Australia edged ahead of India at stumps on the second day of the second Test being played at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi, taking an overall lead of 62 runs after bowling India out for 262 — taking a slender lead of 1 run — on Saturday.
Nathan Lyon and Travis Head were the key performers for Australia on the second day, which was also highlighted by a century stand between Akshar Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin who saved India the blushes.
It was yet another thrilling day of Test cricket between India and Australia for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2022-23, as the hosts who resumed their first innings at 21/0 lost all their 10 wickets inside a day’s play to be bowled out for 262, just one run short of what Australia managed on the opening day of the second Test.
The veteran Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon was the star of the day for the visiting team, breaking the back of Indian batting with all four wickets at the top and that of the key batsman Shreyas Iyer to return with his overall eighth five-wicket haul against India.
The right-arm off-spinner Nathan Lyon made full use of the relatively hard ball in the first session as he returned with 29-5-67-5, while the likes of debutant Matthew Kuhnemann and Todd Murphy, playing his second Test, took a couple of wickets each. Australia captain Pat Cummins took 1/41 from his 13 overs as he continued to look for wickets but was surely not his best with the ball in challenging conditions.
The Indians once again disappointed with the bat as the top order collapsed against the Nathan Lyon-led Australian bowling attack, with Virat Kohli (44) providing some resistance. However, playing in his homeground, Virat Kohli had to bear the brunt of a contentious decision for leg-before made against him by Indian umpire Nitin Menon, with the DRS appeal also going against the batting maestro who is now in his third calendar year without a Test century to his name.
With India in a desperate situation of requiring a revival as they were reduced to 1397/ with the likes of Ravindra Jadeja and KS Bharat also back in the hut, it was the pair of Akshar Patel (74) and Ravichandran Ashwin (37) delivering the goods.
The left-handed all-round batsman Akshar Patel once again showcased his class, smacking 3 sixes and 9 fours to make an invaluable 74 from 115 balls, while adding 114 runs with Ravichandran Ashwin to help India get back into the contest.
With India conceding a slender lead of just 1 run, it became evident that the Test was now titled equally in the favour of both the teams. With India looking for early wickets in the second innings, the Australians decided to counter-attack and in the absence of David Warner — ruled out of the Test due to concussion and replaced by Matthew Renshaw — it was the left-hander Travis Head who tore into the Indian bowling.
Travis Head raced to 39 not out from 40 balls with 5 fours and 1 six in the company of Marnus Labuschagne, who too looked aggressive, hitting 3 fours to reach 16 not out from 19 balls when stumps were drawn. Australia had lost an early wicket in the form of Usman Khawaja, who fell for just 6 with Shreyas Iyer taking a brilliant catch off Ravindra Jadeja at leg slip.
With three days’ play left, Australia will look to get at least 200 more runs while the pitch remains good for batting on the third day and put India out of the contest, as the pitch is expected to be at its toughest for the fourth innings when India will bat to save the Test.