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Posted: 2017-03-04 11:08:45

Updated March 04, 2017 23:00:39

Nathan Lyon has produced a brilliant spin bowling performance to put Australia in a dominant position against India on day one of the second Test in Bangalore.

The hosts won the toss and elected to bat on what looked like a road of a pitch, but were bundled out for 189 after tea as Lyon took an incredible 8-50.

The figures were the sixth-best ever for an Australian bowler and amid the carnage, Lyon became Australia's leading wicket-taker against India.

The tweaker, who bowled well in Pune only to be overshadowed by a rampant Steve O'Keefe, found the Bangalore pitch very much suited to his particular style of offspin.

India's talisman, Virat Kohli, clearly had no idea what Lyon was doing with the ball, as he found himself dismissed LBW after shouldering arms to a delivery which failed to turn as much as he expected.

It was the second time in as many Tests Kohli had not played a shot to a ball that was heading straight for the stumps, raising questions about his mindset in this high-pressure series.

Australia's openers Matt Renshaw and David Warner showed great composure to survive the remainder of the final session against a mixture of spin and seam from the Indian attack.

With the crowd initially roaring at every play and miss, the two left-handers took the heat out of the situation with some sensible, controlled batting.

At stumps Warner was unbeaten on 22 and Renshaw remained on 15, with Australia 0-40, trailing by 149.

Lyon's wicked topspin ensured the Indian batsmen never knew whether the ball was going to kick up off the pitch, stay low or jag in wickedly.

Lokesh Rahul was the only Indian batsman to offer any long-term resistance, scoring a stubborn 90 from 205 deliveries before eventually falling to, you guessed it, Lyon when trying to squeeze more runs as his partners fell around him.

With India electing to bat first, it was Mitchell Starc (1-39) who made the initial breakthrough, claiming the wicket of Abhinav Mukund, leg before wicket, for a duck.

O'Keefe (1-40) was the only other Australian apart from Lyon to claim a wicket, snaring the dangerous-looking Karun Nair for 26 with a routine Matthew Wade stumping.

That followed on from another Wade stumping which was anything but routine. Lyon skidded a ball wide of off stump with Ajinkya Rahane caught all at sea, and the Australian keeper dropped the ball before recovering to sweep the stumps down before the batsman could get back.

Lyon had three wickets by the tea break, but was far from done, claiming all five remaining scalps to record his best-ever figures.

Topics: cricket, sport, india, australia

First posted March 04, 2017 22:08:45

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