KING IS GONE, AUSSIES HOPE
Faith restored for Australia late on day three of Test
THE nervous Australian batting line-up are staring down the barrel of a fourth-innings rescue mission after a last-gasp effort from spinner Nathan Lyon nudged the first Test door open for his team.
India batted at a slow and steady pace on day three of the first Test at Adelaide Oval, to be 3-151, after its first innings score of 250, at stumps yesterday.
Australia was bowled out for 235, giving the visitors a handy 166-run lead with seven wickets remaining.
But odds for the home side pulling off a remarkable win were slashed by half as Lyon (1-48) finally dismissed Indian captain Virat Kohli for 34 in the shadows of stumps, after 20 overs of trying after his 104ball stay.
India holds the whip hand and the tourists’ middle order, including first innings road block Cheteshwar Pujara (40 not-out off 127 balls), stand between the Aussies and a gettable fourth innings total.
Kohli’s single-minded determination to do what none of the eight previous Indian captains before him could, and win a series in Australia, pushed him through an enthralling battle with Aussie pace ace Josh Hazlewood.
Runs were hard to come by and then Lyon struck as part of a valiant Aussie bowling effort trying desperately to stay in the game.
Curiously, Aussie captain Tim Paine kept attacking weapon Mitch Starc (1-18) cool for more than two hours after his early spells, and only called on him for two more overs in the final session.
Instead Lyon probed away for 18 overs straight, and twice had Pujara given out only to be AUSTRALIA V INDIA - FIRST TEST ADELAIDE OVAL - DAY THREE given reprieves when the Indian referred them. After a break he got Kohli and Aussie spirits lifted.
Lyon’s effort, and that of Hazlewood (1-25) and Cummins (0-33), was a lesson in how to fight for the Australian batters who have to elevate their effort when their turn comes sometime on what looms as sweaty-palms Sunday.
No team has chased down more than 239 batting last to win a Test in Adelaide since the middle of last century, and the only successful chase of more than 300 came in 1902.
National coach Justin Langer has been at pains to point out his rookie batsmen were “fighting their backsides off” to become the Test players he needs them to be.
After first dig failures, opener Aaron Finch and middleorder lynchpin Shaun Marsh might be given the perfect opportunity to become heroes and get their team to the line.
Paine and company have shown their steel for the fight as recently as October too.
In the United Arab Emirates, Usman Khawaja batted for 522 minutes in the desert heat as he, and skipper Paine, pulled their team out of the fire as Australia survived nearly 140 overs to earn a famous draw.
They will need all that mettle and more to equal the second-up effort of the Indians, who learned their lessons from day one and implored a “wait first, then hit” mentality.