Ind vs Aus, 1st Test: Pujara's wicket jolts visitors' progress in 2nd session
Dec 17, 2020
Adelaide [Australia], December 17 : Having weathered the storm in the opening session, India skipper Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara looked set to take the game to the Australians in the second session on the opening day of the pink-ball Test at the Adelaide Oval on Thursday, before Nathan Lyon sent Pujara back.
At the tea break, India's score read 107/3 in 55 overs with Kohli (unbeaten on 39) and Ajinkya Rahane (unbeaten on 2) at the crease. The session saw India score 66 runs from 30 overs with the loss of only Pujara's (43) wicket.
Starting the session with the game slightly in Australia's favour, Kohli and Pujara fearlessly faced Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood in conditions conducive to pace bowling. But just when it looked like the duo would hand India the upper hand and walk away with the honours of winning the session, spinner Lyon spoiled the party
Kohli and Pujara had stitched a 68-run partnership and looked to make up for the mistakes made by the Indian openers in the first session. While they were willing to grind it out and respect the bad balls, Kohli took full advantage of any bad ball.
But just after reaching the team total of 100, India lost Pujara. A thick edge off the pad found Marnus Labuschange. The DRS confirmed the contact of bat and ball after which the on-field umpire overturned his decision and Pujara walked back to the pavilion. He scored 43 runs off 160 balls including two fours.
Earlier, Starc and Cummins provided the early breakthroughs of Prithvi Shaw and Mayank Agarwal as India was put on the back foot in the first session.
After opting to bat first, India got off to the worst possible start as Starc clean bowled Shaw (0) on the second delivery of the match. Pujara then joined Agarwal in the middle and the duo tried to stitch a partnership for the visitors as both batters saw off the early spell of Starc and Josh Hazlewood.
However, with half-an-hour to go in the first session, Pat Cummins provided the second breakthrough as he bowled Agarwal (17), reducing India to 32/2. Skipper Kohli then came to the crease and he along with Pujara ensured that the visitors did not lose any more wickets before the end of the first session. India had won the toss and elected to bat first.
Brief Scores: India 107/3 (Pujara 43, Kohli 39*; Lyon 1/29, Cummins 1/12) vs Australia
