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Nathan Lyon’s drive to 400 wickets will resume on Sunday after rain stopped play on day two of the fourth Test between Australia and India with the visitors trailing hosts’ first innings total of 369 by 307 runs.
India were 62 for 2 at tea, with Cheteshwar Pujara (8*) and Ajinkya Rahane (2*) the not-out batsmen, but play couldn’t restart after the break as torrential rain lashed the Gabba.
Australia had resumed at 274 for 5 on Saturday, with Marnus Labuschagne’s 108 the highlight of day one.
Tim Paine and Cameron Green, on 38 and 28 respectively overnight, took the total to 311 before Paine departed for 50. The skipper was well caught by Rohit Sharma at second slip off the bowling of Shardul Thakur, and Green quickly followed, bowled by debutant Washington Sundar for 47.
The tail provided some handy runs – Lyon added 24 and Mitchell Starc was not out on 20 – but it was a valiant bowling effort by the already-undermanned tourists, who lost seamer Navdeep Saini to a groin strain on day one.
India’s injury-depleted attack did exceptionally well to dismiss Australia by lunch on the second day, with Thangarasu Natarajan (3-78) and Washington Sundar (3-89) each taking three wickets on debut and Shardul Thakur returning 3-94.
Starc and Josh Hazlewood opened the bowling thereafter, but it was Pat Cummins who got the breakthrough with just his second delivery, Shubman Gill edging one to second slip where Steve Smith took a sharp catch.
Rohit Sharma had looked comfortable on his way to 44 before he became Lyon’s 397th Test wicket.
Playing in his 100th Test, Lyon coaxed a rash shot from Sharma, who advanced down the wicket only to hole out to Starc, who ran in from long-on to take a good catch.
“I had a couple of plans for Rohit,” Lyon said, without elaborating too much. “Obviously he’s a world-class player, so I just wanted to make sure I was bowling my best ball, and not try to worry too much about what the batters are doing.”
He said the pitch was drier than usual at the Gabba — comparing the surface on the opening day with a regular day four pitch. “I love bowling here,” Lyon said. “It’s one of my favorite grounds to play at.”
With the series tied at 1-1, Lyon looms as a key factor as Australia attempt to claim the Border-Gavaskar Trophy with a win in Brisbane. India can retain the coveted trophy with a win or a draw.
Play on the third day will start 30 minutes earlier than previously scheduled to make up for lost time.ScoreboardAustralia (1st innings; Overnight 274-5)
D. Warner c Sharma b Siraj 1
M. Harris c Sundar b Thakur 5
M. Labuschagne c Pant b Natarajan 108
S. Smith c Sharma b Sundar 36
M. Wade c Thakur b Natarajan 45
C. Green b Sundar 47
T. Paine c Sharma b Thakur 50
P. Cummins lbw Thakur 2
M. Starc not out 20
N. Lyon b Sundar 24
J. Hazlewood b Natarajan 11
ExtrascTypeface:> (b4, lb5, nb6, w5) 20
Total: (10 wickets, 115.2 overs) 369
Fall of wickets: 1-4 (Warner), 2-17 (Harris), 3-87 (Smith), 4-200 (Wade), 5-213 (Labuschagne), 6-311 (Paine), 7-313 (Green), 8-315 (Cummins), 9-354 (Lyon), 10-369 (Hazlewood).
Bowling: Siraj 28-10-77-1 (1w), Natarajan 24.2-3-78-3 (6nb), Thakur 24-6-94-3, Saini 7.5-2-21-0, Sundar 31-6-89-3, Sharma 0.1-0-1-0.
India (1st innings)
R. Sharma c Starc b Lyon 44
S. Gill c Smith b Cummins 7
C. Pujara not out 8
A. Rahane not out 2
ExtrascTypeface:> (nb1) 1
Total: (For 2 wickets: 26 overs) 62
Fall of wickets: 1-11 (Gill), 2-60 (Sharma).
To bat: M. Agarwal, R. Pant, W. Sundar, S. Thakur, N. Saini, M. Siraj, T. Natarajan.
Bowling: Starc 3-1-8-0, Hazlewood 8-4-11-0 (1nb), Cummins 6-1-22-1, Green 3-0-11-0, Lyon 6-2-10-1.
Toss: Australia.
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17/01/2021
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