India edge ahead on see-saw day at Mohali

The build-up to the third Test at Mohali was dominated by Australia’s shocking decision to ban four of their squad members from playing in the third Test. Shane Watson, the vice-captain, along with James Pattinson, Usman Khawaja and Mitchell Johnson were told their services would not be required for breaches of disipline and failing to build a winning culture. With Australia already trailing 2-0 in the series, and needing to win the Tet to have a chance of retaining the Border-Gavaskar trophy, the decision was widely criticised, but coach Mickey Arthur called in a line-in-the-sand moment and captain Michael Clarke said it was a necessary step that would bring the team closer together. [caption id=“attachment_663085” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Ravindra Jadeja sets off on a celebratory run after dismissing Michael Clarke. PTI[/caption] Rain forced the first day to be abandoned, an anti-climax after an eventful week, but India produced a surprise of their own at the start of day two when Dhoni revealed that Harbhajan Singh had been replaced by Pragyan Ojha. You can read our session-by-session report of the second day below: At lunch: Australia were 109/0 with Warner on 54 and Cowan on 43. Australia went into the third Test in Mohali in a state of turmoil, having dropped four of their players for disciplinary reasons, but Ed Cowan and David Warner would have calmed any unease in the dressing room with their best opening stand of the series. Australia are without vice-captain, Shane Watson, and their best bowler, James Pattinson, as a result of that decision, which polarised opinion about the team. The coach and captain stood firm, saying a line needed to be drawn in the sand, but there is no question their performance on the field is going to be even more closely scrutinised. If there was extra pressure on Michael Clarke, he didn’t show it at at the toss, which he won for the third straight time and once again chose to bat on a Mohali wicket that Allan Border thought would be a batting paradise. MS Dhoni opened the bowling with Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Ishant Sharma, hoping to use whatever moisture their might be in the pitch after rain washed out play on day one and the wicket sat under covers all day. But there wasn’t much movement on offer for Bhuvneshnar Kumar or Ishant Sharma to exploit. Bhuvneshwar opened the bowling and while he was able to get the odd ball to come back in at the batsmen, but there were few deliveries that beat the bat. Warner punched him down the ground and then cut him through point in his first over, and Dhoni responded by putting men on the boundary immediately. Warner was resolute in defense and content to score mostly in boundaries. Sixteen of his first 19 and 20 of his first 24 came in boundaries, most of them through the offside. Meanwhile Cowan was content to push the ball around and play himself in, aware that he has thrown away starts in the previous two Tests. Dhoni turned to Ashwin after nine overs and he beat Warner three times in his first over, as the batsman kept pushing out out at the one turning away while staying rooted in his crease. That was about all the excitement there was for the bowlers, though. The 50-run partnership came up in the 18th overs, as Australia chugged along at a scoring rate that hovered three. Warner skipped down the track in Ashwin’s seventh over to loft him over his head for four, but that was the only outright sign of aggression as the two openers played the ball mostly on merit. Pragyan Ojha, who replaced Harbhajan Singh in the XI, came on in the 25h innings, but struggled initially to get his line and length right, on two occasions the ball sliding down the leg side for four byes. Ojha did induce the first chance of the day in the 33rd over when he had Cowan cutting hard, but the ball flew past Virat Kohli before he could react. A misfield from Bhuvneshwar Kumar allowed the pair to register their third century partnership together and Warner brought up his 50 a short while later with an inside edge to fine leg. In the last over before lunch, Ravindra, Jadeja got Warner to nick one and the ball flew between Dhoni and Kohli, who did not react until the ball was past him. It was that kind of morning for the hosts. At tea: Australia were 180/3, with Cowan on 76 and Smith on 19 India’s left-arm spinners seized the initiative back from Australia as the tourist’s frailties against the turning ball were exposed once again. The openers had pushed their partnership to 139 when Warner, on 71, got in a tangle playing one that turned from Jadeja. He tried to play around his pad, but succeeded only in playing the ball on to his pad and it ballooned into the air. Dhoni ran around from behind the stumps to take the catch and India had the breakthrough they did not look like getting. [caption id=“attachment_662710” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Warner scored 71 before he was dismissed by Jadeja. PTI[/caption] Michael Clarke, newly moved up to no 3 to shore up the batting order, lasted all of one delivery. It is no secret Clarke doesn’t like coming up the order and his dismissal would only have reinforced that feeling. Clarke took a couple of steps down the wicket first ball, but Jadeja bowled it a little shorter and a little quicker. The turn took it past Clarke’s defensive prod and Dhoni was quick with the stumping. From 139/0, Australia had slipped to 139/2, and had lost their best batsman. Jadeja had to wait for Ashwin to bowl the next over before getting a shot at Phillip Hughes for his hat-trick with four men around the bat. He was too full though, and Hughes was able to defend to the offside. The runs dried up after Clarke - at one stage four runs came from seven overs – as Hughes continued to look like he was expecting the pitch to turn into a nest of spitting cobras at any moment. It took him 20 deliveries to get off the mark with a push to cover. Ojha should have had him caught at first slip when he edged a straight ball on to Dhoni’s pad, which deflected it to slip. But Kohli was not able to get his hands up fast enough to take the overhead catch to react fast enough and could only knock the ball down. The miss did not prove costly though. When Hughes had crawled to 2 from 30 balls, Ojha bowled one that turned from middle down legside. Hughes failed to commit to the shot; the ball glanced off his glove and Dhoni took a good catch moving to his right. The left-hander’s numbers against spin now read: 70 balls, two runs, five dismissals. At the other end, Ed Cowan continued his dogged resistance, getting to his fifty by using his feet to flick Jadeja between short midwicket and mid-on. He then cut Ashwin for four off the back foot when the bowler was marginally short and nudged Ojha to the fine leg boundary as well. Steven Smith, in the side for the suspended Watson, was initially less circumspect, going down the wicket to loft Ojha over mid-off, before punching him past point and smashing him for a straight six two overs later. But he slowed down as well as the tea interval drew near. Despite going wicket-less, Ashwin was India’s best bowler, teasing the batsmen with flight and getting turn and bounce. At stumps on day two: Australia were 273/7 with Smith on 58 and Starc on 20 Australia’s openers added 139 together but it was India’s day after that as another inept batting display from the visitors squandered the platform laid by Warner and Cowan. Steven Smith and Brad Haddin looked to have rescued the situation after tea, batting with calm assurance against the spinners, but Ishant Sharma popped up with two wickets in three balls to make sure it was India that sleeps soundly tonight. Cowan was given a life on 85, put down by Pujara at silly mid-off, but was unable to take advantage of it, falling one run later. A flighted delivery from Ashwin had Cowan playing from the crease. The ball was full and on middle stump and turned sharply to take the edge. This time Kohli was alert to the opportunity and pouched the catch before celebrating by hurling the ball into the air. It was just reward for some excellent bowling from Ashwin. Haddin, in the side only because of an injury to Matthew Wade, made his intentions clear when he swung cleanly through a full delivery from Ojha and sent it for six to get off the mark. Together with Smith, the pair succeeded in spreading the field. They used their feet confidently to nullify the threat posed by the spinners, and kept the scoreboard moving with singles and twos, something Australia has not done enough of in this series. As their partnership grew, the pressure told in the field, as India were guilty of misfields and overthrows. Smith moved into the 40s with a forcing backfoot shot off Jadeja, while Haddin drove and swept him for four in the same over. The pair’s blossoming partnership forced Dhoni to bring back Ishant in the hope of getting some reverse swing, and Haddin undid all his good work by chopping at a wide-ish delivery. The ball ricocheted off the inside edge and dislodged the bails, sending the crestfallen batsman back to the dressing room for 21. Ishant then made it two in three when he got one to seam back into Moises Henriques. The ball struck him on the pad at the right angle to carrom on to the stumps. After starting the series with 68 and 81*, Henriques has made 5, 0 and 0. Smith, making a mockery of having been left out of the side so far, got to his 50 with a single off Ojha, and gave the dressing room a thumb’s up. Peter Siddle lasted 14 balls before a straight one from Jadeja had him leg-before for a duck. Mitchell Starc then hit a couple of lusty blows before the end, racing to 20 from 21 balls, while Smith remained unbeaten on 58, but Australia will be asking more questions of their middle order after yet another collapse in which they lost 7 wickets for 134 runs.