Lyon Roars as India Capitulate Again in 2nd Test

It really is too early to start jumping up and down and punching your fist in the air in celebration, but after what happened in Pune last week, the first day of the 2nd Test in Bengaluru could hardly have gone any better for Australia than it did. One can only wonder what has happened over the past couple of weeks to have brought this huge turnaround in fortune for both teams, but with so much cricket still left nothing can yet be taken for granted.

1. For India, the first hour and 59 minutes was just what they would have expected. Kohli won the toss and batted, subjecting Australia to batting last on a pitch that once again looks unlikely to last five days. Then, despite the loss of Mukund early, India was 1/72 with two balls remaining before lunch. The session was theirs. Then Pujara fell to Lyon, and lunch was actually 2/72, and Australia would have felt at parity.
2. Seriously, as a leader, Virat Kohli has failed in all circumstances yet again. He was overly cautious where all season he has been confidence personified. It cost him his wicket, shouldering arms again (somewhat inexplicably) when a positive shot would surely have been the better option. Then having made that fatal error, he then  made an arrogant error, pulling a Shane Watson in referring a decision simply because he is the team's Number One player and he therefore feels they are there for his personal use. It was an abhorrent decision, which was only exemplified that by the time the referral was completed and the umpire about to confirm his dismissal, Kohli had already left the field. Just a complete shambles in every aspect. The problem of believing your own infallibility.
3. At 5/174 India was still in a position to push for a 250-300 score with Rahul at the crease and Ashwin, Saha and Jadeja capable of hanging around and scoring runs. But again the tail crumbled to spin, and with very little idea of what to do against it. Losing 5/15 to complete the innings was a triumph for Australia to once again restrict the Indian first innings to under 200.
4. While India's batsmen suddenly began treating Steven O'Keefe's bowling like hand grenades after his 12 wickets in Pune, Nathan Lyon reaped the rewards at the other end. There is no doubt he is bowling better here than he was in Australia. His line is much more off-stump heavy, and the extra pace he bowls at normally is helping him here whereas at home it is a hindrance. The overspinner especially is getting good bounce and natural spin on these wickets. Like O'Keefe in Pune, Lyon here just couldn't STOP getting wickets. They kept being handed to him, and once he got on that roll against the tail, he decimated them. Like SOK, this was the day Australia's supporters have been waiting for from Lyon. For all the talk of his GOAT (Greatest of all Time) status, he has rarely single-handedly taken control of a Test match for Australia. The second innings is yet to come, but perhaps we are finally seeing it. It was a wonderful display of off spin bowling on the first day.
5. Matthew Wade. Oh dear. Well, Brad Haddin told him before he went to India that it didn't matter how ugly he looked, he just had to get the job done. Four byes through his legs, a fumbled stumping off Lyon that he managed to recover from in time to get Rahane, and a neat stumping off O'Keefe to get Nair showed all aspects of those words. There is still no confidence in ANYONE about Wade's keeping. Except that now he is in the 'inner circle' of the team, he will be impossible to dismiss. We can only hope his batting is just as impregnable today.
6. Handscomb and Warner both dropped tough chances in the field, but neither proved too costly. Rahane dropped Warner last night in the sixth over before he had made double figures - he had to dive but got two hands to it. How costly will that chance be?

Australia start the second day at 0/40 chasing India's 189. What a huge day of Test cricket awaits us. The wicket is already staying low, with one ball Renshaw faced last night almost running along the ground. The ideal is obviously for Australia to not have to bat again, because chasing anything over 100 batting last could be a nightmare. The Australian batsmen will need to be cautiously positive, and not get bogged down. Steve Smith, with five lives at Pune, will need to ensure he doesn't give a sniff of a chance today as luck can only last so long.

Once again, though, Australian's can only exclaim... "How good is cricket!"