed for 46 and 30 respectively.
Wriddhiman Saha and Ravindra Jadeja saw to it that there were no more wickets before the end of play as both teams look to gain the first innings lead which might be pivotal in deciding the outcome of the match and the series.
BRIEF SCORES
Australia 300 all out [Smith 111, Wade 57, Warner 56, Kuldeep 4-68] lead India 248-6 [Rahul 60, Pujara 57, Lyon 4-67] by 52 runs.
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