Leaving behind the shadows of his underwhelming show at Nagpur, Australia’s frontline spinner Nathan Lyon came up as the star of the day, bringing on his career’s 22 five-wicket hauls as India was bowled out for 262 runs in the second innings of the second Test of the Border Gavaskar series.
Much to his credit, the Indian batting lineup crumbled to 139 for 7 before the duo of Axar Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin salvaged the day for the hosts. Although Virat Kohli and Jadeja both made significant contributions towards the middle of the match, which kept the test close, promising an exciting day 3.
Axar Patel and Ashwin for India, pic credits: Twitter
“Deviated from my strengths at Nagpur”- Lyon
Finishing with a 5-67 after turning in one of his best 117-test career efforts. Lyon responded to the media by appreciating the Indian lower-order batters and admitting what went wrong for him in the first test.
“I think I sort of deviated from my strengths at Nagpur, my strength is getting it to spin over the top and here I just went back to my basics. The pace was the same throughout the series.” said Lyon.
“Hopefully the batters come out and be positive, stick to our methods. It’s gonna set up for what should be a good Test match,” he added.
One of the most successful bowlers against India
After being out-bowled by a young Todd Murphy in the first test, the 36-year-old in the Indian capital could not have answered any better, bowling with accuracy on a bouncy, twisting surface. Lyon picked out India wicketkeeper KS Bharat (six) to add to his 22nd five-wicket Test haul after claiming 4-13 during a brilliant stint in the morning session.
The veteran was spitting fire as he also bought his hundredth wicket against India, becoming only the third bowler in test cricket to achieve the feat. He is also now the only Australian bowler to have picked up 100 wickets against India, including 8 five-wicket-hauls.
Australia as it stands is 62 runs ahead, as they finished up with 61/1 at the close of play on day 2. Travis Head 39*(40) and Marnus Labuschagne 16*(19).