The intent from Cheteshwar Pujara and Wriddhiman Saha was quite clear as they picked up a quick single on the first ball of Day 4. Unlike Day 3, the scoring run rate was quite higher in the first session as they scored just 15 runs short of 100. They did well as they kept their wickets intact before the stroke of lunch. It will be apt to say that the first session belonged to India.
Nathan Lyon is still wicketless after his 8-wicket haul in the Bangalore Test first innings. Steven Smith seemed quite baffled on the field as Saha-Pujara pile on runs, they are just a few runs away from getting rid of the trail. A substantial lead seems inevitable now as they come in to bat after the lunch break.
Applause all around as @Wriddhipops brings up his 50 #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/kqYWeIFY0J
— BCCI (@BCCI) March 19, 2017
150 comes up for @cheteshwar1 #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/p7xS96M6kp
— BCCI (@BCCI) March 19, 2017
Reviews go the Indian way
There were two reviews, two instances where the Australian bowlers thought they had got the better of Cheteshwar Pujara-Wriddhiman Saha duo but it seems like Indian players have perfected the art of taking reviews. The DRS goes the Indian way as both the lbw appeals on which Umpire raised his finger, seemed to be going wide off leg stump.
The Pujara review… #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/hAHnVnYpAd
— cricket.com.au (@CricketAus) March 19, 2017
First, it was Saha who had been given out lbw to an inswinging delivery from Pat Cummins. Saha made good use of the review as the ball was way off the leg stump. A similar instance happened with Pujara as Lyon appealed for lbw, the review showed the ball spinning a mile away from the leg stump and the Umpire had to reverse the decision.
The Saha review #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/cTCon5RjhU
— cricket.com.au (@CricketAus) March 19, 2017
Though, the best part was Indian skipper Virat Kohli who came out of the dressing room and cheered both the successful reviews as the crowd let out a cheer. Later, Smith wasted another review in the third Test as he could not get that one right, the ball did not take an edge off the bat.
And now a chance goes down behind the stumps off O’Keefe’s bowling. Not a great session for the Aussies… #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/n23M5BKRfI
— cricket.com.au (@CricketAus) March 19, 2017
Brief Scores
India 435/6 in 161 overs (Cheteshwar Pujara 164, Wriddhiman Saha 59; Pat Cummins 4 for 71, Josh Hazlewood 1 for 76) trail Australia 451 (Steven Smith 178, Glenn Maxwell 104; Ravindra Jadeja 5 for 124, Umesh Yadav 3 for 106) by 16 runs.
