Mohali: A fine bowling display by Ravindra Jadeja and a late burst by Ishant Sharma pushed Australia on back-foot, as despite a good start, the visitors were seven wickets down for 273 runs at stumps on the second day of the third Test at Mohali on Friday.
Electing to bat, the Aussie openers Ed Cowan and David Warner didn’t let their captain down and set-up a nice foundation for the big-score. The Australian opening pair put up a great fight and added 109 runs in the first session. In first 10 overs, Aussie openers were looking watchful and they saw off the Indian pace bowlers with ease. After that they started taking attack on Bhuvneshwar Kumar who wasn’t looking in his best form and they simply cashed-in on his spell. Bhuvneshwar ended up with the figure of 0-38 in his seven overs.
Both the batsmen were timing the ball really well and were playing it on its merit. This steadiness was very much needed to give their team the good start and they did well to keep the scoreboard ticking. David warner reached his half-century (53) before lunch and he was complimented very well by Ed Cowan who made 43 not out before the lunch break.
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SCORECARD
Australia (1st innings): E. Cowan c Kohli b Ashwin 86, D. Warner c Dhoni b Jadeja 71, M. Clarke st Dhoni b Jadeja 0, P. Hughes c Dhoni b Ojha 2, S. Smith (batting) 58, B. Haddin b Sharma 21, M. Henriques b Sharma 0, P. Siddle lbw b Jadeja 0, M. Starc (batting) 20. Extras: (b4, lb8, nb3) 15.
Total (for 7 wkts, in 104 overs) 273.
FoW: 1-139, 2-139, 3-151, 4-198, 5-244, 6-244, 7-251.
Bowling: Kumar 7-0-38-0, I.Sharma 21-7-41-2, R.Ashwin 33-8-64-1, P.Ojha 21-4-62-1, R.Jadeja 22-6-56-3
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The Indian bowlers who were still looking for wickets came back into the game when Ravindra Jadeja struck twice in the 48th over. He got opener David Warner and Michael Clarke out in back to back deliveries. This was the fourth time in the series that Jadeja has got Clarke out. MS Dhoni also deserved applause as he took a splendid catch of David Warner by running down the pitch and then he carried on his good glove-work by stumping the Aussie captain. Michael Clarke went for a duck and David Warner departed after scoring well-deserved 71 runs.
Meanwhile, Jadeja’s accurate bowling not only fetched up wickets for Indian team but also restricted the flow of runs which was soon capitalized by Pragyan Ojha who got Phil Hughes out for just two runs. Australia added 71 runs to their first session’s score of 109 and lost three quick wickets which pushed them on back-foot.
However, Ed Cowan and Steven Smith kept their calm and steered their team safely till the tea break. But the final session of the day saw some spectacular bowling from Indian bowlers who brought India back on a right track by picking up four wickets at the cost of just 93 runs in 32 overs. The star of the Indian bowling, Ravichandran Ashwin, scalped Ed-Cowan immediately after the tea and that brought a big smile on the face of captain MS Dhoni. Steven Smith and Brad Haddin were trying to repair the Australian innings and were playing quite sensibly till the Dhoni made a crucial change.
Indian captain made his move quite brilliantly by introducing Ishant Sharma in to the attack without taking new ball. Both the things went in India’s favour as Ishant got the much-needed break-through by picking Brad Haddin who scored 21 runs before being bowled out. Ishant Sharma’s line and length was a treat to watch in the third session. Moises Henriques didn’t stay long at the crease and was bowled for duck by Ishant Sharma in the same over.
Peter Siddle came to the middle and after facing 14 deliveries he got out for duck. Jadeja picked up his third wicket and ended the day with 3-56 in his 22 overs. Steven Smith got to his half-century and ended the day with hard-fought 58 and was accompanied by Mitchell Starc on non-strikers end who was at 20.