India showcased a decent performance after bowling out Australia for 253 on the third day of the first Test at the Adelaide Oval. They amassed 86 runs at a loss of 2 wickets, taking a 101-run lead in the second innings. At the time of tea break, skipper Virat Kohli was batting on 2 while Cheteshwar Pujara remained unbeaten on 11.
Unlike their previous outing with the bat, the Indian opening duo – KL Rahul and Murali Vijay – went off to a promising start. They brought up 50-plus run partnership for the opening wicket for the first time on foreign soil. They both added 63 runs before Murali repeated the mistake he committed in the first innings and was dismissed by Mitchell Starc off a length and wider delivery. He ended up scoring 18 off 53.
Cheteshwar Pujara was the next man who came to bat at number 3. He joined Rahul who had already troubled the Australian bowlers since the beginning of this session. They continued the innings ahead patiently and added another 13 runs to the total.
Meanwhile, Pujara survived a scare in the 24th over, after getting beaten by one Nathan Lyon’s deliveries. The Aussies loudly appealed and umpire Nigel Llong gave it out immediately. However, the snicko showed no disturbance and thus, the decision was overturned.
India may have survived succumbing to another lost but the next over witnessed the end of Rahul on 44. He tried to hit Hazlewood over mid-off on the up, but the ball moved away to take the edge through to Paine.
Skipper Virat Kohli was the next man in and brought the 100-run lead for India in the second innings.
Earlier, replying to India's first-innings total of 250, Australia were all out for 235 to give the visitors a 15-run lead before they started their second innings at the Adelaide Oval.
The start of the day's play was delayed due to rain, which also interrupted proceedings before lunch.
Brief scores:
India: 250 and 86/2 in 29 overs (K L Rahul 44)
Australia 1st innings: 235 all out in 98.4 overs (Travis Head 72; Jasprit Bumrah 3/47, Ravichandran Ashwin 3/57)