Australia 237 for 6 (S Marsh 66, Renshaw 60, Jadeja 3-49) lead India 189 by 48 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
01:27
Kalra: On this pitch, India can keep lead down
It is hard to believe this series is only five days old, such is the drama that has already been witnessed. And such has been the unexpected dominance of Australia that this fifth day of the campaign – and the second day in Bengaluru – began with ominous predictions that India’s hopes of regaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy would be dead unless they had launched a fightback by stumps. Does six wickets constitute enough of a fightback? The jury is out.
Certainly, India’s bowlers deserve credit for their persistence. All day they maintained pressure on Australia’s batsmen, and the pressure was particularly intense during a gripping morning session. But by stumps, the cold reality was that Australia held a lead that was already useful, and which on the third morning may yet progress to become match-winning. They went to stumps 48 runs in front, with the total on 237 for 6, and with Matthew Wade on 25 and Mitchell Starc on 14.
The anchors of Australia’s day had been the oldest and youngest members of the side. Matt Renshaw, the 20-year-old opener, showed maturity and patience in compiling 60; Shaun Marsh, the 33-year-old recalled for this series, was equally respectful of the bowling and ground out 66 of his own. Both men fell as they approached 200 deliveries, their concentration perhaps waning, but they were to be commended for their efforts.
The pitch was cracking like a dry river-bed: spinners threatened with sharp turn and fast bowlers sent through the occasional skidder. No delivery summed up the batting challenge better than the last ball before tea, when Ishant Sharma had Mitchell Marsh lbw for an 11-ball duck to a delivery that barely bounced above his ankles. It was the last ball of the 80th over, and thus the last ball before the teams had their reviews renewed, but Marsh was so plumb that he just walked off.
If that ball demonstrated the danger of low bounce, R Ashwin’s dismissal of David Warner showed how spinners can use the surface. During the morning session, Ashwin attacked the footmarks outside the leg-stump of Australia’s left-handers and after a number of searching deliveries caused problems, Warner lost his off stump when one pitched outside leg and ripped across and past his outside edge.
And yet these deliveries only serve to highlight how invaluable runs on the board might become over the remainder of the Test. Should Australia’s lower order find a way to lift their advantage up to triple-figures on the third day, it would be a long, hard road for India to fight back into the series. Still, India at least kept themselves in the match on day two, and that was more than could be said of their second day in Pune.
Full report to follow
Shaun Marsh batted through the second session on day two in Bengaluru, where Australia went to tea within sight of a lead on a difficult, cracking pitch. India picked up two wickets in a high-intensity, low-scoring morning session, and then claimed a further three between lunch and tea, although Australia also lifted their tempo and went to the break with 163 for 5 on the board – a deficit of only 26 runs.
Given the challenges of batting on this surface – batsmen had to contend not only with prodigious spin but also variable bounce – a first-innings lead would be invaluable to Australia. The final ball before tea told the story of the pitch: Mitchell Marsh was lbw to an Ishant Sharma delivery that barely bounced above ankle height. It was the last ball of the 80th over so Marsh could have reviewed freely, for reviews are replenished after 80 overs, but he was so plumb he didn’t bother.
He had endured an 11-ball duck in what was just the second Test partnership ever completed by the Marsh brothers, who had only previously batted together against New Zealand at Adelaide Oval in the inaugural day-night Test in 2015. On that occasion they put on 46 valuable runs; this time it was a stand of only 3, as conditions made life very tricky. Shaun Marsh did well to reach tea unscathed on 38.
Australia had added only 47 in the opening session but put on 76 in the second session, during which time opener Matt Renshaw brought up an impressive, hard-fought half-century from his 183rd delivery. Although edges through the cordon had accounted for all but one of his five fours, his concentration had been immaculate until the 67th over, when he drove a six down the ground and two balls later was stumped advancing to Ravindra Jadeja again.
The ball turned past Renshaw’s legs and Wriddhiman Saha whipped off the bails for a fine dismissal, but Renshaw’s 60 off 196 balls had given Australia the platform they needed in order to aim for a first-innings lead. Peter Handscomb played positively and struck a couple of boundaries before he too fell to Jadeja, flicking on the up to midwicket where R Ashwin took a good juggling catch.
Matt Renshaw and Shaun Marsh put on the longest partnership of the match – 52 runs from 25.1 overs © Associated Press
The session had brought more runs and wickets than the pre-lunch period, but sometimes the raw numbers fail to tell the story of a session of cricket. This was one such time. The morning was full of intense pressure as India’s bowlers tried to drag their side back into the match, and the series, and Australia’s batsmen fought gamely to hang on to their advantage.
There was big turn from Ashwin and Jadeja, variable bounce from Ishant and Umesh Yadav, edges that flew through gaps or short of fielders, perilously close lbw appeals, words exchanged between batsmen and bowlers and fielders, theatrical facial expressions as both teams pretended the other was under all the pressure.
It was just the fifth day of cricket in this campaign, yet India knew that if they did not fight back today, the Border-Gavaskar Trophy might be out of their reach by stumps. Should Australia earn a lead of 100 or more, it could be difficult for India to find a way back. So India fought this morning instead.
Ashwin was outstanding, turning the ball from the footmarks outside leg stump for the left-handers, and it was this sharp spin that eventually deceived David Warner, who could only watch as a delivery ripped past his outside edge and took out his off stump. Warner had 33 at the time, and his departure brought Steven Smith to the crease, hoping for a similarly match-defining century to the one he produced in Pune.
But on this surface against a disciplined India attack, it was much harder for Smith. He survived a big lbw appeal from Ishant, who engaged in a war of facial expressions with Smith, and another from Ashwin that went to the third umpire. The on-field not-out decision was upheld on an umpire’s call projection on leg stump. And yet all Smith was doing was surviving – when he eventually fell, it was for 8 off 52 balls.
Smith tried to defend against Jadeja, but found his inside edge lob up off the pad and saw the wicketkeeper Saha run around to his left to complete the catch. It was a hard-earned wicket for India, who had not had much luck earlier in the session. Renshaw in particular had been edgy, though his patient survival was key. He had set Australia on the path to what they hoped would be an advantage.
Brydon Coverdale is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. @brydoncoverdale
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo