On a dust bowl of an Indore pitch, India got a taste of their own medicine. Australian spinners, especially Matthew Kuhnemann dominated the proceedings to bundle out India for 109 in just 33.2 overs at Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore. With a stroke of luck, Usman Khawaja’s gutsy half-century and contributions from Marnus Labuschagne and skipper Steve Smith helped Australia take a 47-run lead at the end of Day 1 with six wickets in hand.
Double reprieve for Rohit
Mitchell Starc started off the day's proceedings with a fiery first over on his return after injury. Starc managed to induce an outside edge off Rohit's bat. Australians appealed but umpire Nitin Menon turned it down and Australians were not convinced enough to ask for a review. The ultraedge showed a clear spike as Smith regretted not opting for DRS. On the fourth ball, Australians appealed again. This time an in-swinger hit him on the pads. Once again, Smith did not review as wicketkeeper Alex Carey felt that it was a bit high. The hawkeye showed three reds as Australians wasted another opportunity to dismiss the skipper.
7 wickets in first session
Starc was impressive in the first spell despite failing to get a wicket. As puff of dust started to come off the pitch when the left-arm pacer bowled, Smith realised there is no point holding the spinners back. India were 26/0 after five overs as openers found boundaries. Smith introduced left-arm spinner Matthew Kuhnemann into the attack. Kuhnemann lured Rohit into coming down the track. The ball spun sharply and beat Rohit's bat. Carey took the bails off as India lost their first wicket. Rohit scored 12 runs from 23 deliveries.
Replacing Rahul in the side, Gill looked to score quickly. But Kuhnemann found an outside edge off his bat that carried to first slip fielder Smith. He scored 21 runs from 18 deliveries. Soon enough, Nathan Lyon was in action. Cheteshwar Pujara was left flummoxed by a ball that kept low and spun a long way to beat the bat and hit his stumps. It was clear that this Test was not going to last more than three days either as Pujara returned to the dressing room after scoring just a single.
Jadeja got a promotion up the order to counter the left-arm spinner threat but he faced troubled against Lyon. The veteran Aussie spinner bowled an arm ball that hit his pads. Umpire Menon gave him out but Jadeja reviewed and the decision was overturned after a spike on ultraedge. On the next ball, Jadeja threw his wicket away by playing it straight to short cover fielder Kuhnemann. He scored just four runs from nine balls.
Shreyas Iyer, India's lethal weapon against spin arrived at the crease but did not last long. Iyer dragged the ball to his stumps as he departed for a two-ball duck. India lost half their side for 45 runs in the 11th over and were in dire need of a partnership.
Criticised for his lack of application against spinners of late, Virat Kohli batted with positive intent. He did not miss out on scoring opportunities and defended well. Srikar Bharat too played some confident shots. But Kohli was once again bested by young Todd Murphy. With a long stride forward he wanted to defend but the ball spun more than expected and hit him on the pads. He opted for DRS but it did not go in India’s favour. Kohli scored 22 runs from 52 deliveries.
With six wickets down, Bharat decided to take the aerial route. He slog-swept Murphy for a six over midwicket boundary. The counter-attack did not last long and Lyon trapped him in front of the stumps. He could score 17 runs from 30 deliveries. India managed to score 84 runs in the first session and lost seven wickets.
Kuhnemann's fifer, Yadav's entertaining cameo
In his second over after lunch break, Kuhnemann forced an outside edge off Ashwin's bat. He departed after scoring three runs off 12 balls. Getting his first chance in the series, Umesh Yadav did not waste time. He hit Lyon for a big six over midwicket. In the next over, he hit Murphy for a six over backward square leg. He followed it up with a boundary. The little cameo entertained the crowd for a while and even promoted a hilarious reaction from Kohli. But Smith brought back Kuhnemann to get his wicket. Umesh contributed with 17 runs off just 12 balls to take India’s score past 100. Amidst chaos, Mohammed Siraj was caught short of the crease as Axar Patel wanted a double. India got all out for 109, their fourth-lowest innings total against Australia in home Tests.
Jadeja strikes, unstrikes
Rohit handed the new ball to spinners straightaway. Jadeja struck in his first over to dismiss Travis Head. The left-arm spinner trapped him in front of the stumps from round the wicket. In his next over, Jadeja got Labuschagne bowled but off a no ball Labuschagne was yet to get off the mark when he got an early reprieve. It turned out to be a very expensive no ball for India as they leaked boundaries and allowed Australian batters to settle on an unsettling track. At the end of second session, Australia were 71/1.
Khawaja’s masterful knock, Jadeja makes amends
Khawaja pounced on scoring opportunities from Jadeja and hit him for two boundaries just after tea break. Labuschagne struggled but managed to survive in the middle as Australia crossed the 100-run mark and Khawaja got to a much-deserved half-century. Jadeja made up for his mistake and bowled Labuschagne. When Labuschagne got out, Australia were just one run away from levelling the first innings score. He scored 31 runs from 91 deliveries in the 96-run partnership for the second wicket.
Mohammed Siraj was given the old ball but he was taken off the attack after bowling a couple of no balls. Jadeja managed to break through as Khawaja decided to sweep and got caught by Gill. He scored 60 runs from 147 deliveries. Jadeja and Axar Patel continued to operate together. Once again, Jadeja got the wicket. This time it was a faint edge off Smith's bat that landed in Bharat's gloves. Smith scored 26 runs from 38 deliveries. While the pitch looked more and more dangerous to bat, Cameron Green and Peter Handscomb managed to hold their ground till the end of day's play. Australia have scored 156/4 on Day 1. India’s work is cut out on Day 2. They would like to keep the visitors’ lead below 100.
