Tea Australia 153 for 4 (Renshaw 38, Marsh 2) v India
Live Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Steven Smith fell minutes before the tea break for 27 off 95 balls. © AFP
The Australian batsmen kept exchanging smiles. Bemused ones, as if they were saying ‘why did you stick me at this end?’ And yet it was their diligence in picking up singles whenever they were available and putting away bad balls almost on cue that helped dilute the threat of India’s spinners on a Pune pitch that was prone to sharp spin and bounce. But maintaining that level of performance over after over after over is the challenge of playing Test cricket in India. Making it tougher still were R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja with their remarkable accuracy. And eventually home advantage began to tell. By tea, Australia had lost their top four with 153 on the board.
Two wickets in two overs before the break – Jadeja pinning Peter Handscomb lbw and Ashwin trapping Steven Smith at mid-on – diluted a good chunk of the work Australia had done in the morning. Despite the alien conditions, they realised that on a surface that turns so sharply, the best way to survive is to not chase the ball. Protect middle stump, ensure you are behind the one that holds its line, play late and use soft hands and when the ball deviates, it will only leave you beaten and red-faced, not red-faced and back in the hut.
These virtues helped Warner and Renshaw last 27.2 overs together. The 82 runs they made were the result of their ability to both tip and run and thwack and stand back. Case in point was in the 25th over: Ashwin harassed the outside edge and was smashed to the square leg boundary all in the space of seconds. Or the 42nd over, when Jadeja bowled a long hop to Smith and was pulled to the midwicket fence.
‘How long can you keep at it though?’ was the question Virat Kohli kept asking with his field placements. He had a midwicket and a mid-on for the offspinners against Smith and it seemed every time the batsman came down the track to hit with the turn, he found those men. With runs coming at a premium – 69 in 30 overs after lunch – Smith chose to take those fielders on and chipped the ball in the air. He couldn’t time it properly and found Kohli himself at mid-on. It was a transparent trap and the Australian captain, despite 94 balls of determined and purposeful batting, played right into it.
More to follow
Alagappan Muthu is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
Source: ESPN Crickinfo