India vs Australia 1st Test Day 2 | Ashwin, Umesh Yadav keep Indians ahead on an intense day

If Ashwin spun a web with figures of 4/55, Umesh Yadav showed why he is the unsung hero of the Indian bowling attack as he finished with 3/40. Having taken a 53-run lead — something which could have been more had the last three Australian wickets not added 80 runs. India were 9/1 in their second essay at close.

The 62-run lead with nine wickets in the bag could prove to be crucial as the wicket isn’t getting any better for batting. Mayank Agarwal (5) and nightwatchman Jasprit Bumrah (0) will look to start afresh after battling it out against Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc in the dying stages of the second day.

DAY 2 SCOREBOARD: INDIA VS AUSTRALIA

With Prithvi Shaw sent back for just 4 by Pat Cummins – once again with the ball coming in through the gap in pad and bat – the Indian management decided to send Bumrah to the middle and he looked to be taking confidence from his fifty in the practice game as he looked solid in defending anything on and around the off-stump.

But the day certainly belonged to the duo of Ashwin and Umesh. They stole the show after Bumrah sent the openers back in the last half of the opening session.

While Ashwin started by picking the all-important wicket of Steve Smith (1), Umesh picked the man who was looking to stand tall and script a fightback – Marnus Labuschagne (47).

With the duo constantly picking wickets, it looked like India would bag a lead of over 100. But skipper Tim Paine had other ideas as he kept battling it out with quality contributions from both Starc (15) and Nathan Lyon (10).

More than the runs, the 37 balls that the two combined to play out, kept giving Paine more confidence to stick it out and get closer to the Indian total of 244.

Australia finally folded for 191 as Umesh returned to end Josh Hazlewood’s stay at the crease (8 off 10 balls in 25 minutes). While Mohammad Shami didn’t pick a wicket, he bowled impressively and finished with the best economy rate of 2.41.

India’s fielding also left a lot to be desired and catches went down. The two moments that stood out in the field for India both involved Ashwin. While the first one was when he bowled one slightly shorter and got it to straighten after pitching to take Smith’s edge, the second was a long hop from him that all-rounder Cameron Green (11) hit wide off Kohli who pulled off a brilliant catch, diving to his right.

Earlier, India managed to add just 11 runs to their overnight score as Cummins and Starc made short work of the Indian lower-order. While Starc finished with figures of 4/53, Cummins returned figures of 3/48.

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