Tea India 168 for 5 (Rahul 79*, Lyon 3-40) v Australia
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Nathan Lyon trapped Virat Kohli lbw while offering no shot to a straight ball © Associated Press
First there was control, then panic and eventually wickets. India lost Cheteshwar Pujara on the stroke of lunch. Virat Kohli gave his wicket away – and then a review as well – by padding up to a straight ball. And were it not for KL Rahul‘s 79 not out on his home ground in Bengaluru they would have been in far worse shape than the 168 for 5 at tea.
Meanwhile, Australia continued proving the bite behind their bark – this time after losing the toss. Most teams coming to the subcontinent will be aware their bowlers have to invest heavily in maintaining tight lines and lengths for pressure is as good as any help they might receive off the pitch to pick up wickets. The batsman starts to feel trapped, doubts begin to fester, he searches for release and…
Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood were in prime form with the new ball. Six of the first 12 overs on Saturday were maidens, the result of their getting just enough movement in the air and off the pitch. Nathan Lyon was precise with his line and smart with his length. Probing away outside the off stump, his ability to impart overspin contributed to one wicket and natural variation another but the biggest one he claimed was simply down to a set-up.
Kohli was new to the crease and only a few seconds ago had a good length ball jumped past his inside edge and hit his thigh pad. Something told the Indian captain he can trust the bounce, that if he is playing on the back foot, the ball will likely not threaten his stumps. That made picking length very very important. Lyon flattened his trajectory, duped Kohli into thinking it was a lot shorter than it was. The batsman left the ball, it thudded into his pads in front of middle stump and umpire Nigel Llong put his finger up. While that can be forgiven, his gamble with the DRS, driven not by logic but by hope, and even a little bit of fear at losing the best batsman in the team and also giving Australia the kind of momentum they would love, was less so.
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Alagappan Muthu is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo