India vs Australia: Rohit Sharma’s resolute ton, Ravindra Jadeja-Axar Patel stand put hosts in driving seat on Day 2

India extended their lead to 144 runs against Australia in the opening Test in Nagpur courtesy of Rohit Sharma’s century and fifties by Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel on day two at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium on Friday. Despite wickets falling at regular intervals at the other end, the India captain (120 off 212 balls) batted sensibly to bring up a hard-fought century, his ninth in the format before he was dismissed by his counterpart Pat Cummins.

The hosts were 321 for seven at stumps on Day 2 with all-rounders Jadeja (66 not out) and Axar (52 not out) present on the crease. Rohit’s scintillating ton Rohit Sharma produced a captain’s knock of 120 to put India in driving seat and in the process became the first Indian skipper to have scored a century in all three formats. Interestingly, the opener had scored 56 runs in half-a-session on Thursday evening. On a slow track where other batters found the run-scoring extremely difficult, Rohit displayed class and composure of the highest order to score his ninth Test century which consisted of 15 boundaries and two sixes.

The 35-year-old spent more than four and half hours on the crease and took 171 balls to reach his hundred. Rohit was ultimately castled by his counterpart Cummins’ unplayable delivery that was fast and also moved away late after pitching. Middle-order muddle India’s middle-order woes were once again on display as Cheteshwar Pujara (7), Virat Kohli (12) along with debutants Suryakumar Yadav (8) and Srikar Bharat (8) failed to leave a mark as the hosts were in a vulnerable position of 168/5 in the 60th over of the game. In the case of Kohli, debutant Todd Murphy bowled a similar delivery to the former India skipper that had earlier accounted for Pujara. The young spinner bowled on the fifth stump on the leg side and a faint nick was taken on the second attempt by wicket-keeper Alex Carey. Surya became Lyon’s first victim as the off-break bowler breached his defence, while Bharat was trapped in front of the stumps by Murphy. Todd Murphy’s fifer Australia’s debuting spinner Todd Murphy has helped keep the tourists alive in the first Test as he has bagged five wickets so far. He became the 35th Australian to bag a five-fer on his Test debut. Notably, Murphy is also the second Aussie to achieve the feat against India with the previous one being Jason Krejza, who returned the figures of 8/215 in 2008-09, also in Nagpur.

Murphy knocked over the key pillars of India’s star-studded batting line-up. The 22-year-old accounted for the wickets of opener KL Rahul, night-watchman R Ashwin, Test specialist Pujara, star batter Kohli and debutant Bharat. India might have taken a good lead but the contest would be already over if Murphy (5-82) had not weaved his magic. The hosts appeared to be racing towards building an unassailable lead when they began on Friday at 1-77, but Murphy struck with the first four wickets of India’s innings. Jadeja, Axar stitch crucial partnership Despite Murphy’s heroics, Jadeja has threatened to win the match for India on his own. In his first Test since July after undergoing knee surgery, the star all-rounder backed up his 5-47 with a superb half-century. In the process, Jadeja also built influential partnerships with Rohit and Axar Patel, who also completed fifty.

Jadeja added 61 runs for the sixth wicket with Rohit and another 81 runs for the unconquered eighth wicket with Axar to help India take a crucial 144-run lead. Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook , Twitter and Instagram .