Melbourne: India counter punched their way back into the third Test on the back of centuries from Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane in a record stand at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday.Kohli savaged the Australian bowlers, particularly Mitchell Johnson, for his third ton of the series, while Rahane hit his highest Test score of 147.
The pair piled on 262 runs for the fourth wicket, a record for the fourth wicket by any pair at the MCG. It eclipsed Michael Clarke and Shane Watson’s 194 against Sri Lanka two years ago.
Kohli was out in the last over of the day, brilliantly snapped up by Brad Haddin off Johnson for 169 in 380 minutes off 272 balls with 18 fours.At the close India were 462 for eight, trailing by 68 runs with two days remaining. Mohammed Shami was nine not out.
The last time India put on a 250-plus stand in an overseas Test was the 353 by Sachin Tendulkar and V.V.S. Laxman for the fourth wicket in Sydney in 2004. Rahane was finally out leg before wicket to Nathan Lyon for 147 in the 108th over. He batted for four hours and faced 171 balls with 21 fours. The pair were particularly severe on Johnson, with Kohli crunching three fours off one over and Rahane repeating the dose in Johnson’s subsequent over.
The last time Johnson (1 for 133) had been punished as severely was 0-104 against England at the Gabba in 2010.Rahane raised his highest Test score with a cross-bat four off Johnson, bettering his 118 against New Zealand in Wellington in February. India’s cause was aided by a poor day in the field for Australia, with three drop ped catches.
Lyon bungled a regulation two-handed head-high chance off his own bowling when Rahane was on 70 and Watson put down Kohli (88) at first slip off Johnson. Substitute fielder Peter Siddle made it three with a dropped two-handed chance off Lokesh Rahul. But the debutant was out off Lyon’s next ball, caught by Josh Hazlewood for three.
Scorecard
Australia (1st innings): 530
India (1st innings): M. Vijay c Marsh b Watson 68, S. Dhawan c Smith b Harris 28, C. Pujara c Haddin b Harris 25, V. Kohli c Haddin b Johnson 169, A. Rahane lbw b Lyon 147, L. Rahul c Hazlewood b Lyon 3, M. Dhoni c Haddin b Harris 11, R. Ashwin c and b Harris 0, M. Shami (batting) 9. Extras (lb1, w1) 2. Total (for eight wickets in 126.2 overs) 462.
FoW: 1-55, 2-108, 3-147, 4-409, 5-415, 6-430, 7-434, 8-462.
Bowling: Johnson 29.2-5-133-1, Harris 25-7-69-4, Hazlewood 25-6-75-0, Watson 16-3-65-1, Lyon 29-3-108-2, Smith 2-0-11-0
