First Test, Adelaide Oval (Day 2)
India 244 (Kohli 74, Starc 4-53) and 9-1
Australia 191 (Payne 73 *; Ashwin 4-55, Yadav 3-40)
India ahead by 62 runs
Scorecard
India held the upper hand as they lost 15 wickets on the second day of the fast-running first Test against Australia in Adelaide.
Extraordinary tourists outscored Australia by 191 runs but lost to opener Prithvi Shake 9-1 with a lead of 62 runs.
Australia captain Tim Payne scored an unbeaten 73, taking Ravichandran Ashwin 4-55 and Umesh Yadav 3-40.
Earlier, India was bowled out for 233-6 in 244 the first 19 balls of the day before Mitchell Starc finished 4-53.
Pat Cummins claimed 3-48 and bowled the shot in six overs possible before the end of India’s second winnings.
It could have been better for India, but they dropped Paine on 26 and twice reprieved Marnus Labuschagne, who made 47, in a sloppy fielding display.
Although Australia, superbly marshaled by Paine, added 80 for the final three wickets, India remain favorites to win this day-night encounter and take a 1-0 lead in the four-Test series.
How expensive was the prospect of India losing?
At the end of the day, one batsman, Cheteshwar Pujara, spoke of India’s desire to rise above at least 275, but their lower order was ultimately defeated.
In the third ball of the day, Ashwin was caught by Dhiman Saha Payne, while Mohammad Shami and Yadav were also unable to manage the pace and great line and length of Starc and Cummins.
As frustrating as the bat was, India was great with the ball.
Stand-in openers Matthew Wade and Joe Burns dug for eight hours before Jaspreet Bumrah was trapped in the lbw.
Australian amulet Steve Smith looked uncomfortable – he outscored Virat Kohli in the slips before Ashwin’s Alip Rahane in the first over.
Travis Head and debutant Cameron Green fell cheaply to Ashwin – Kohli’s catch in the middle wicket left the former hosts 79-5.
Labschagan fought against the short ball, knocking Bumrah off the ball with a great leg 12 and Shake square leg 21. He also caught behind for 41 runs.
The same Yadav was 111-7 when Australia’s Labuschagan and Pat Cummins were out and faced a three-point deficit, but the great Pine – who also slapped Mayank Agarwal with a deep penalty – combined with the counter-attackers in strong defensive strokeplay.
In his 99-ball innings, he hit 10 boundaries, getting support from Starc, Nathan Lyon, and Josh Hazlewood to limit India’s support to 53 runs.
