India fought back hard against Australia on day two of the second Test in Bengaluru after being bowled out for 189. India had Australia wobbling at 163/5 at tea on Sunday, before Shaun Marsh (66) and Matthew Wade (25 not out) stuck around in the final session to frustrate India. Earlier in the day, Matt Renshaw (60) also played a gritty, watchful innings on a pitch that showed uneven bounce and turn every now and then. Australia’s score at stumps on day two is 237/6, which means their lead is 48.
Live updates:
Our live blog for day two is over. Please join us again on Monday at 9 am for day three.
4.30 pm: Australia end the day at 237/6, with a lead of 48. Every run added from here will stab India. And trust Starc to have no mercy.
4.10 pm: OUT! Australia 220/6. Umesh Yadav has finally been rewarded for his superb bowling in this innings as Shaun Marsh hits him straight to short mid-wicket. He’s gone for a Renshaw-esque 66(197). Mitchell Starc is the new man in and he is dropped by Saha in the same over! It was a difficult chance, but we’ve been spoilt by Wriddhi-Man! Umesh could have had two!
4 pm: Australia 215/5. The 50-partnership between S Marsh and Wade is up. It’s not been pretty, but the partnership has been crucial in the context of this game. Australia’s lead is also past 25 now. Anything above 100 would mean Australia cannot lose this match.
3.40 pm: Australia 200/5. India have lost their second review. Another wasteful one. When will Kohli learn? India reviewed for a pad-glove! However, Gavaskar still believes India were short-changed by the third umpire not even going for an ultra-edge.
3.30 pm: Australia 192/5. Australia have got the lead and that prompts Kohli to call for the new ball.
3.20 pm: Shaun Marsh brings up his 50 with a single off Ashwin. He could have been dismissed at least twice before in this session. An important half-century this, not just for his team but also for himself. Should book his spot in the team for the rest of this decade.
3.10 pm: Australia 184/5. India is having a poor session. Now, they’ve lost a review and it was quite a waste. There were clearly two noises, but India decided to review in any case. Replays showed a clear inside edge.
This is the Marsh lbw off Ishant’s no-ball:
3.05 pm: S Marsh survives a leg-before again! This time, it’s Ishant Sharma’s umpteenth no-ball to the rescue. Ishant hits Wade plumb in front, but he has overstepped, marginally, but still. Kohli and 1.5 billion Indians cannot believe it!
3 pm: Australia 175/5, ‘Impact’ comes to S Marsh’s rescue as Umesh raps him in front. The ball would have gone crashing into middle, and looked plumb to the naked eye, including that of the umpire. But Marsh decided to go for broke and review, and it worked. Ball-tracking showed the impact was outside off stump. India, meanwhile, have not yet taken the second new ball after 85 overs.
2.45 pm: Australia 169/5. Jadeja and Ishant continue their spells after the tea break, with S Marsh continuing his pursuit for some quick runs. Australia have probably realised they aren’t going to last long on this pitch, whose unevenness is increasing with every over. Ishant is bowling brilliantly to the two left-handers, S Marsh and Wade.
This is Ishant after taking M Marsh’s wicket, continuing with his audition for the next sequel of The Conjuring:
2.20 pm: OUT! Australia 163/5, and that’s tea.
With the Marsh brothers at the crease, Kohli brings in Ishant Sharma for the last over before tea. Test cricket in all its glory. And Ishant responds by trapping Mitch Marsh in-front with a ball that kept low and would have crashed into leg-stump. Huge blow to Australia after Renshaw and S Marsh had batted so well for a majority of the session.
2.02 pm: OUT! Australia 160/4. Jadeja has his third, but he has his partner-in-crime, Ashwin, to thank for it. Handscomb, in his attempt to score quickly, tries to clear Ashwin at mid-wicket. Ashwin must be a tired man after bowling for 17 overs straight, but dives high and wide to his right and manages to latch on to the catch after fumbling three times. Once again, Australia lose a wicket minutes before the session break. The wicket brings together the Marsh brothers at the crease.
2 pm: Australia 160/3, with 10 minutes to go before lunch. Marsh and Handscomb are upped the run-rate. Even a 100-run lead for the Aussies will make it extremely difficult for India to win this match. Marsh, meanwhile, has surprised everyone watching this match. He’s into the thirties.
1.50 pm: Australia 145/3. Peter Handscomb, the new batsman, has clearly come out with some “intent”. He’s playing his shots, as Australia creep towards India’s total. The deficit is now under 50. It’s Ashwin and Jadeja bowling in tandem and they should do so till the tea break.
1.30 pm: OUT! Australia 134/3. Matt Renshaw hits Jadeja for the first six of Australia’s innings in the 67th over, but gets stumped later in the same over. His vigil ends after 196 balls, of which he scored 60 runs. He looks mighty pissed with himself after going for that shot.
Jadeja set him up well. He was bowling straight and tight, before firing one wide down leg after seeing that Renshaw was beginning to go for his shots. Really smart bowling!
1.20 pm: Australia 120/2. As Ashwin’s ball pitches outside Marsh’s leg-stump and turns square, the question on every Indian fans’ tongue is: Where the hell is Jadeja?! Kohli seems to hear it and brings on the left-arm spinner after a really long break.
1.05 pm: Australia 115/2. Shaun Marsh survives a huge appeal for caught behind, and the Indians decide not to review. Wriddhiman Saha is extremely interested, but bowler Umesh Yadav isn’t convinced. Kohli decides to go with his bowler, considering Saha’s history with DRS. However, replays suggest the ball brushed Marsh’s gloves. Saha has officially become the boy who cried DRS of the Indian team. Meanwhile, Renshaw brings up his 50 off 183 balls, his second of the series.
12.50 pm: Australia 101/2. Shaun Marsh brings up the 100 for Australia with a couple of sweeps off Ashwin that run away to the boundary. Ashwin concedes nine in that over, as against the innings run-rate of 1.84.
12.35 pm: Australia 90/2. India begin the second session with Ashwin and Ishant. Marsh is almost dismissed by both the bowlers, but somehow survives. He looks like a sitting duck right now.
11.30 am: At lunch, Australia have reached 87/2. They have managed to score just 47 runs in the session. Renshaw is unbeaten on 40(144) and he’s got S Marsh for company. India have been fantastic and the big wicket of Smith right before the lunch bell would have further charged them up. This has easily been the best session of the series so far. Australia did well to not lose more than two wickets, but the next session will probably be the defining one.
11.25 am: Umesh Yadav is getting a lot of love on Twitter:
11.20 am: OUT! Jadeja takes Smith out! Inside edge, onto the pad, before popping up for an easy catch. The Australian captain’s resistance is finally over with less than 15 minutes to go for lunch. Smith’s gone for 8(52). Australia 82/2.
Will this turn out to be like India’s first innings, when Pujara was dismissed at the stroke of lunch, which led to a collapse? Shaun Marsh is the new man in and he’s got a tough 10 minutes to face.
11 am: Australia 78/1 in 38 overs. With half an hour to go for lunch, it’s still a gripping contest out there as Ravindra Jadeja gets the ball for the first time. Ashwin, Ishant and Umesh have bowled really well so far. Plenty of words exchanged, lots of balls keeping low and edges flying past the slips, but the Australian batsmen have maintained their composure remarkably. India will be disappointed if they go into lunch with just one wicket in the session.
10.20 am: Australia 59/1 in 28 overs. As Ishant and Ashwin continue to trouble the Aussies, Ravi Shastri in the commentary box seems to have borrowed Navjot Sidhu’s book of idioms. He’s saying stuff like “ants in pants”, “cat on a hot tin roof”, “heat in the kitchen” and what not. Meanwhile, Ishant is trying to freak the Australians out with expressions that should earn him a lead role in a Bollywood horror movie.
10.05 am: The Indians are all pumped up here. Words and stares flying across the pitch. Steve Smith, the new batsman, responds with a wide smile, as Renshaw has been doing all along. Smith has also got his 157 fidgets before facing each ball to keep him occupied.
10 am: OUT! Australia 53/1. Ashwin has his man! After a gripping battle where he targetted the left-handers’ pads, Ashwin gets one to spin sharply after pitching outside leg. Warner exposed all his three stumps and perished as the ball clipped off-stump. Game on!
9.50 am: Ishant Sharma and Ravi Ashwin begin proceedings for India on day two. Ishant is bowling length and pitching it just outside off-stump in that corridor of uncertainty. He is looking mildly threatening because of the uneven bounce. Ashwin, at the other end, is targetting the left-handers’ leg-stump and a wonderful battle is developing between him and Warner.
9.20 am: Will this pitch crack open further on day two? It showed some uneven bounce and turn when India was batting, but chose to stay quiet when it was the Aussies’ turn. Everyone seems to be guessing what will happen today:
9 am: Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon’s career-best innings figures of 8/50 helped his team gain a big advantage over India on day one of the second Test in Bengaluru on Saturday. The hosts were bowled out for just 189 after winning the toss and opting to bat.
Lyon delivered the best figures by any touring bowler in India. Here are all the numbers from that performance. India’s much vaunted batting line-up failed again, except for KL Rahul who scored a stubborn 90.
India captain Virat Kohli was dismissed cheaply again after shouldering arms to a Lyon delivery that should not have been left. The world’s No 2 batsman in Tests was not spared by Twitter as a result.
India have their task cut out if they want to stage a comeback in this match. Australian openers David Warner and Matt Renshaw batted extremely well in the final session on Saturday to remain unbeaten for 16 overs. Australia will resume their innings at 40/0.