The inner square at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru resembled a waffle, but if the players expected a delicious batting wicket to make merry on, it was anything but. India won the toss and elected to bat, hoping to put in the big first innings score that has become a template for a number of their wins this season. However, Nathan Lyon turned in a stunning performance with the ball to help Australia bowl India out for another low total—189. In reply, Australia ended the day unscathed, with David Warner and Matt Renshaw taking the team to 40 without loss.
After Australia’s win in Pune, the pitch at Bengaluru was only going to be in focus. In fact, the number of questions about the surface in the pre-match press conference had even driven Anil Kumble to curtly say “it’s only 22 yards. Let’s move on”. Here, the teams were welcomed to another dry pitch, but uncharacteristically, the bounce was unpredictable.
Lyon’s plan of attack was anything but unpredictable. He enjoyed the extra bounce on the wicket, constantly getting the ball to turn in and rise up from good length. He stuck to his plans throughout the day, getting most batsmen out in the fashion he intended. He ended with record figures of 8 for 50—the best ever for a visiting bowler in India.
All the batsmen in India’s middle-order, which was beefed up with the inclusion of Karun Nair in place of Jayant Yadav, got off to starts, but ended up falling to spin soon after. KL Rahul, however, stood tall with a fine 90 to keep India hopes of a decent first innings score alive. Karun Nair, watched by his parents, looked the most confident at the crease, but his fine innings was cut short just when he looked like he would go onto bigger things. That little Nair innings summed up India’s batting effort on another forgettable day of batting.
Their day started on a good note with the toss going in their favour. It went even better when Rahul smashed the first ball from Mitchell Starc for four. But even before the team could settle down in the dressing room, Abhinav Mukund, who was brought in for the injured Murali Vijay, was out for a duck.
India’s innings was propped up by Cheteshwar Pujara and Rahul, with both batsmen taking a cautious approach. But as the day progressed, the pitch began to show its true colours. Rahul started to look more and edgier, and was lucky to survive on a couple of occasions. It was Pujara, however, who was out. It was the kind of wicket which set the template for the day. Lyon got the ball to bounce and turn in from off-stump, and the batsman could only inside-edge it to short leg.
Lyon got four of his first five wickets with balls that turned in from a similar length. Virat Kohli, perhaps hesitant to nudge it to the leg side due to two close-in fielders, offered no shot to one that did not turn as much as he thought it would. He was out LBW and India slipped into a similar situation to their first innings in Pune at 88 for 3.
Fortunately for them, Rahul had rid himself of the early jitters and settled in nicely. Unfortunately for India, none of the others could replicate what Rahul did for long enough. Ajinkya Rahane stepped out to Lyon and ended up sprawled on the ground as Matthew Wade effected the stumping. Nair was out stumped, too, to Steve O’Keefe after promising much. Nair was the most fluent of the Indian batsmen, using his feet brilliantly to defend and attack. He took two strides too many against O’Keefe and found himself way out of the crease. That wicket left India reeling at 156 for 5, and a lot rested on Rahul.
But as he stood at the other end, Lyon was spinning a web. R Ashwin went back and nudged to David Warner at leg slip, while Wriddhiman Saha edged to Steven Smith at slip. Ravindra Jadeja was also out caught by Smith for 3 leaving Rahul to do something out of the ordinary. He tried, he failed. By the 72nd over, it was all over for India.
Rahane dropping Warner soon after only served to add a lot of salt into India’s gaping wounds.
Brief Scores: India 189 all-out (KL Rahul 90; Nathan Lyon 8-50) lead Australia 40/0 (David Warner 23*) by 149 runs.