CHINAMAN RATTLES OZ
DEBUTANT KULDEEP YADAV TAKES FOUR WICKETS AS INDIA BOWL AUSTRALIA OUT FOR 300 ON DAY ONE
Dharamsala, March 25:
Australia skipper Steve Smith’s third century of the series and India spinner Kuldeep Yadav’s memorable debut left the fourth and final Test between the teams evenly poised on Saturday.
Smith, comfortably the leading scorer of the series, made 111 as he and David Warner, who scored 56, added 134 runs for the second wicket to help Australia dominate the morning session after opting to bat.
Left-arm wrist-spinner Yadav, an inspirational selection in India’s bold move to go with five bowlers, led the hosts’ strong comeback in the post-lunch session when five wickets tumbled for 64 runs.
Matthew Wade made 57 down the order to help Australia reach 300 before the tourists folded leaving India to bat the final over of the day, a maiden one from Josh Hazlewood.
Wade conceded Australia lost an opportunity to post a bigger total.
“(Australia were) one for 140, so after lunch you hope to push but credit to the Indians who bowled really well through the middle session,” he told reporters.
“We had to find a way to grind out 300. To get there in the end was a good effort.”
Openers Lokesh Rahul, who faced all six deliveries from Hazlewood, and Murali Vijay will hope to give India a strong start when they resume on Sunday. The hosts received a jolt even before a ball was bowled when regular skipper Virat Kohli was ruled out of the match with a shoulder injury he had sustained in the drawn third test in Ranchi.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar, replacing fellow paceman Ishant Sharma, swung the first ball of the match to induce an edge from Warner but Karun Nair spilled it at third slip.