Twitter Reactions: Australia on cusp of memorable victory after Nathan Lyon’s masterclass in Indore

Nathan Lyon. (Photo Source: BCCI)

Australia are on the verge of making a spectacular comeback in the series after another dominant day in the field in the ongoing thrid Test in Indore. The tourists need just 76 runs to win the match with three days still left in the Indore Test. Nathan Lyon has been Australia’s main man, returning with a stunning eight-for in the third innings of the match.

The day started with Australia keeping the Indian bowlers at bay in the first hour of play. Both Cameron Green and Peter Handscomb were frustrating the Indian bowlers before the introduction of Ravichandran Ashwin in the attack. The veteran spinner struck in his very second over of the day, ending Handscomb’s dogged stay at the crease.

Rohit Sharma’s decision to bring Umesh Yadav into the bowling attack proved to be a masterstroke as the veteran pacer put on a masterclass of reverse swing in a fiery spell. He trapped the well-set Green in front of the wicket for his first wicket in the match to peg back the tourists. Ashwin dismissed Alex Caey from the other end to become India’s third highest wicket-taker across formats.

The Indian pacer, who recently lost his father, produced an absolute ripper to send Mitchell Starc’s off stump for a walk in his next over. He dismissed Todd Murphy with another peach of a delivery to halt Australia’s progress in the match. Ashwin finished the clean-up job after rattling Nathan Lyon’s stumps as Australia lost their last six wickets for just 11 runs.

Australia on top despite Cheteshwar Pujara’s fighting half-century

Despite dismissing the Australian batters cheaply in the first session, India had a mountain to climb in the Test match as the tourists had managed a sizable first-innings lead. Nathan Lyon dismissed both the Indian openers after the Lunch break as Australia started the second session on the front foot.

Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara steadied the ship for the home side before Kohli played all around a delivery from Matthew Kuhnemann. Ravindra Jadeja’s promotion in the batting order did not work either as the southpaw was dismissed for a single-digit score for a second time in the match.

However, a brisk cameo from Shreyas Iyer threatened to take the game away from the Aussies. But the Australians were relentless in the field as Usman Khawaja grabbed a terrific catch to end Iyer’s dangerous innings. Meanwhile, Cheteshwar Pujara dug deep from the other end, compiling a stubborn half-century on a treacherous batting surface.

India’s hopes of setting a competitive target for the tourists was shattered when Steve Smith took a one-handed stunner to bring an end to Pujara’s defiant knock. Nathan Lyon returned with mind-boggling figures of 8/64, his second eight-for against the Asian outfit in their own backyard, to restrict the Indian innings to 163 runs.

Here is how Twitter reacted to another dominating performance by the Aussies: