New Delhi: Indian spinners spun a web around Australian batsmen on the first day of the fourth and final Test as the Aussies lost eight wickets for 231 at the Feroz Shah Kotla ground here on Friday.
The first day saw the Aussie surrendering against the spin trio of India as Ravichandran Ashwin picked up four wickets and was complimented by Ravindra Jadeja who joined the party by picking up two wickets.
Meanwhile, the Kotla pitch came in for severe criticism from the ex-cricketers as it behaved like a third day wicket, making it unplayable for the batsmen. The amount of purchase Indian spinners were getting on the first day pushed the Aussies on back-foot as they lost six out of the eight wickets to the tweakers. However, Australia had some relief in the final session of the day’s play in which Peter Siddle and Steve Smith showed some resistance to the Indian bowlers and made sure that they were not piled up on the opening day.
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Scores Summary:
Lunch: Australia - 94/2 in 28.0 overs (EJM Cowan 27, SR Watson 16)
Tea: Australia - 153/7 in 67.0 overs (SPD Smith 25, PM Siddle 5)
At Stumps: Australia - 231/8 in 98.0 overs (PM Siddle 47, JL Pattinson 11)
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Though the final session saw some very tight bowling from Indian bowlers, the Australians negotiated the Indian spinners well and tried to steady the Australian ship which was in trouble. They added 42 runs for the ninth wicket as Siddle was playing on 47 runs while Pattinson warm firm on 11. Australia added 73 runs in this session of the play and lost just one wicket.
Earlier, just after an hour after tea, they lost the wicket of well-set Steve Smith who was looking rock-steady at the crease before Ashwin came up with his magical delivery to break the 53-run partnership. The ball kissed the edge of Smith’s bat and debutant Ajinkya Rahane did no mistake in catching the ball. Smith played brilliantly and scored 46 runs in 145 balls. This was Ashwin’s 26th wicket of this series. But after the fall of his wicket, the Indian bowlers simply ran through their overs without tasting any success till the end of the day.
Earlier, the second session went in favour of Indian spinners as they ran through the Australian middle order. The duo of Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin picked up five wickets among them in this session and were looking really dangerous till the time Steve smith and Peter Siddle put up a great fight against them. Australia scored just 59 runs in this session in the 39 overs bowled.
Ravichandran Ashwin started the Australian downfall as he came over the stumps and tossed up the ball to Ed Cowan who missed the line completely in his attempt to sweep the ball. This was a big blow as Australia were looking good at this stage and to make it worse Australian Captain Shane Watson got out when Ravindra Jadeja got him stumped. This was the sixth time that Jadeja has dismissed the Australian captain (Michael Clarke five times) in this series. The fall of wicket brought Steve Smith at the centre and he again showed some character and kept the scoreboard ticking.
Meanwhile, Matthew Wade, who came back from an injury, was sent back to pavilion by Ashwin who edged it to Murali Vijay at slips. Glenn Maxwell did try to fancy his chances but got out after making 10 runs to Jadeja. Mitchell Johnson, who played his first match of the series, was stunned by Ashwin’s carrom ball that knocked off the bails.
Earlier, India started on a brilliant note for as Ishant Sharma struck in his very first over when he dismissed David Warner. After the fall of Warner, Australia were looking solid but Ishant had some other plans in his mind. He bowled a really good spell as he set up Philip Hughes with back-to-back short balls and finally disturbed the timbers and made him take a walk to the pavilion.