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After setting a target of less than 100 for Australia at the end of the second day of third Test in Indore, India pacer Umesh Yadav said that his side will go out with a positive approach on the third day since the sport is unpredictable and it is difficult to score runs on such a tough surface.
Nathan Lyon's eight-wicket haul helped Australia skittle out India for 163 runs in the second inning, leaving the visitors just 76 runs away from a win in the third Test here at the Holkar Cricket Stadium on Thursday. "We will go in with a positive approach. Cricket is unpredictable and the way the wicket is playing, you never know what may happen as it is difficult to score runs on this pitch. We will bowl tight and dry the runs. It is not a shot-making pitch, there are no easy runs here. So we will bowl well and see what happens," said Umesh in a press conference at the end of the day's play. On his spell of 3/12 in the first innings which caused a collapse in the Australian innings, Umesh said that the thinking was to attack and take wickets. Pitches in the subcontinent do help spinners more than it aids the fast bowlers but the mindset is always to get breakthroughs for the team even when it is just one wicket. I was talking with Siraj that if we get the chance to bowl we will look to get wickets as it helps the team. That is what I did," said Umesh. He remarked that taking wickets on such "lifeless" tracks gives immense satisfaction, is more gratifying and the sight of stumps cartwheeling is exciting. On his batting, Umesh said that he was looking to score runs for his side by playing his shots rather than defending for 20-odd balls. "My role as a batter out in the middle was to score runs. This wicket was difficult to score and hence I wanted to score runs by playing my shots rather than giving away my wicket defending the ball. So the thought process was to score runs. I tried to score runs for the team rather than play 20 oddballs and not score," said the bowler. India could only bat for 60.3 overs in the second innings of the third Test, with Pujara waging a lone battle for the hosts before a rampant Nathan Lyon took eight wickets for just 64 runs. The hosts resumed their innings on 79/4 after Tea with Cheteshwar Pujara on 36* and Shreyas Iyer still to open his account, trailing by 9 runs. India started the session positively with Iyer smashing a six while Pujara whipped the ball for a boundary off Matthew Kuhnemann in the second over after lunch. Iyer took the attack to the Aussie bowlers, putting them under pressure with aggressive shots turning the momentum towards the host. The right-hander clubbed Nathan Lyon for two consecutive boundaries and launched Kuhnemann for a thunderous six over mid-wicket and a boundary in the next over, bringing the Aussie bowlers under the pump. Pujara and Iyer were flourishing in the third session but Steve Smith brought Mitchell Starc into the attack after Kuhnemann leaked runs. The move worked wonders for the visitors as the pacer was able to get rid of Iyer. The right-hand batter played an aerial shot towards mid-wicket but Usman Khawaja pocketed a brilliant catch to draw curtains on the batter's innings. Iyer played a quick-fire cameo of 26 from 27 balls, stitching a 35 run-stand with Pujara for the fifth wicket. Srikar Bharat followed cheaply adding just three runs to the total. Lyon bowled a peach to beat the batter's outside edge and hit the top of the off-stump dismissing him for 3(8). Ravichandran Ashwin and Pujara did provide resilience to the visitor's rampant attack to stitch a 22-run-stand for the seventh wicket. India's crisis man Pujara brought up his half-century, waging a lone battle against the Aussie bowlers, holding up one end. However, the wickets continued to fumble and Ashwin fell to Lyon for 16(28). The wicket brought up the spinner's fifer in the second inning, reducing India to 140/7. A freak catch from Steve Smith saw the back of Pujara after a superb knock from the Saurashtra batter. The right-hander played a resilient knock of 59 runs. It was one-way traffic from thereon as the hosts lost their last two wickets inside eight runs. The Aussie bowlers bundled out the hosts for 163 runs, needing 76 runs in the second innings for the victory. Nathan Lyon registered his best figures in India scalping eight Indian batsmen and giving away just 64 runs. Earlier at Tea, India lost four wickets for 79 runs in second innings going into Tea trailing Australia by 9 runs with six wickets in hand here at the Holkar Cricket Stadium. Resuming post-lunch session at 13/0 India lost their first wicket in the form of opener Shubman Gill as the youngster was cleaned up by Nathan Lyon for 5. The hosts lost their first wicket for 15. Cheteshwar Pujara joined his skipper Rohit Sharma and the duo batted defensively but the other opener too became Lyon's victim dismissing his leg before wicket for 12 to leave India in a spot of bother at 32/2. Virat Kohli then joined Pujara and the duo helped India cross the 50-run mark but the 22-run partnership did not last long as Virat Kohli was dismissed by leg before wicket by Matthew Kuhnemann for 13. Ravindra Jadeja walked out to bat with his Saurashtra teammate Pujara and the duo batted consciously in order to reduce the deficit. But Lyon struck for the third time dismissing southpaw Jadeja leg before wicket for 7 to leave India tottering at 78/4. India went into Tea at 79/4 trailing Australia by 9 runs and six wickets in hand with Pujara batting on 36 and Shreyas Iyer batting on 0. Earlier resuming day-2 at 156/4 Australian batters Peter Handscomb and Cameron Green batted sensibly and took their team's first innings lead beyond the 50-run mark. The Handscomb-Green partnership was taking the game away from the hosts. They desperately needed a wicket and Ravichandran Ashwin did exactly that dismissing Handscomb caught in the short leg by Shreyas Iyer for 19 breaking the 40-run partnership at 186. Handscomb's wicket opened the floodgates for India as they ran through the Australian batting line-up. Pacer Umesh Yadav dismissed Cameron Green for 21 leg before wicket as Australia lost their sixth wicket for 188. The Nagpur lad struck again in his next over cleaning Mitchell Starc for 1. Starc became Umesh's 100th Test victim for Umesh on Indian soil. The pacer achieved this milestone in 31 matches to leave Australia tottering at 192/7. India struck again in the space of four balls as Ashwin dismissed Alex Carey leg before wicket for 3 to leave Australia at 196/8. Umesh Yadav looked unstoppable as he got his third wicket in the match dismissing Todd Murphy for a duck rattling his stumps to reduce Australia to 197/9. Ashwin cleaned up Australia's innings dismissing Nathan Lyon for 5 to bowl out visitors for 197 taking an 88-run lead in the first innings. Brief Scores: India: 109/10 in 33.2 overs in 1st inns (Virat Kohli 22, Shubman Gill 21, Matthew Kuhnemann 5-16), Australia: 197/10 in 76.3 overs in 1st inns (Usman Khawaja 60, Marnus Labuschagne 31, Ravindra Jadeja 4-78, Umesh Yadav 3-12, Ravichandran Ashwin 3-44); India 163 (Cheteshwar Pujara 59; Nathan Lyon 8-64). (ANI)
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