Perth, Dec 15:
Skipper Virat Kohli played a pivotal role with a workmanlike 82, lifting India from a double blow at the beginning of innings to 172 for three in the second Test against Australia here Saturday.
Kohli’s unbeaten knock coupled with Ajinkya Rahane’s counterattacking 51 helped India to not only overcome the cheap dismissals of Murali Vijay (0) and K L Rahul (2), but also put the visitors in a position from where they will look to dominate the rest of the game.
The India captain stitched a 90-run unbroken partnership with Rahane by stumps on the second day, the stand coming after he added 74 with Adelaide hero Cheteshwar Pujara (24) for the third wicket.
This was after Australia’s tail wagged to add 49 runs to their overnight total to finish at 326. India trailed by 154 runs.
Post tea, Kohli and Pujara (24) batted in much the same manner as they did in the previous session. Their pace of scoring was slow, but they batted with assurance until Mitchell Starc (2-42) provided the breakthrough.
It came seven overs after the tea break as Pujara glanced a delivery down leg only to be caught behind, as his 74-run partnership with Kohli for the third wicket came to an end.
Rahane then joined Kohli in the middle, and initially he faced some issues getting used to the pace and bounce off the pitch. Unlike Pujara though, he took the bowling head on and counter-attacked with two boundaries and a six.
It set the pace for his partnership with Kohli, who was solid at the other end, and grinding down the Australian attack. The Indian skipper reached his 20th Test half-century off 109 balls as India crossed 100 in the 43rd over.
Their 50-partnership came off 106 balls as the duo settled down to see off the last hour before stumps. They cut down on the risks even more, only occasionally coming forth to play their shots.
In doing so, Rahane reached his 17th Test half-century before end of play as the two batsmen were sure in their shot selection and avoided any further damage to the Indian innings.(PTI)
SCOREBOARD
Australia first innings: (Overnight 277/6)
Marcus Harris c A Rahane b Hanuma Vihari 70
Aaron Finch lbw b Bumrah 50
Usman Khawaja c Pant b Umesh 5
Shaun Marsh c A Rahane b Hanuma Vihari 45
Peter Handscomb c Kohli b Ishant 7
Travis Head c Shami b Ishant 58
Tim Paine lbw b Bumrah 38
Pat Cummins b Umesh 19
Mitchell Strac c Pant b Ishant 6
Nathan Lyon not out 9
Josh Hazlewood c Pant b Ishant 0
Extra (LB-7, B-4 W-7, NB-1) 19
Total (All out in 108.3 overs) 326
Fall of Wickets: 1-112, 2-130, 3-134, 4-148, 5-232, 6-251, 7-310, 8-310, 9-326.
Bowlers: Ishant Sharma 20.3-7-41-4, Jasprit Bumrah 26-8-53-2, Umesh Yadav 23-3-78-2, Mohammed Shami 24-3-80-0, Hanuma Vihari 14-1-53-2, Murali Vijay 1-0-10-0.
India first innings
KL Rahul b Hazelwood 2
Murali Vijay b Strac 0
Cheteshwar Pujara c Paine b Starc 24
Virat Kohli batting 82
Ajinkya Rahane batting 51
Extras (LB-6, NB-2, W-5) 13
Total (For three wickets in 69 overs) 172
Fall of Wickets: 1-6, 2-8, 82-3.
Bowlers: Mitchell Starc 14-4-42-2 , Josh Hazlewood 16-7-50-1, Pat Cummins 17-3-40-0, Nathan Lyon 22-4-34-0
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