Ravindra Jadeja and Wriddhiman Saha’s super resilient batting show in the morning’s session has enabled hosts India to finally overcome the nerves and gain a leapfrog Australia’s first innings total of 300.
Late strikes by ooff-spinner Nathan Lyon in the last session on Day 2 had put India in a sticky situation. However, the super show from Jadeja and Saha has now put India in the driver’s seat again.
Opposition skipper Steve Smith clearly didn’t expect this to happen. India were 52 runs in deficit with two new men at the crease. The Aussies expected the morning session to favour them but the Indian lower middle order duo flourished freely without any major hassle.
The desperation to snap a breakthrough reached its peak in the 108th over when Smith and Hazlewood tried out their luck by reviewing a leg before decision after it was turned down initially by umpire Marias Erasmus.
The incident took place off the last delivery of the over when Hazlewood got one delivery to nip back in sharply and beat Saha. Fortunately, the Saha had his bat close to the pads and managed to have some contact. Hazlewood, however, chose to ignore the fact and went with the review only to see it get turned down as Indian fans cheered.
The next over then saw Indian celebrate a couple of more milestones. India finally took lead when Jadeja scored a quick double and ball later the left-hander pulled out his sword to acknowledge his 7th Test fifty.
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