Australia v India Test cricket: Live scores, updates, day 3

December 16, 2018 John Cricket 0

Virat Kohli continued India’s charge on day three and reached his 25th Test ton as his side chased Australia’s first innings 326.

Nathan Lyon dismissed Ajinkya Rahane in the first over but Kohli powered on to reach triple figures for the sixth time on Australian soil.

The Aussies enjoyed the perfect finish to the opening session, getting rid of Kohli and Mohammed Shami to reduce India to 7/252 at lunch.

The GOAT grabs another

Nathan Lyon didn’t waste any time getting stuck into the Indian tail after lunch, grabbing his third wicket of the innings.

Ishant Sharma popped a simple return catch back to the off-spinner less than 15 minutes after play resumed as the tourists lost 3/3 to leave them teetering at 8/254.

Kohli fumes after catch controversy

Pat Cummins continued his stranglehold over Virat Kohli, although not without controversy.

Kohli edged a full ball to Peter Handscomb at second slip and he dived forward to take a catch just before the Kookaburra hit the ground, the third umpire decided.

The on-field umpires gave a soft signal of out before sending the call upstairs to confirm the catch. There was no conclusive evidence to overturn the decision so Kohli was sent back to the sheds for 123.

Ricky Ponting said in commentary he was in no doubt Handscomb’s catch was clean and Fox Cricket’s Kerry O’Keeffe said the same, but not everyone on social media was so sure.

Kohli looked filthy — whether with himself or the decision — as he walked off the ground without acknowledging the crowd.

“Virat Kohli is not happy,” commentator James Brayshaw said.

Australia was celebrating again soon after when Nathan Lyon had Mohammed Shami caught behind for a first-ball duck to leave India reeling at 7/252 at lunch.

Hazlewood takes his second

Josh Hazlewood made use of the second new ball when he had Hanuma Vihari stuck on the crease to a good length delivery that caught his outside edge.

Tim Paine took his second catch of the morning and Vihari was out for 20.

Kohli’s perfect sledge after crucial ton

Virat Kohli is a class above.Source:AAP

Virat Kohli shrugged off a nasty blow to the elbow to grind his way to his 25th Test century.

A below par outing in Adelaide was quickly forgotten when he raised his bat after hitting Mitchell Starc down the ground for four.

The Indian skipper has come under fire for his vocal celebrations in the field but he had the perfect response to his critics after bringing up to his milestone. Without hinting at a smile, he pointed at his bat and make a talking motion with his hand, indicating his willow was doing the talking now.

Aussie coach Justin Langer said if his players carried on like Kohli in the field they’d be considered the “worst blokes in the world” and the classy second drop didn’t need words to get his message across when he reached triple figures.

It’s Kohli’s seventh Test century against Australia — and his sixth Down Under — his 18th as captain and his 11th ton in all forms of international cricket in 2018. The achievement also sees him become the quickest player to 25 Test hundreds since Don Bradman.

Bradman took 68 innings to reach the mark while Kohli has taken 127 — three innings fewer than Sachin Tendulkar.

The 30-year-old is now the only Asian batsman to score Test centuries in Australia, England and South Africa in the same calendar year.

Kohli not having everything his own way

Mitchell Starc struck Virat Kohli on the elbow early in the day to make life uncomfortable for him as he edged towards a ton.

The physio came out a couple of times between overs to tend to the Indian skipper as Australia searched for another breakthrough after Nathan Lyon got rid of Ajinkya Rahane in the first over.

Lyon strikes early

Australia got off to the perfect start on day three as Nathan Lyon had Ajinkya Rahane caught behind in the first over.

Rahane played for turn but the ball went straight on and took his outside edge, leaving Tim Paine to do the rest behind the stumps. The ball took a decent deflection and Paine did well to make the catch look easy.

Former Australian fast bowler Damien Fleming tweeted Lyon had found the “laneway of liquidation”.

Rahane was unable to add to his overnight score and was out for 51.

Perth mystery baffles everyone

The grassy Perth pitch played plenty of tricks on day one but day two was a different story.

On Friday Marcus Harris faced one the ran along the floor then got out to a ball from an off-spinner that reared up at his throat while Tim Paine copped an absolute pearler late in the final session.

But those expecting more unpredictability on Saturday were left mystified when the wicket actually turned out to be pretty good for batting. Former stars Mitchell Johnson and Dirk Nannes were certainly surprised as they discussed the deck on ABC Grandstand after stumps.

“It didn’t really play the way we saw on day one. Maybe it’s a really good Test match wicket,” Johnson said. “That’s what you expect in a Test match wicket is a little bit early on, day one.

“Day two it didn’t quite do the same. Maybe it flattened out when it was rolled. Maybe the conditions — it was overcast today — with the cooler conditions it didn’t open up the cracks like we had seen there on day one as well.”

Nannes added: “We saw a completely different wicket today. We thought the pitch was going to be up and down but we didn’t see that. We saw a wicket that played quite true.”

Australian bowling coach David Saker said the pitch’s day one performance fooled everyone.

“Late yesterday it looked like it was going to play a lot of tricks,” he told Grandstand. “It was quite surprising it played as well as it did today.”

When asked what he thought we could expect from the wicket on day three, former Australian captain Allan Border told Fox Cricket he had “no idea” given how unpredictable it had been so far.

Johnson backflips on Starc

Mitchell Starc was heavily criticised by many commentators after the first Test in Adelaide.

But the Aussie quick burst back into form in stunning fashion yesterday when he ripped out Murali Vijay’s stumps for a duck just before lunch yesterday.

While his superstar wife Alyssa Healy came in to bat for him, Starc was roasted between the Tests, including by former Aussie spearhead Mitchell Johnson.

Speaking on ABC Radio, during the first Test, Johnson criticised Starc’s performance.

“I just don’t like his body language,” Johnson said.

“He hasn’t given a bit of a glare or puffed his chest out with a good follow through, let the batsman know he’s in the contest, that he’s going to rip the pegs out.”

Australian bowler Mitchell Starc had Pujara caught behind.

Australian bowler Mitchell Starc had Pujara caught behind.Source:AAP

However, speaking on Fox Sports’ Cricket 360 after play on day two, Johnson said he liked the changes Starc had put into place for Perth.

“I sat down and spoke to him before this Test and just wanted to see how he was feeling and he said that he’d been feeling good and felt like his rhythm was good and his ankle has been feeling fine,” Johnson said.

“I think in Adelaide he was probably just looking back a couple of times because there are footmarks that play around, but I saw some really good rhythm here from him today. Getting over that front leg, he got the shape early on.”

The pressure on Starc has been intense and Johnson is someone who understand what Starc is going through.

“I think he’s definitely been under pressure and talked about it a lot this series and I think the reason is he is the No. 1 bowler in the team. He’s looked at and everyone wants him to perform all the time and be at his best,” Johnson said.

“We know what he brings to the table, he can swing the ball upfront like he did there and see that emotion that brings as well. He was fired up, pumped up — that’s what we like about Mitchell Starc.”

While Starc’s wicket of Vijay was impressive, Johnson pointed to the dismissal of Cheteshwar Pujara as the moment of the day for him.

Pujara was caught behind by Tim Paine for 24.

“I liked that he got aggressive. Tim Paine came up to him mid-over … and said to him, ‘let’s go short here and set the field, get yourself really going and fired up’. And he got the wicket the next over, so I’m liking what I’m seeing right now,” he said.

“Like I said the pressure comes from him being the No. 1 bowler and I know that from going through that myself. You’re expected to perform.

“I think sometimes performances can be really really good and then really poor and if you don’t bring those closer together then you can really see that. And I think that’s maybe where he is at, at the moment.”

Khawaja claims Aussies ahead

Usman Khawaja said Australia is still in a good position.

Usman Khawaja said Australia is still in a good position.Source:AFP

Australian batsman Usman Khawaja admitted Indian captain Virat Kohli was the prized wicket, but believed his team still held the upper hand.

With India edging closer to Australia’s first innings score, Khawaja hopes a few quick wickets will be the difference.

But for both teams’ hopes of pressing an advantage, it appears Kohli is the key.

“We’re still ahead of the game in a lot of respects,” Khawaja said. “Virat’s a good batsman, he respects good balls and tries to put away bad ones.

“It took them 70 overs to get 170, so I still think one or two wickets hopefully in the first session on Sunday will be pretty big for us.”

Indian paceman Ishant Sharma, who claimed four first innings wickets and will start the Australian second innings on a hat-trick, said the game was still evenly poised.

However, he believe Kohli is their trump card heading into day three.

“We feel pretty confident whenever he is batting,” he said of Kohli. “We finished the day in a strong position.

“It’s equal right now, hopefully we’ll win the first session tomorrow and turn the game in our favour.”

In Khawaja’s favour is India’s long tail, one of the longest in world cricket.

It will loom as a major issue for India if Australia can make early breakthroughs on day three of the second Test.

India will resume on Sunday at 3-172 in response to Australia’s 326, with Virat Kohli (82 not out) and Ajinkya Rahane (51 not out) seeking to build on their partnership at Perth Stadium.

Australia will be hungry to break the stand given the abundance of soft targets that await them at the bottom of India’s XI.

Ishant Sharma is hoping the Kohli batting form is transferable by touch.

Ishant Sharma is hoping the Kohli batting form is transferable by touch.Source:AAP

The length of India’s tail is illustrated by the fact their No. 8, Ishant Sharma, averages just 7.92 from 122 Test innings.

Offspinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who boasts four Test centuries and an average of 29.14, batted at No. 8 in Adelaide but was ruled out in Perth with an abdominal strain.

India had the option of replacing Ashwin with another spinning all-rounder in Ravindra Jadeja but instead added Umesh Vadavas a fourth quick.

Australia in contrast have been able to rely on runs from almost all of their bowlers with Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon all able to occupy the crease.

“If we can get a couple of wickets early and break this partnership, it’s not an easy wicket to start up on,” Australian batsman Usman Khawaja said.

“We’ve still got to start off well tomorrow. If we do that then we’ll have our chance at that tail.”

Ishant, who has scored one half-century from 166 first-class innings, conceded the Indian tailenders struggled to handle batting in Australian conditions.

“Maybe abroad we’re not scoring as much … but even if Australians come to India they’re not scoring as much,” he said.

“We’re not used to that kind of pace and bounce.

“We are working on our batting skills so maybe not today or tomorrow but some day our bowlers will score a fifty and it will be good for the team.”

— with AAP

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