Indian bowlers toiled hard without success in the morning even as Australia consolidated their position in the second Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series at Perth on Monday.
Day 4's play started with Australia leading India by 175 runs, and by Lunch, the hosts have extended it to 233, with Usman Khawaja and Aussie captain Tim Paine adding 58 runs in the morning in their unbroken 70-run sixth-wicket stand.
Australia were 190/4 in their second innings.
The highlight of the session was Khawaja's fifty, his 14th in Test. But the actual cricket was overshadowed by the tussle between the two captains – Virat Kohli and Paine – with umpire Chris Gaffaney needing to intervene to stop the confrontation.
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At the break, Paine was batting on 37 not out while Khawaja was unbeaten on 67 runs after a session in which Australia scored 58 runs in 30 overs.
Starting from overnight 132/4, the two batsmen negotiated the first hour in a sedate manner. They didn’t look in any rush as only 19 runs came forth.
India started with their strike bowlers Jasprit Bumrah (1/36) and Mohammed Shami (2/30), but barring a close call for run-out if it had been a direct hit, the visitors never came close to taking a wicket.
Bumrah was pick of the bowlers once again, getting the ball to rear up from the length and beating the batsmen on many occasions, in particular, Khawaja. But the outside edge continued to elude him.
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The Aussie duo stepped up on the scoring rate a bit more in the second hour of the play, and added another 39 runs to the total. In doing so, Khawaja reached his 14th Test half-century off 156 balls, whilst taking the overall lead past the 200-run mark.
Then arrived the Kohli -Paine verbal dual which almost went physical.
Kohli rotated his bowlers well, with Ishant Sharma (1/39), Umesh Yadav (0/51) and Hanuma Vihari (0/31) giving the requisite control.
Australia’s scoring rate came down to 1.93 per over for the session, and 2.44 per over for the entire innings as the pitch continued to pose riddles.
Earlier, the Australian team management had confirmed that opener Aaron Finch is fit enough to bat again in this second innings. He had retired hurt in the final session on day three, on 25 not out, after being hit by Shami in the 13th over.
Australia had scored 326 runs in their first innings, and India replied with 283 runs, thanks to Kohli’s 25th Test hundred, thus conceding a lead of 43 runs.
India lead the four-match series 1-0 after winning the first Test in Adelaide by 31 runs.
Brief scores: 326 and 190/4 in 78 overs (Khawaja 67 batting, Paine 37 batting; Shami 2/30).
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(With PTI inputs)
