Australia vs India 2014/15 -Lunch report - Vijay late wicket checks India's reply | gocricket.com
Mitchell Johnson removed Murali Vijay for a well-compiled 53 in the penultimate over before lunch on Thursday to halt India's march in the first session of day three at the Adelaide Oval, leaving them at 119/2 with a deficit of 398 runs.
After the hosts declared their innings on an overnight total of 517/7, India, after losing Shikhar Dhawan early for a brisk 25, took a big stride in the match thanks to an 81-run stand between Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara. However, Johnson's late strike checked that spirited reply and left Pujara (34*) and the new man in, skipper Virat Kohli, to negotiate the afternoon session. Besides Vijay's seventh fifty in his 28th Test, another highlight of the season was Johnson greeting Kohli with a bouncer that hit the India captain on the helmet.
After play started half an hour earlier to make up for lost time on day two that saw just 30.2 overs bowled due to bad weather, India openers Dhawan and Vijay started off positively on a track that has little assistance for bowlers. Dhawan survived a low drop chance in the third over bowled by Johnson when Brad Haddin, despite diving to his right, failed to grasp the ball behind the wickets.
Dhawan came back strongly by picking three elegant boundaries in the same over: the first was flicked off his pads, the second punched straight past the bowler and the third pierced through the midwicket region. However, as has been his wont of late, the left-hander tried to play across to a slightly shortish delivery from Ryan Harris and played on.
India now needed Vijay and Pujara to get going and they did just that. With the pacers getting no purchase from the pitch, Michael Clarke brought back Nathan Lyon, who had bowled the seventh over earlier, and Vijay immediately used his feet to the offspinner and hit a six and four to long-on off successive deliveries. In Lyon's next over, Vijay picked up another six in the same region.
The turnaround in Vijay's game could be gauged from the fact that while he took 46 balls for his first 20, the next 20 came off just nine balls. All this while, Pujara provided the perfect foil, defending solidly and driving and flicking when given the opportunity; the pick of his four boundaries was a silken cover drive off Johnson in the 14th over.
Brief scores: India 119/2 at lunch on day three (Vijay 53, Pujara 34*) vs Australia 517/7d (Smith 162, Clarke 128, Warner 145)
Mitchell Johnson removed Murali Vijay for a well-compiled 53 in the penultimate over before lunch on Thursday to halt India's march in the first session of day three at the Adelaide Oval, leaving them at 119/2 with a deficit of 398 runs.
After the hosts declared their innings on an overnight total of 517/7, India, after losing Shikhar Dhawan early for a brisk 25, took a big stride in the match thanks to an 81-run stand between Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara. However, Johnson's late strike checked that spirited reply and left Pujara (34*) and the new man in, skipper Virat Kohli, to negotiate the afternoon session. Besides Vijay's seventh fifty in his 28th Test, another highlight of the season was Johnson greeting Kohli with a bouncer that hit the India captain on the helmet.
After play started half an hour earlier to make up for lost time on day two that saw just 30.2 overs bowled due to bad weather, India openers Dhawan and Vijay started off positively on a track that has little assistance for bowlers. Dhawan survived a low drop chance in the third over bowled by Johnson when Brad Haddin, despite diving to his right, failed to grasp the ball behind the wickets.
Dhawan came back strongly by picking three elegant boundaries in the same over: the first was flicked off his pads, the second punched straight past the bowler and the third pierced through the midwicket region. However, as has been his wont of late, the left-hander tried to play across to a slightly shortish delivery from Ryan Harris and played on.
India now needed Vijay and Pujara to get going and they did just that. With the pacers getting no purchase from the pitch, Michael Clarke brought back Nathan Lyon, who had bowled the seventh over earlier, and Vijay immediately used his feet to the offspinner and hit a six and four to long-on off successive deliveries. In Lyon's next over, Vijay picked up another six in the same region.
The turnaround in Vijay's game could be gauged from the fact that while he took 46 balls for his first 20, the next 20 came off just nine balls. All this while, Pujara provided the perfect foil, defending solidly and driving and flicking when given the opportunity; the pick of his four boundaries was a silken cover drive off Johnson in the 14th over.
Brief scores: India 119/2 at lunch on day three (Vijay 53, Pujara 34*) vs Australia 517/7d (Smith 162, Clarke 128, Warner 145)
No comments