Nathan's career-best 8-50 helps Australia bundle out India for 189; visitors 40-0 at stumps on Day One
Australia skipper Steve Smith (right) applauds as Nathan Lyon acknowledges the crowd after claiming his fifth wicket (Wriddhiman Saha) on Day 1 of the second Test against India in Bangalore on Saturday. Pic/PTI
Bangalore: Want to trigger an Indian batting collapse? Prepare a turner. That perhaps is the word now on the grounds around the cricketing world. If it was Steve O'Keefe who did the damage in Pune, it was Nathan Lyon who roared at the Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Saturday. The unassuming offie returned incredible figures of 8 for 50 to leave the hosts floundering yet again.
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There is no law in cricket which says the ball must not turn on Day One, but neither is there a law that as and when it does spin you must get into a tangle. But that's exactly what the Indians did, not even the additional batsman that they opted for in place of a spinner, making any difference to the outcome as didn't the fact that this time around they were batting first.
India skipper Virat Kohli is dejected after being dismissed for 12 in Bangalore on Saturday
It was a complete disaster as batsmen got out to balls that turned and ones that didn't. At times, they were undone by the bounce, other times, they wandered out of the crease as if in a maze. Worse their skipper Virat Kohli once again offered no shot. He was bowled by O'Keefe doing so in Pune. Here, he decided not to use the bat against Lyon but even the DRS could not save him.
Rahul stands tall
Only one man stood tall, he had done so in Pune too but like then, he eventually threw it away after some trouble with his shoulder. KL Rahul was like the boy that stood on the burning deck. Having walked out with a new opening partner in Abhinav Mukund after regular opener Murali Vijay had pulled out with a troublesome shoulder, apparently an injury sustained while fielding in Pune, Rahul all but carried his bat, his invaluable 90 being just a little less half the Indian total.
Luck on Rahul's side
It was not a typical flamboyant innings from the Karnataka lad. Instead, it was all about grit. Yes, he was dropped on 30 and again almost gave it away on 61, but before and after it was a really determined effort. Rahul had copped a lot of criticism after holing out in the first innings in Pune and triggering a collapse that they are yet to recover from and he strove to put it behind him. Mitchell Starc tested him initially, O'Keefe continued to trouble him and for some strange reason, he played away from his body far too often against the off-spin from Lyon. Sheer mental strength helped Rahul cope.
For some time, another man from Bangalore, Karun Nair, showed similar resolve and perhaps better technique against spin, but otherwise it was a lone battle waged.
8-50 Nathan Lyon’s Saturday's figures are the best by a visiting bowler in Tests in India, outstripping 8-64 by South Africa's Lance Klusener at Kolkata in November 1996.
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