On the back of Matthew Kuhnemann's maiden five-wicket haul in Test cricket, Australia bundled out India for a paltry score of 109 runs inside the first two sessions on Day 1 of the third Test match in Indore. Indian batters failed to counter Aussie spinners on an Indore pitch that offered plenty of assistance to slow bowlers. After India captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bat first, it was the visiting spinners who ran riot.
The luck was in India’s corner to begin the third Test in Indore as captain Rohit Sharma benefitted from two grave mistakes committed by the on-field umpire. Mitchell Starc, who made his comeback into the Australian playing XI, found the outside edge of Rohit’s bat on the first delivery of the match but the umpire turned down the appeal for a caught behind. The replay confirmed that there was a spike when the ball went past Rohit’s bat. Aussie skipper Steve Smith opted against the DRS, handing his counterpart an early lifeline.
On the fourth ball of the over, Starc got one to swing in and trapped the Indian skipper right in front of the stumps. The ball struck the back pad of Rohit but the umpire once again turned down the Aussie appeal. Smith had a word with his fielders but decided against the review.
The right-handed batter ran out of luck soon as Kuhnemann dismissed the Indian captain on the last ball of the sixth over.
After Kuhnemann dismissed captain Rohit Sharma (12) and Shubman Gill (21), Lyon got the better of Cheteshwar Pujara (1) with an unplayable delivery. The Aussie spinner got the ball to turn viciously from way outside the off stump and rattled Pujara’s woodwork. The ball stayed low and the Indian batter was completely stunned by the turning ball.
India kept losing wickets as the Aussie spinners bowled in challenging lines and forced batters to play the ball. Lyon dismissed Ravindra Jadeja (4) before Kuhnemann cleaned up Shreyas Iyer for a duck, reducing the hosts to 45/5 in 11.2 overs.
Todd Murphy then trapped Virat Kohli (22) before the stumps before Lyon sent KS Bharat (17) back to the pavilion.
Umesh Yadav (17) unleashed a couple of lusty blows but his cameo was cut short by the Aussie left-arm spinner. A complete mix-up in the middle resulted in Mohammed Siraj's run out that brought a close to India's innings. Axar Patel remained unbeaten on 12 runs.
Kuhnemann bowled a brilliant spell and finished with figures of 5/16 in nine overs. Lyon (3/35) did his job perfectly and Murphy also chipped in with a wicket.
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