Ind vs Aus 2nd Test | India 14/1 at lunch on Day 3, need 101 more runs to win

Ravindra Jadeja took 7/42 to put India on cusp of another big win

Australian batters paid the price for some atrocious shot selection as Ravindra Jadeja’s career-best figures of 7 for 42 put India on verge of another big victory on day three of the second Test here on Sunday.

Starting the day at 61 for 1, Jadeja’s arm balls became a lethal weapon as Australia were bowled out for 113 inside the first session, leaving India with a paltry victory target of 115-run target to go 2-0 up in the series and also retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Any team that wins the previous Border-Gavaskar series needs to draw the next series to retain the trophy. Australia lost nine wickets for only 52 runs and it was not the pitch but the messed up minds that led to their downfall for the second time in the series.

At lunch, India were 14 for 1 with out-of-form KL Rahul (1) once again being dismissed cheaply.

As many as five Australian batters went for the ugly slog sweep and some tried non-existent reverse sweep off deliveries bowled on either off-middle or leg-middle line. They were either bowled or leg before in the process as the deliveries started keeping low.

Ravichandran Ashwin (3/59) also played the supporting act to perfection as eight Australian batters failed to reach double figures save overnight pair of Travis Head (45) and Marnus Labschagne (35), who had briefly counter-attacked last evening with some degree of success.

But it all changed in the morning session once Head got an off-break from Ashwin and the edge was picked up by Kona Bharat behind the stumps.