Cheteshwar Pujara and KL Rahul struck fifties even as Australia did their best to dry up the runs in the second session. Pat Cummins got the latter for 60 in a fiery spell of short balls but Pujara kept India in the running with an unbeaten 53.
Rahul lost concentration, throwing away his wicket after being well-set, as he miscued a pull to mid-off. Cummins threatened to get rid of Rahane in similar fashion but the India captain dug in after a few misses against the short ball. Scoring runs was not easy at any stage for India as Australia attacked with pace and defended with spin.
Earlier in the morning, Josh Hazlewood and Cummins did well to exploit the bounce and cracks on the pitch to test the batsmen.
Largely over the first session, India were forced to think about survival rather than runs. India made 64 for 1 with Pujara and Rahul steadying the ship after the early dismissal of M Vijay for 11.
Hazlewood and Cummins tested India’s openers in contrasting fashion at the start of the day. While the former was content targeting the channel outside off, the latter provided more dramatic cricket with his change in lengths at high pace. Vijay endured the battle against Hazlewood for quite a while, leaving well outside off, but eventually succumbed to Hazlewood’s perseverance.
At the other end, Rahul had to contend with first a series of sharp bouncers from Cummins, and then the fuller ones. One such good delivery found Rahul’s outside edge but it needed a very good catch at first slip as well. Unfortunately for Australia, Matt Renshaw couldn’t reach up.
Rahul and Pujara began to continue the battle of resistance against good deliveries but did not miss out on opportunities to score. When Cummins went too full, Rahul drove him straight down the ground, when Nathan Lyon was brought in Rahul swept him to the fence. When O’Keefe was brought in, Pujara danced down to drive him through covers. Together the duo staved off whatever was being thrown at them till Lunch.
After getting to his fifty however, Rahul (who had been struck on the right hand by Hazlewood) showed lesser tightness in shot selection. A few close shaves didn’t help him get his focus back either and eventually lost the battle against Cummins.
Rahane rode past similar nerves and settled in with Pujara to put on a 45-run stand until Tea.
Brief Scores
Australia 300, lead India 153/2 (KL Rahul 60, Cheteshwar Pujara 53*; J Hazlewood 1-31) by 147 runs.
