Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon brought the Australian team back into the second Test of the four-match Test series at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi with a terrific spell of spin bowling as he dismissed the Indian top order in the first session of the second day by taking 4 wickets before lunch.
Indian openers KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma successfully survived the last 9 overs of Day 1. They came again to bat on Day 2, Lyon first struck in his second over of the day when he had out-of-form batter KL Rahul defending with his bat and pad together. Once he had the first breakthrough, he didn’t stop after it.
He then trapped the Indian captain with one that went with the angle and kept a touch low. Lyon bowled a little quicker delivery, Rohit went on the back foot to nudge and got caught with the bat coming across the line, the pad blocked the bat’s way as well and the ball went past both and touched the stumps.
Brilliant comeback by the Australian Team
Lyon then removed India’s test specialist Cheteshwar Pujara for a duck in his 100th Test. Pujara, like Rahul, defended with his bat and pad close together and was sent on his way after a review found that the ball had hit the pad before the bat. Incidentally, Pujara had survived a similar shout in the previous over when Australia opted against a review.
A fourth wicket too arrived for Lyon but this was largely down to fielder Peter Handscomb at the short leg. Shreyas Iyer, looking to work a ball to the leg side, middled it, only for the ball to strike Handscomb’s midriff after which he had the presence of mind to anticipate and hold on to a catch.
Earlier, Australia elected to bat first after winning the toss, Opener David Warner fell early again like in the first Test, but Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne resisted till R Ashwin got the latter and Smith in the same over. Australia’s middle order couldn’t provide anything big to the scoreboard and was bundled out for 263 runs.
Here’s how fans reacted to Nathan Lyon’s fiery spell:
Kon kon Pant ko miss kr rha he ?? 🥺
— V̷i̷r̷a̷n̷î ̷J̷ìg̷n̷e̷s̷h̷ ̷(J̷ïg̷Ş) 🇮🇳 (@iJigneshVirani) February 18, 2023
Are there devils in the pitch ?
— Prajwal Shinde (@Bhartiya_mind) February 18, 2023
No intent to score, by the end of the day 100 run lead will be left and aussies might win this one
— Rahul suri (@Asklepias199029) February 18, 2023
Saala batting hi 4 down ke baad chaalu hoti hai 😭😭😭
— UTK_43 (@Utkarsh_635) February 18, 2023
😂Rishab bhai ye nathan Lyon jyada uchal rha hai wkts le kar
— Abdul Ahad (@AbdulAh91406192) February 18, 2023
#IndVsAus2023 #IndVsAus
Rishabh pant watching nathan lyon taking wickets: pic.twitter.com/RZfSRTMt0D— HONESTLY SAYS 🇮🇳 (@honestly_says) February 18, 2023
Indian bowlers to Nathan Lyon: pic.twitter.com/tASenVCyEo
— Ana de Armas stan (@abhithecomic) February 18, 2023
1st Test: Todd Murphy 7 wickets, Lyon 1 wicket.
Nathan Lyon:#INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/MLXykKeCNM
— CricBlog ✍ (@cric_blog) February 18, 2023
Rishabh Pant watching Nathan Lyon taking wickets pic.twitter.com/6tUfUn3KhF
— Gagan🇮🇳 (@1no_aalsi_) February 18, 2023
