Australia vs India, 1st Test: 5 talking points from Day 4
After posting a lead of 166 runs on the board by the end of Day 3, Pujara and Rahane displayed their class in the middle in the first session of Day 4 by turning the game in favor of the visitors. A solid 87-run partnership between the duo left Aussie bowlers completely clueless as they ran out of patience.
Rohit Sharma, who wasn't able to capitalize his start in the first innings, failed miserably in the second innings after a sensational catch by Peter Handscomb at silly point saw the back of the Mumbaikar. A cameo from Pant helped India cross the lead of 300 runs then a mini-collapse at the end saw Australia set a target of 323 in the fourth innings to take a 1-0 lead in the four-match Test series.
Nathan Lyon's spell was the turning point of the game as he bagged his 13th five-wicket haul with figures 6/122. Australian top order couldn't rectify their mistakes as they had no answers to Indian bowlers. Shaun Marsh and Travis Head stabilized the innings at the end of Day 4 as the hosts were 104 for 4 at Stumps on Day 4.
India needs six more wickets on the final day as they find themselves on the verge of scripting a history by becoming the first Indian Test team to win the first Test of the series on Australian soil.
Scores at the end of day 4: Australia 104/4 (Shaun Marsh 31, Travis Head 11; Shami 2/15)
Here are the 5 talking points from Day 4:
1) India's fragile lower middle order
Though Pujara and Rahane showed their mettle in the middle, other batsmen weren't able to accelerate the lead. Rohit's dismal run in Tests continued as he fell for a run against Nathan Lyon. Pant took Lyon to cleaners scoring 18 runs off a single over. But he fell soon after that.
Ashwin and Rahane were dismissed in quick succession and it, in turn, hurt the visitors. Ishant and Shami registered ducks thus trimming the lead, which at one point looked set to be in excess of 350. Only 25 runs were scored by the last five wickets and the team has a lot of homework to do before the Perth Test.