Nathan Lyon bagged yet another fifer as India were dismissed for 262 runs, giving the visitors a one-run lead heading into the second innings of the game. He ran riot on the top order, getting the top three batters for just 54 runs, including the wicket of 100-Test match veteran Cheteshwar Pujara for a duck.
Virat Kohli (44 off 84 balls) and Ravindra Jadeja (26 off 74 balls) did steady the innings in the post-lunch session by adding 59 runs for the fifth wicket but Todd Murphy (1/37 in 14 overs), in his second Test, and debutant left-arm spinner Matthew Kuhnemann (1/64 in 20 overs) dismissed the duo in quick succession to put the visitors on top.
Kuhnemann got the all-important wicket of Kohli in a controversial manner. On-field umpire Nitin Menon raised his finger and Kohli immediately reviewed the shot. Ultraedge showed that the ball hit him on the bat and pads almost simultaneously, and the wicket stood courtesy of the Umpire's call.
Ball tracking technology showed that the ball would have struck the leg stump, and the umpire's decision was upheld.
Notably, according to Law 36.2.2, if the ball strikes both the pad and the bat at the same time, the ball is considered to have struck the bat first but in this case, Kohli had to return to the dressing room after a 44-run inning.
With the home side reeling at 139 runs for the loss of seven wickets, the stabilisers Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel came in and took the game from the scruff of the neck to rescue the side in the second half of the day. The duo stitched together a partnership of 114 runs with Axar top-scoring for India at 74 runs in 115 balls, and Ashwin scoring 37 runs in 71 balls.
