India inched closer to sealing a historic Test win at Adelaide thanks to bowlers, who have once again exposed the chinks in Australian batting line-up leaving the hosts tottering at 104 for 4 in pursuit of a tough target of 323 on the fourth day of the first Test at Adelaide on Sunday.
With 219 runs required on a fifth-day track, it will be a huge ask for the Australian lower-order batsmen to counter a buoyant Indian bowling attack. Ravichandran Ashwin (2/44 in 19 overs) and Mohammed Shami (2/15 in 9 overs) were impressive during the final session as Australia lost three wickets in Marcus Harris (26), Usman Khawaja (8) and Peter Handscomb (14).
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At end of the play, Shaun Marsh was unbeaten on 31 runs (92 balls) while Travis Head was batting on 11 not out (37 balls).
Here's a look at Day 4 statistical highlights:
- Cheteshwar Pujara becomes 4th Indian to face 200 and more deliveries in both the innings of an away Test match, after Vijay Hazare (vs Australia, Adelaide, 1948), MAK Pataudi (vs England, Leeds, 1967) and Rahul Dravid (vs New Zealand, Napier, 2009)
- The last player to do so in Australia was South African Peter Kirsten, also at Adelaide, in 1994.
- India hit nine sixes in the match, which is the joint highest for them in an away Test. in 2006, India hit nine maximums against Pakistan at Faisalabad. They have also done it against England at The Oval in 2007 and Sri Lanka in Colombo last year.
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- Nathan Lyon has had five India batsmen dismissed more times in their respective Test careers: Cheteshwar Pujara (8), Ajinkya Rahane (7), Virat Kohli (6), Ishant Sharma (6) and Rohit Sharma (5).
- Lyon's has taken 25 wickets in three Test against India at Adelaide, which is third most against India at a venue, Muttiah Muralitharan (29 at SSC, Colombo) and James Anderson (28 at Lord’s).
- Also, Muralitharan at SSC, Colombo and Lyon at Adelaide are the only spinners with three five-wicket hauls against India at a venue.
