At the end of the second session on the first day of the third Test, Australia’s spinner Matthew Kuhnemann played the role of chief destroyer for his team and ripped off the Indian batting lineup with his turners and made his five-wicket haul.
Initially, at the end of the first five overs India was in a commanding position with the openers on the crease finding regular boundaries with a score of 26/0. But, the game changed after Aussie skipper Steve Smith introduced spin attack.
Skipper Rohit Sharma wanted to dominate the spinners. Following that, he stepped out for a big hit in the very first over of Matthew Kuhnemann where he missed the ball completely and got stumped by Alex Carey. India lost Gill in Kuhnemann’s next over, reducing the hosts to 34/2. The spinner was on song, bowling beautifully on a pitch that offered turn and bounce. The right-hander looked in good touch but a delivery found the outside edge of his bat while he was prodding forward in defence. The hosts were banking on Cheteshwar Pujara to steady the innings, but he was dismissed by Nathan Lyon after the ball turned square to disturb the stumps. Pujara had to walk back for just 1 run.
India’s star all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja was promoted to bat up the order. However, he could not make the most of the opportunity. He was adjudged leg-before wicket but reviewed the decision to survive a close call against Lyon but played a loose shot to gift his wicket on the very next ball.
Shreyas Iyer dragged the ball onto his stumps in the next over to be dismissed for a duck off Kuhnemann, leaving India struggling at 45/5.
The hosts were looking down the barrel but the fifth wicket stand between Virat Kohli and Srikar Bharat revived India’s hopes of getting to a respectable total. However, the partnership was cut short by Todd Murphy who found Virat plumb in front of the stumps, dismissing him for 22(52).
Bharat, who looked in good nick lost his wicket just before lunch to Lyon, leaving India tottering at 82/7.
Next batter Ashwin came on the crease but couldn’t hold much. As in form spinner Kuhnemann again gave break through to his team and dismissed Ashwin on just 3 runs. India scored 88/8.
India’s fast bowler who has joined team India after a long time, Umesh Yadav came into action but instead of the ball he came with the bat first. Showing his power hitting ability he smashed one four and two sixes and added some valuable runs in India’s scorecard. Playing a sparky knock, Umesh Yadav didn’t manage to take it to a long end and he also got dismissed by Kuhnemann on 17 runs.