Usman Khawaja of Australia stated that batting has been difficult in the Indore Test and that the pitch in the third Border Gavaskar Trophy Test will not be any easier.
The first day of the Test at the Holkar Cricket Stadium saw 14 wickets fall. Australia is leading by 47 runs with six wickets remaining in their first innings, according to Steve Smith.
After opting to bat first team India was bowled out for 109 runs by Australia in the third Test match that is being played at Indore. The first two sessions was a nightmare for the Indian cricket team. Only the toss was in favour of the host. Australian spinners took all the wickets of India.
Spinners namely Nathan Lyon, Matthew Kuhnemann, and Todd Murphy were exceptional in the first two sessions. Virat Kohli was the top scorer for India in the first innings who scored 22 runs. He was dismissed by Todd Murphy who took a single wicket in the innings.
“I played to my plans, tried to score when there was an opportunity and kept out the good balls. Not rocket science, honestly. Not an easy wicket out there. Spin-friendly wicket, it felt tough the whole time and I don’t expect it to get better,” Khawaja was quoted as saying after close of play on Day 1.
Nathan Lyon took 3 whereas Matthew Kuhnemann took a fifer in this innings. It was an amazing play from the Australian side who are trailing this 4-match Test series by 2-0.
Australian side will be eyeing a win in this third game after performing superbly in the first innings.
“I used the sweep intermittently when I needed to today, did the similar thing last week. It’s just another arsenal in your repertoire. It’s hard enough out there, bowler keeps you guessing, I was trying to keep them guessing too. It was a bit of a cat and mouse,” he added.
Khawaja was the main reason Australia finished the first day with a lead. The left-handed batter scored 60 runs off 147 balls, including four fours, before being dismissed by left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja.
