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What TV doesn't, print can't; we deliver.
Australian off-spinner leaves host 76 runs short of defeat
Nathan Lyon roars again, as does Australia, who were virtually looking down and out.
Back in 2018, Nathan Lyon picked eight wickets in Perth as Australia handed a 146-run defeat to level the series. It was Australia’s only solace in that fateful series, which they lost 1-2.
In the coming days, we will see whether history will repeat itself in 2023, but it was Lyon again whose roar gave a battered Australia something to cheer about on Thursday, March 2, the second day of the third Test in Border Gavaskar Trophy in Indore.
The off-spinner picked up 11 wickets from the match, eight of which came in the second innings. The ‘Lyon-hearted’ performance saw, who had lost the first two Tests of the series, Australia needed just 76 runs in the second innings to record a memorable win. A proposition that looked near impossible after the visiting team’s abject capitulation to Indian conditions.
Australia once again laid bare India’s inability to play quality spin, as only Cheteshwar Pujara (59, 142b, 5×4, 1×6) showed the temperament to lord over the conditions.
Shreyas Iyer, the man who was parachuted into the side for his ability to play spin, tried to counterattack with 27-ball 26, which saw three fours and two sixes.
But their effort was not enough as India once again struggled on the Indore pitch, which had already come under scanner after rookie left-arm spinner Matthew Kuhnemann’s maiden five-wicket haul saw Australia bowl out the hosts for just 109.
A 96-run second wicket stand between Usman Khawaja (60, 147b, 4×4) and Marnus Labuschagne (31, 91b, 1×4) put Australia in a dominant position for the first time in the series.
However, Indian spinners, backed by Umesh Yadav’s reverse swing, helped the hosts take the last six Australian wickets for just 11 runs as they bowled out their rivals for 197.
Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja took four wickets while off-spinner R Ashwin added three more as Indian tweakers continued their dominance over the visitors.
The 77-run lead, however, became a thorn in Indian flesh as Lyon took India for a spin with their own medicine.
BRIEF SCORE (at stumps on Day II): India 109 & 163 (Cheteshwar Pujara 59; Nathan Lyon 8/64) lead Australia 197 (Usman Khawaja 60; Ravindra Jadeja 4/78, R Ashwin 3/44, Umesh Yadav 3/14) by 75 runs
