The second Test between India and Australia looks destined to be a thriller, with the topsy-turvy contest evenly poised after two days of action at Arun Jaitley Stadium.
Nathan Lyon was the hero for Australia on day two, claiming five wickets before Indian all-rounders Axar Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin frustrated the visitors with a century partnership for the eighth wicket.
Australia is 1-61 at stumps on day two, leading by 62 runs, with Travis Head’s belligerent 39 not out ensuring Pat Cummins’ men were in the preferred position at stumps.
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LYON’S RECORD-BREAKING FIVE-FA
Can you believe some people were questioning Nathan Lyon’s spot in the Test side a few days ago? Well, they’re looking pretty foolish at the moment.
The 35-year-old claimed his 22nd Test five-wicket haul on day two of the Delhi Test, becoming just the third cricketer to take 100 Test wickets against India, joining England’s James Anderson and Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan on the illustrious list.
The GOAT ‘runs riot’ against India | 02:30
Lyon’s heir apparent Todd Murphy was exceptional in Nagpur last week, taking seven wickets on Test debut to prove his worth at international level. Lyon, however, struggled in the series opener, finishing with 1/126 after multiple chances were dropped off his bowling.
Ahead of the second Test in Delhi, there was genuine speculation about the veteran off-spinner’s spot in the starting XI – but Lyon quickly silenced any lingering critics on Saturday morning.
After trapping KL Rahul on the pads, Lyon dismissed rival captain Rohit Sharma and Cheteshwar Pujara, who was playing his 100th Test, in quick succession to leave the hosts reeling at 3-54 in the 20th over.
Lyon suddenly boasted figures of 4-12 after Peter Handscomb held onto a ripping catch at short leg to send Shreyas Iyer back to the sheds for 4.
He returned after the lunch break to secure the coveted five-fa, with KS Bharat miscuing a sweep shot that looped over the wicketkeeper’s head and was caught by Steve Smith. It was Lyon’s eighth five-wicket haul against India, setting a new record.
MOST FIVE-WICKET HAULS AGAINST INDIA IN TESTS
8 — Nathan Lyon
7 — Muthiah Muralidaran
6 — James Anderson, Ian Botham, Imran Khan, Malcolm Marshall
“Knowing Nathan Lyon, he does doubt himself a bit, and gets really nervous before games,” former teammate Michael Hussey said on Fox Cricket.
“Seeing Murphy do so well in that first Test match, he would have been thinking, ‘Oh gosh, when’s it my turn?’
“He bowled beautifully and got great reward.
“Getting those early wickets for him will really boost his confidence and hold him in good stead for the rest of this Test match and hopefully the series.
“He’s been a critical member of that Australian bowling group for a number of years now.”
Australian legend Allan Border continued: “As soon as he gets those early poles, he’s all over you. You can see the bounce in the step, it changes.
“He just does most things right … he’s probably the key component in Australia’s rise.”
Since returning to the Australian side during the 2013 Ashes series, Lyon has not missed a single Test, playing 95 consecutive matches. He’s quickly approaching 500 Test wickets, a milestone he could feasibly achieve this year, which would put him among the all-time greats of the game.
Cummins surprises himself with a BLINDER | 00:36
ASHWIN’S ‘PAINFUL’ SACRIFICE
When Ravichandran Ashwin waltzed to the crease in the 51st over on Saturday, India was in dire straits at 7-139, still trailing by 124 runs.
Australia was seemingly charging towards a heavy first-innings lead, with Lyon wreaking havoc on the turning Delhi wicket.
But Ashwin and Axar Patel halted Australia’s momentum, combining for a 114-run partnership for the eighth wicket to slowly chip away at the deficit. Each run they scored felt like gold for the hosts, prompting wild cheers from the spectators.
The partnership morphed from annoying to game-changing as Australia’s lead shrank drastically after the tea break.
Ashwin, who scored a gritty 37, wasn’t taking any half measures – as reported by The Age’s Andrew Wu, the 36-year-old was not wearing a thigh guard at the start of his innings, reducing the chance of a catch at short-leg. He was willing to endure pain to help his country.
This strategy accurately personifies Ashwin’s fierce determination — during the 2021 New Year’s Test against Australia at the SCG, he put together a match-saving knock in the fourth innings to ensure India clinched a miraculous draw.
Despite battling a back injury, which ruled him out of the following Test in Brisbane, Ashwin survived 128 deliveries and 190 minutes against Australia’s world-class bowling attack.
“(The injury) was so bad I was rolling on the floor because of the pain,” Ashwin recalled.
“My wife and kids helped me to stand and then the Physio came to check me. I went to the game crawling, but did my best.”
He’s a warrior with the bat and a wizard with the ball.
THE ‘HARDEST PART’ OF BEING A BOWLING CAPTAIN
Pat Cummins just couldn’t take a trick on Saturday morning.
The Australian captain made several DRS errors in the morning session of day three, wasting all three reviews within the first 25 overs of India’s innings in Delhi.
Debutant Matthew Kuhenmann struck Indian captain Rohit Sharma on the pad in the 14th over, but Hawkeye suggested the ball was comfortably sliding down leg. One review gone.
Not long after, Cummins got a delivery to nip back into KL Rahul, flying off his pad towards the slip cordon. Believing there may have been an edge, Australia sent the decision upstairs, but replays showed Rahul’s bat was nowhere near the ball. Two reviews gone.
The twin DRS blunders left the Cummins gun shy – later that over, Lyon trapped Cheteshwar Pujara on the front pad, but Australia elected not to call for a review knowing one more mistake could be costly. In a disastrous twist, Hawkeye showed three reds, meaning Pujara would have been back in the sheds if Cummins had reviewed.
Aus BURN all 3 reviews early on Day 2! | 03:37
All three reviews were gone when Todd Murphy appealed for a catch at short leg in 25th over, with replays showing Shreyas Iyer’s bat was nowhere near the ball.
Cummins’ use of the DRS has improved throughout his short captaincy career – he was almost flawless with reviews during the recent home Test series against South Africa — but the Australian skipper understandably came under fire following Saturday’s quartet of DRS blunders.
Speaking to foxsports.com.au earlier this summer, Labuschagne suggested the only downside of having a bowling captain was the skipper’s poor positioning in the field for DRS calls.
“Your captain’s not in the slips,” Labuschagne explained.
“It makes it slightly more difficult for DRS and stuff, because the actual individual’s got no information, so he’s going to have to rely on his keeper, his bowler, his slips.
“At mid-off, you’ve got a pretty skewed view. You can’t see much, so that’s probably the hardest part.”
PATEL THE HERO ONCE AGAIN
We’re only five days into the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, but Cummins and the Australians must already be sick of watching Axar Patel wield the willow.
The Indian spinner hasn’t contributed much with the ball thus far, taking one wicket in Nagpur and failing to unearth a breakthrough during the first innings in Delhi.
But Patel’s efforts with the bat have arguably been more valuable, with the left-hander plundering consecutive fifties in Nagpur and Delhi to frustrate the Australians.
After compiling a classy 84 in the series opener, Patel once again thwarted the Aussies on Saturday, scoring a diligent 74 to rescue India on day two of the Delhi Test.
The hosts were in dire straits at 6-135 when Patel came to the crease in the 50th over, still trailing Australia’s first-innings total by 128.
The 29-year-old set about shifting momentum back in India’s favour, slapping Kuhnemann for a couple of boundaries in the 60th over.
Handscomb screamer digs a hole for India | 01:08
Patel rotated the strike and attacked the poor deliveries, of which there were many. He survived until the tea break before accelerating in the evening session, when boundaries started to flow with ease.
The match was slowly slipping away from the Australians, and they had no answers for Patel’s counter-attack.
His defence was impenetrable, easily switching to white-ball mode and smacking a spinner out of the attack when the situation called for a counterpunch.
Patel’s defiant knock came to an end in the 82nd over — searching for quick runs, he slapped a full Murphy delivery directly towards Cummins at mid-on.
He couldn’t guide India towards a first-innings lead, but Patel’s resistance ensured the contest was alive heading into day three.
SMITH UNDER THE MICROSCOPE AGAIN
Steve Smith’s slip catching once again came under the microscope after the Australian vice-captain put down a tough chance off Lyon’s bowling in the evening session on Saturday.
Lyon got a delivery to grip and catch Patel’s outside edge in the 64th over, and Smith lunged low to his right at first slip. But the ball landed between his hands, racing towards the boundary rope to bring up Patel’s fifty-run partnership with Ashwin.
Lyon threw his arms up in the air out of pure frustration – Smith had botched a couple of chances at slip during the series opener in Nagpur as well.
“It didn’t go quickly, it went quite slowly actually,” former Australian batter Mark Waugh said in commentary.
“He’s just snatched at thin air to be honest. I think he should have caught that, a fielder of his ability should have caught that.
“He’d be disappointed with that.”
Warner ruled out of the second Test | 01:41
Indian commentator Harsha Bhogle pointed out that Smith was standing completely upright moments before Lyon released the ball.
“He goes upright as the ball is about to be delivered,” Waugh continued.
“I’m going to go see him in the morning tomorrow before the start of play, to have a little chat to him.”
Smith became the centre of attention again in the 70th over when Ashwin managed to glance a Lyon delivery between his legs for a boundary, which Waugh branded another missed chance.
“I don’t know why our fieldsman are surprised the ball is keeping low,” Waugh said.
“That’s what you’re supposed to expect (in India).”
Smith is currently fifth on Australia’s all-time tally for most Test catches with 151 grabs in 94 matches.