IND vs AUS: In the first innings of the Indore Test against Australia, the 3rd Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, the Indian batters had a nightmare they wouldn’t want to remember as the hosts, after electing to bat first, were bundled out for 109 with the Aussie spinners taking 9 wickets and one was run-out.
Yes, the pitch was expected to be spin-friendly and it was in the first two IND vs AUS Tests in Nagpur and Delhi, and as it had been in India over the years.
However, the surface at the Holkar Stadium, Indore, was terrible to bat on, to say the least, as the ball spun big right from the start of the game.
The Australian spinners spun a spectacular web around the Indian batters that India were 5 down in the first hour, 7 down in the first session, and were bowled out before office goers in India had finished their own tiffins.
It was proper carnage that the Australian bowlers consigned on the Indian batters.
https://twitter.com/cricket_broken/status/1630791486290767874?s=20
Matthew Kuhnemann, who had made his debut in the previous Test, in Delhi, was at the helm of this havoc in Indore on Day 1, taking his maiden Test five-wicket haul.
He started India’s slide with the wicket of India captain Rohit Sharma, the only batsman to hit a century in this IND vs AUS series so far.
While Rohit Sharma did make a shot selection error – dancing down the track and looking to slog in Matthew Kuhnemann’s first over without first assessing the turn the pitch had to offer – it was also the massive amount of turn that the left-arm spinner generated that did the Indian opener.
Rohit failed to reach the pitch of the ball but continued with his slog, but the ball turn huge – 8.6 degrees! – and comfortably beat his bat and he got stumped.
The other opener, Shubman Gill, also was beaten by the turn, not as big as Rohit though, but still a considerable amount: that ball that took Gill’s outside edge and flew to first slip turned 5.9 degrees.
Cheteshwar Pujara can blame his luck once again as he got a really unplayable ball from off-spinner Nathan Lyon that turned a significant amount, 6.8 degrees, from way outside off and the ball stayed low. Even as Pujara went on the back foot after judging the length, the turn was so big that he was too late to bring his bat down in time before the ball crashed into the stumps.
Lyon had Jadeja too, with the ball turning 5.8 degrees away from Jadeja, and caught at cover, a good catch by Kuhnemann.
The delivery from Kuhnemann then which dismissed Shreyas Iyer then deviated not as big as the others, 3.5 degrees, but Iyer had some bad luck: he played a cut shot to a ball outside off-stump, but chopped it onto his sticks.
The broadcaster Star Sports revealed this data for their viewers.
In reply to India’s 109, Australia have scored 156/4 by end of the day with Ravindra Jadeja taking all 4 wickets. Usman Khawaja looked a class apart from all other batters today, scoring 60 runs but threw away his wicket to a aerial sweep off Jadeja.
