Just do it Again!

Perth, December 16

Captain Virat Kohli became the second-fastest to 25 Test centuries before India’s pacers made Australia labour for an overall 175-run lead, leaving the second match evenly poised at the end of Day 3 today.

Usman Khawaja scored an unbeaten 41 as Australia reached 132/4 at stumps. 

Earlier, Kohli scored 123 off 257 balls for his sixth Test hundred on Australian soil, joining boyhood hero Sachin Tendulkar. He became the second-quickest batsman in Test history to score 25 Test hundreds (in 127 innings) after Sir Donald Bradman (68 innings).

After tea, Aaron Finch (25 retired hurt) didn’t come out to bat after being hit on his hand by Mohammed Shami (2/23) in the 13th over. Scans cleared Finch of serious damage to his right hand’s index finger.

It was a fiery spell of fast bowling from the Indian pacers. Marcus Harris (20) had been hit on the helmet in the eighth over by Jasprit Bumrah (1/25). The opener, dropped on 1 off Ishant Sharma (1/33) at first slip by Cheteshwar Pujara, added 26 runs with Khawaja.  Harris was bowled by Bumrah in the 18th over, attempting to leave the ball. Australia were soon two-down as Shaun Marsh (5) was caught behind off Shami. Australia’s lead had barely crossed 100 at that stage, as Khawaja and Peter Handscomb (13) put on 21 runs.

Ishant trapped Handscomb lbw in the 26th over and Australia were reduced to 85/3. Khawaja and Travis Head (19) added another 35 runs, helping the hosts cross 100 in the 30th over. Head threw it away just like he did in the first innings, holing out to third man off Shami. 

India lose 6/60

Earlier, India lost their last three wickets for 31, getting dismissed for 283. Nathan Lyon (5/67) took his 14th five-wicket haul in Test cricket as Australia took a 43-run lead. Yet again, India’s long tail refused to wag for the second time this series. Ishant Sharma (1) was the first to go, offering a simple return catch to Lyon. Rishabh Pant (36) changed gears and tried to attack, adding 25 runs with Umesh Yadav (4 not out) for the ninth wicket, before holing out off Lyon.

Lyon proceeded to pick his fifth out of seven Indian wickets to fall on the day as Jasprit Bumrah (4) was caught at slip. In doing so, Lyon equalled Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan with seven five-wicket hauls against India in Tests. India lost their last six wickets for 60 to hand Australia the advantage.

Kohli’s class

In the morning session, Kohli scored a masterful hundred as India reached 252/7 at lunch. Starting at the overnight 172/3, India made a bad start as Ajinkya Rahane (51) was caught behind off Lyon on the fourth ball of the first over. Hanuma Vihari (20) put on 50 runs with the skipper for the fifth wicket, soaking up the pressure at one end. Kohli went about his business at the other end as India garnered 42 runs in the first hour. Kohli took India past 200 in the 80th over, and then reached his hundred off 214 balls.

This was his 34th hundred as Indian skipper across formats, second only to Ricky Ponting’s 41 centuries as Australian captain.

The celebrations were cut short as Australia used the second new ball to good effect, with Vihari caught behind off Josh Hazlewood (2/66). Pant then joined the captain and the two added 18 runs as India crossed 250 and started closing the gap on Australia’s first innings’ total of 326. But Kohli fell before lunch, edging Pat Cummins (1/60) to second slip, where Handscomb managed to get his fingers under the ball. TV replays were not enough to overturn the on-field umpire’s soft signal of dismissal. — PTI

Fewest innings to reach 25th Test 100
68 Don Bradman
127 Virat Kohli
130 Sachin Tendulkar
138 Sunil Gavaskar 
139 Matthew Hayden

3 Virat Kohli is only the third Indian batsman to score 1000 runs in away Tests in a calendar year. Mohinder Amarnath (1983) and Rahul Dravid (2002) are the other two.

6 Number of centuries Kohli has struck in Australia, a record he shares with Sachin Tendulkar