O’Keefe sends India into a spin

The home team lost seven wickets in the space of 11 runs to be bowled out for a pathetic 105, handing the momentum to the Australians, who had themselves folded for an underwhelming 260 here. 

With a 155-run cushion on a square turner, Australia pressed home the advantage by finishing the day at 143/4 in their second innings, grabbing a lead of 298 runs on just the second day of the match. 

India’s dramatic batting meltdown has left Steve Smith’s men well-placed to end the hosts’ fairytale 19-match winning streak. If the shambolic batting was not enough, India ended up dropping several catches, three of Smith alone after R Ashwin had provided early breakthroughs in the Australian second innings.

At stumps, Smith was leading from front with an unbeaten 59-run knock and giving him company was Mitchell Marsh (21). The day, however, belonged solely to O’Keefe, who single-handedly decimated the famed Indian line-up to snare 6 wickets for 35 runs in 13.1 overs. 

Opener K L Rahul was the lone Indian batsman to pull off an innings of substance as he struck 64 off 97 balls, laced with 10 fours and a six. It was a sensational postlunch spell by Malaysia-born O’Keefe, who was playing only his fifth Test. His six wickets came off just 24 balls. 

Ravichandran Ashwin took out openers David Warner (10) and Shaun Marsh (0) cheaply during Australia’s second essay but Smith steered the visitors to a position of strength. For India Ashwin had figures of 3 for 68 while Jayant Yadav finished the day with 1 for 27. With six wickets in hand Australia will now fancy their chances of putting the target beyond India on Saturday and clinching the match on a pitch that appears to be crumbling.