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Skipper Rohit Sharma converted his fifty into a much-needed century to put India in a comfortable position after Todd Murphy rattled India's top batting order on the Day 2 of the first Test against Australia in Border-Gavaskar Trophy here at Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium here on Friday.
At the time of Tea, India's score read 226/5 in 80 overs with Rohit Sharma leading Team India from the front with a magnificent century while Ravindra Jadeja (34) was unbeaten at the crease. Resuming the second session at a score of 151/3, India got off to a bad start. Todd Murphy hit the deck hard and provided his team with a massive breakthrough on the first ball after the lunch break as he removed Virat Kohli for 12. Debutant Murphy bagged his fourth wicket. The right-handed batter and debutant Suryakumar Yadav then came out to bat at the crease. Suryakumar brought out the sweep shot against Murphy to send the ball to the backward square leg region for a four. Rohit Sharma kept holding one end tight and scored boundaries regularly. Nathan Lyon then joined the wicket-taking party as he bowled a stunner to dismiss debutant Suryakumar for 8 runs, leaving India in a vulnerable position of 168/5 in the 60th over of the game. With this wicket, Lyon brought Australia back into the game. India's star all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja then walked out to bat. With a solid four over the in-field, Rohit brought up his much-needed century in testing conditions in 171 deliveries. This was the 9th Test hundred for the India skipper. The duo of Jadeja and Rohit slammed Australian bowlers all around the ground while bagging singles at regular intervals to keep India in command. The star all-rounder and India skipper stitched up the much-needed partnership of 55 off 107 deliveries in the 77th over of the game. India's lead started to grow gradually as Rohit and Jadeja guided India to 49 runs lead over the visitors at the time of tea. Brief Scores: Australia: 174/8 (Marnus Labuschagne 47, Alex Carey 36; Ravindra Jadeja 5-47) vs India 77/1 (Rohit Sharma 118*, Ravindra Jadeja 34*; Todd Murphy 4-59). (ANI)
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