Aus vs India: 14 wickets tumble as spinners dominate opening day in Indore
SUMMARY: India 109 all out from 33.2 overs (Virat Kohli 22, Shubman Gill 21; Matthew Kuhnemann 5-16, Nathan Lyon 3-35) vs Australia 156-4 from 54 overs (Usman Khawaja 60, Marnus Labushagne 31, Steve Smith 26; Ravindra Jadeja 4-63)
Fourteen wickets fell on the first day as Australia took control of the third Test against India in Indore.
The hosts lost nine wickets to spin and were bowled out for 109 in 33.2 overs, with Matthew Kuhnemann claiming his first five-wicket Test haul.
In reply Australia reached 156-4 – a lead of 47 – with opener Usman Khawaja making 60 before becoming one of spinner Ravindra Jadeja’s four wickets.
India lead the four-Test series 2-0 after big wins in Delhi and Nagpur.
They know a 3-1 series win or better will secure their place in June’s World Test Championship final at The Oval, while Australia need to at least draw one of the games to seal their place.
India’s total was their fourth-lowest at home in the past 15 years and contained four single-digit scores.
Nathan Lyon took three wickets for Australia, and Todd Murphy the other, before Mohammed Siraj was run out to end the innings just after lunch.
Australia lost Travis Head early, who was promoted to open after David Warner was ruled out of the match with concussion and a fractured elbow.
Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne (31) put on 96 for the second wicket, before Jadeja removed both and Steve Smith, who is captaining the side with Pat Cummins in Australia with his ill mother, in the final session.
“I tried to score when I saw a scoring opportunity and respected the good ball when it came,” Khawaja told BT Sport.
“It was nice to build a partnership with Marnus, the start was the toughest time to bat against the new ball because it was inconsistent. The partnership blunted them a bit, but it’s not an easy wicket.
“It felt pretty tough the whole time I was out there and I don’t expect it to get any better.”
Meanwhile, India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has overtaken England seamer James Anderson to become the number-one ranked bowler in the world.
Anderson, 40, ended Cummins’ four-year reign last week but drops to second despite taking three wickets in England’s one-run defeat by New Zealand in Wellington on Tuesday.
Ashwin, who first topped the rankings in 2015, took six wickets in India’s six-wicket win in the second Test, including the key wickets of Smith and Labuschagne in the same over in the first innings. (BBC Sport)
