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India vs Australia, 2nd Test, Day 4: Lyon, Hazlewood crack India

The second India vs Australia Test is poised so heavily in favour of the hosts after Day 4

Nathan Lyon celebrates the wicket of Virat Kohli

Perth, December 17: Nathan Lyon and Josh Hazlewood combined to reduce India to 112 for five while chasing 287 to win at close of Day 4 of the second Test at the Optus Stadium here on Monday (December 17). Hanuma Vihari and Rishabh Pant, the last recognised batting pair of India, are at crease but they need to score a further 175 runs to overhaul the target, a tough task considering the capricious pitch.

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Here's MyKhel presents a quick report of the Day 4 of this India vs Australia Test.

1. Lyon-Hazlewood combine

1. Lyon-Hazlewood combine

India were chasing 287 alright, but Australia needed some quick wickets upfront to put India under pressure. Mitchell Starc bowled the woefully out of form KL Rahul in the first over itself to give India a fine start. But Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane had shown impressive adhesive quality at various junctures in this series. But on this day, there was no encore. Pujara was the first to go. Hazlewood served a jaffa and Pujara could not take the bat out of the way in time and Tim Paine completed the job with ease. Lyon kept on bowling the middle stump line to Kohli and the Indian skipper kept on playing them on the back foot. Eventually, Lyon pitched one on the off-stump and by habit Kohli played for turn but the ball straightened up and the edge was snaffled by Usman Khawaja at slip. M Vijay's dismissal was a classic off-spinner dismissal. Lyon tempted him with a tossed up delivery on the off-stump and Vijay took the bait and the ball beat his expansive drive to disturb the timber. Rahane played an uppish ball against a nothing ball by Hazlewood for Travis Head to complete a simple catch inside the circle.

2. Brilliant Shami

2. Brilliant Shami

Before Lyon and Hazlewood, there was Mohammad Shami. Shami flicked his second innings button on and the result was a six-wicket haul, his career best as well. India failed to pick up even a single wicket in the morning session after Australia resumed at 172 for four but quickly went through the line-up in the middle session. But India allowed Australia's last wicket pair to score more than 30 runs and that made a lot of difference to the end calculations. But nothing can take away the brilliance of Shami. The short-pitched ball with which he dismissed Paine was an absolute brute. It kicked up from the good length spot and Paine had no option but to edge it to Kohli at slips.

3. Kohli, Paine and chatter

3. Kohli, Paine and chatter

The skirmishes between Kohli and Paine was really engaging and at one point umpire Chris Gaffney had to intervene to stop the duo. But Rahul uttering a few words to Paine after the latter's dismissal left a sour taste in the mouth. Paine too was not far behind as stump mike picked him up telling Vijay: "Murali, I know he is your captain but seriously can't like him as a bloke." Rest assured, this is not the last time we heard from players from either side.

4. What to expect on Tuesday

4. What to expect on Tuesday

India are five down and require a further 175 runs to win. Pant and Vihari is India's last recognised batting pair and they will have to do the bulk of work if India want to close gap with Australia. But the most likely result is an Australian win considering the efficiency of their bowlers and the vagaries of the Perth pitch.

Story first published: Monday, December 17, 2018, 18:17 [IST]
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