Australia v India - 1st Test, Day 5: India reach 105/2 in pursuit of 364
Adelaide, Dec 13 (IANS) India reached 105 for two in pursuit of the 364-run target set by Australia, who declared their second innings at the overnight score of 290 for five, at lunch on the fifth and final day of the first of the four-match Test series at the Adelaide Oval here on Saturday.
India lost opener Shikhar Dhawan (9) and Cheteshwar Pujara (21) early in the day, but Murali Vijay (batting 47) and captain Virat Kohli (batting 25) managed to see through the session.
In the next two sessions of play, the visitors require 259 runs from 64 overs to win the match.
The Michael Clarke-led Australia decided to make full use of the early morning conditions by having a crack at the young Indian batting line-up.
Left-arm pacer Mitchell Johnson removed Dhawan with a well-directed bouncer in the second delivery of the fifth over of the day with the Indian scoreboard reading 16. The high-rising bouncer kissed the bicep of Dhawan's right arm and sailed into the hands of wicket-keeper Brad Haddin but the umpire ruled him out thinking it came off Dhawan's gloves.
Next man in, Pujara looked confident and positive from the start and supported Vijay well. The 26-year-old Pujara, who had scored 73 in the first innings, utilised his feet well against spinner Nathan Lyon, who got good purchase from the fifth-day pitch but committed mistakes with his length.
After a few overs, Lyon, who bagged his sixth five-wicket haul in India's first innings of 444, bowled a better length. He got further support from the rough patches created by the pacers' footwork and created a lot of confusion in the minds of the batsmen.
One of his deliveries missed the rough marks slightly, forcing Pujara to overestimate the turn as he went back in his crease only nick it to Haddin.
Vijay made a sedate start, on the other hand. Relying on his steely determination and solid defence, he judged the probing deliveries bowled by Johnson and Ryan Harris perfectly.
He scored his first boundary in the 15th over bowled by Harris.
In the next over, he deposited Lyon over the mid-on boundary for a massive six to get things going with good support coming in from the other end in the form of first innings centurion Kohli.
SCORECARD
Australia (First Innings): 517/7 declared
India (First Innings): 444
Australia (second Innings):
Chris Rogers c R Sharma b K Sharma 21
David Warner b K Sharma 102
Shane Watson b Mohammed Shami 33
Michael Clarke c Saha b Aaron 7
Steven Smith batting 52
Mitchell Marsh c Vijay b RG Sharma 40
Brad Haddin batting 14
Extras (b 1, lb 6, w 5, nb 9) 21
Total (for five wickets in 69 overs; dec) 290
Fall of wickets: 1-38 (Rogers, 12.1 overs), 2-140 (Watson, 38.5), 3-168 (Clarke, 45.6), 4-213 (Warner, 59.1), 5-266 (Marsh, 64.4)
Bowling:
Mohammed Shami 11-2-42-1
Ishant Sharma 14-3-41-0
Karn Sharma 16-2-95-2
Murali Vijay 6-0-27-0
Varun Aaron 10-0-43-1
Rohit Sharma 12-2-35-1
India (second innings):
Shikhar Dhawan c Haddin b Johnson 9
Murali Vijay not out 47
Cheteshwar Pujara c Haddin b Lyon 21
Virat Kohli not out 25
Extras (lb 2, w 1) 3
Total (for two wickets in 34 overs) 105
Fall of wickets: 1-16 (Dhawan, 4.1), 2-57 (Pujara, 19.2)
Bowling:
Mitchell Johnson 9.5-1-26-1
Ryan Harris 7-3-24-0
Nathan Lyon 14-2-56-1
Peter Siddle 5-2-11-0
Shane Watson 2-0-6-0
Steven Smith 1-0-2-0