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A remarkable spell from off-spinner Nathan Lyon helped Australia into a strong position at stumps on day two of the final Test in India yesterday.
After labouring on the dead deck at Ranchi, Lyon yesterday exploited the hardness of the Dharamsala surface, earning disconcerting bounce.
This lift troubled the Indian batsmen in the final session as Lyon bowled unchanged for 14 overs and grabbed 4-36, turning the Test on its head.
The hosts had cruised to 2-153 at tea in response to Australia’s total of 300 and looked well placed to earn a generous first innings lead. Up to that point, Lyon and his spin offsider Steve O’Keefe had bowled tightly but had posed no great threat to the Indian batsmen.
» Australia vs India 4th Test scorecard
Australia’s quicks Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood had looked most likely to break the game open in the first two sessions. The Dharamsala pitch was firmer than any Test deck I have seen in India for many years, offering great pace and carry.
It was not greatly dissimilar in nature to a typical wicket at the Gabba, the ground where Lyon has been most successful. With the heavy overspin he imparts on the ball, Lyon is best suited to hard pitches, which is why he has so often bowled well in home Tests.
This method is also why he has at times struggled on softer surfaces in Asia, where the local bowlers prosper from bowling with much more sidespin, which encourages natural variations of turn and bounce.
Fellow off-spinner Ravi Ashwin is such a bowler and so he was not able to extract the same life from this Dharamsala surface as Lyon. In the first over after tea, the Australian earned the enormous wicket of Cheteshwar Pujara, who had defied the Australians for more than 11 hours at Ranchi en route to a double ton.
The Indian first drop was entrenched at the crease, on 57 from 151 balls, when Lyon produced a lethal delivery. It looped tantalisingly and curved deceptively away from Pujara, drawing him out to defend, before exploding off the pitch to catch the glove and lob to short leg.
Four overs later Lyon repeated this trick, getting another delivery to rear up, take the glove and loop for a simple catch to dismiss Karun Nair. India managed to steady and then accelerate thanks to a brisk 49-run stand from Indian skipper Ajinkya Rahane and all-rounder Ravi Ashwin.
At 4-216, with Ranchi centurion Wriddhiman Saha still to come, India again were in control.
Then Lyon sent back both Rahane and Ashwin in quick succession with a pair of deliveries which landed on a perfect in-between length, which leaves batsmen in doubt as to whether to go forward or back.
Lyon troubled Saha all the way through to the end of his spell when Australia took the second new ball for a four-over burst of pace.
India could have ended the day in deep trouble if not for Saha being dropped off Cummins at slip by Matt Renshaw, who had earlier missed a chance off opener Lokesh Rahul.
Both of those turfed catches were from the bowling of Cummins, who was bereft of luck. His day was summed up by the 37th over of play. Three times in that one over he went agonisingly close to dismissing Rahul.
First, he earned an edge which fell just short of slip, then Rahul almost fed a catch to short cover, and finally a bouncer caught the batsman’s glove and lobbed slightly wide of short leg.
Cummins’ figures of 1-59 from 21 overs do not do justice to just how outstanding he was. He troubled every batsman who faced him and managed to be simultaneously frugal and hyper-attacking. He could have easily ended the day with four or five wickets.
India will be very wary of the danger posed by Cummins and Hazlewood with the new ball in the opening half hour tomorrow. Given this pitch looks set to be very difficult to bat last, India will need a first innings lead of about 40 to 50 runs to be on level terms in the Test.
If Australia bowl as well as they did yesterday, that extra 100 runs will be very hard earned by India.