India vs Australia 2017, 1st Test: India Slump To Worst Collapse As Australia Baffle Hosts
Feb 24, 2017 at 5:59 PM
Horrendous, devastated and cheerless was the performance of Indian players on Day 2 of the first Test against Australia in Pune. For the first time in six months, the hosts looked down and out completely. As India was baffled on a dusty track by spinners, precisely Steve O’Keefe, who bagged six wickets for 35 runs, they registered one of their worst collapses in nearly two decades. From 95/3 to 105 all-out, it took visitors just 38 minutes to wrap up the Indian innings.
Openers Murali Vijay and KL Rahul came onto bat in first fifteen minutes of the day, after Australian innings was wrapped up on 260. The pair didn’t do much damage as Hazlewood broke the shackles and picked up Murali Vijay early on 10.
Mitchell Starc, who scored a fifty in the first innings, jolted India’s batting line-up by removing their two best batsmen Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli in a single over and turned the game on its head. More importantly, he got rid of captain Virat for zero, his first in a Test match at home.
Post lunch, Ajinkya Rahane and KL Rahul provided some support with the Karnataka batsman completing his fifty. It was only then Rahul thought of enlightening the crowds mood but unfortunately fell into the spin trap of O’Keefe on 64.
O’Keefe then took another five balls to dismiss Rahane and Wriddhiman Saha, and then 20 more to pick up three wickets. Collectively, he notched up six wickets in a span of 25 balls to script one of India’s worst collapse at home. Getting all-out on 105 and trailing by 155 runs, India are all but staring at the defeat, given how the pitch will behave in coming days.
In reply, Australia lost two wickets swiftly before Steven Smith crawled past India’s bad luck to score a half-century in the second innings. Ashwin, who grabbed three wickets in the first outing, racked up the same number at the end of Day 2 also. At stumps, Australia finished at 142 for four, leading by 298 runs with three days more to go.
Brief Score:
India – 105; KL Rahul 64(97), Steve O’Keefe 6/35.
Australia – 260, 143/4; Steven Smith 59*(117), Ravichandran Ashwin 3/68.