I am thankful to Ishant Sharma, says Nathan Lyon

Adelaide, Dec 11: Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon today said he will look to exploit the footmarks created by Indian pacer Ishant Sharma during his spell to David Warner on the opening day of the first cricket Test.

Day 3 Report

The 27-year-old Lyon bowled a brilliant spell of spin through the day, troubling Indian batsmen, and dismissing both Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane after they had scored fifties.

"We had big Ishant Sharma running down the middle of the wicket, bowling to David Warner around the wicket, so I am thankful for him making some footmarks for me and bowling around the wicket to Davey," he said.

"I'm looking forward to bowling more into those footmarks and hopefully he bowls there again and does it for the whole series," he added.

Talking about Rahane's dismissal, Lyon said: "That's all part of the variation. We knew if I was able to keep putting the ball in the rough there, something was going to give. I'm lucky enough that one kicked there and took the glove and popped up for a nice catch for Shane Watson.

"It shows a good Test match wicket out there with the variations for spinners. But as we saw if their batters got in it was pretty hard to get out," Lyon said.

The horror of Phillip Hughes tragic death came flashing in mind today when India skipper Virat Kohli was hit on the badge of his helmet by a bouncer from Mitchell Johnson on the very first ball he faced.

Immediately, all the Australian players rushed to check on him, including a worried Johnson. Kohli then shook off the blow and struck his seventh Test hundred to guide India to 369-5 at close on day three at the Oval here.

Talking about the incident, Lyon said: "As bad as it sounds, helmets work and that has been a positive thing today."

"It is vital for our quick bowlers to have that confidence for our quicks to bowl the bouncer again. We spoke about that at lunch time with Mitch, so he's feeling good and I can guarantee he's going to come out and fire in the second innings and have that aggression we all love him for."

Johnson was charged up towards the end of day's play, dismissing Kohli with a short ball and then testing Wriddhiman Saha with some very quick bouncers.

PTI