cricket

Updated: Dec 15, 2018 13:12 IST

Nathan Lyon, who has troubled the Indian batting order in the recent past, was at his best in Adelaide. In Perth, on a pitch which was spicy and offered assistance to the pacers, Lyon too posed a lot of questions to the Indian batting order.

The off-spinner relies a lot on over spin and gets the ball to bounce which makes him a real handful on tracks with uneven bounce. After India dismissed Australia 326, all eyes were on the Indian openers. However, Murali Vijay and KL Rahul were dismissed rather early which put a lot of pressure on the Indians.

Captain Virat Kohli, who found form in Adelaide in the second innings, strode out with purpose and signalled his intent from the word go by driving Josh Hazlewood for three boundaries in one over. Tim Paine introduced Nathan Lyon early in the piece and the offie was precise with his attack.

Kohli was very cautious against the guile of Lyon as he tried to dig in. However, the first ball of the 18th over was a close shave for the Indian captain as he took a big stride and allowed a spinning ball to pass through to keeper Paine. It was a very tight leave as the ball just missed the bails.

‘First real sign of turn of Nathan Lyon’, was what was said in the commentary box. Pujara and Kohli have looked solid so far and they need to bat deep into the innings.