India ended the post Lunch session on 359 for 5 and stretched their lead to a massive 405 runs on Day 3 of the first Test in Perth. Despite the hosts picking up four wickets at regular intervals, Yashasvi Jaiswal added 20 more runs to his personal tally while Virat Kohli is on 40 not out. The cracks did slightly come into play during the session due to the 35 degree heat as a couple of deliveries kept low and Nathan Lyon got some turn off the deck as well.
Josh Hazlewood, who had figures of 16-6-22-0, finally had luck on his side as Devdutt Padikkal was caught behind on the first ball after Lunch. Kohli, the new batter, looked a lot calmer while batting and stood a bit further back near the batting crease in comparison to the first innings. He showcased his skill with some crisp drives down the ground and through the offside.
In similar fashion to the first session, Jaiswal survived a second run-out chance as Head missed the stumps with a wayward throw while the batters were scampering across the pitch. He then punched Starc down the ground for four before a single took him to 150, Astonishingly, Jaiswal has always converted his 100 into a 150 score. He then awkwardly clipped Pat Cummins for four at fine-leg before driving the bowler through the offside for another boundary. Jaiswal’s terrific knock came to an end when he found the point fielder after throwing his hands at a loose delivery by Mitchell Marsh.
Australia slowly fought themselves back into the match as Rishabh Pant and Dhruv Jurel then fell in back-to-back overs for one each. Pant had charged Marsh first ball but missed a big heave. The witty Lyon bowled one wide as he expected Pant to charge forward again, which he did, and allowed Carey to quickly whip the bails off the stumps. Jurel was given LBW off Cummins, and DRS went on to show that the ball was just clipping the stumps.
Kohli and Washington Sundar put on an unbeaten 38-run partnership until Tea, with the former looking good as he middled the ball when he defended while leaving any delivery outside the off-stump rather than feeling for it. He also upper cut Starc for six over backward point while Washington hit a full delivery by Head inside-out over cover for another maximum. Kohli and Washington managed to bat out the rest of the session leaving India in pole position.
Earlier, Jaiswal brought up his fourth Test hundred and his third this calendar year as the Australians looked toothless against the likes of him, KL Rahul and Padikkal. Rahul was the only wicket to fall in the first session, caught behind off Starc for 77.
Brief Scores: India 150 and 359/5 (Yashasvi Jaiswal 161, KL Rahul 77; Josh Hazlewood 1-28) lead Australia 104 (Mitchell Starc 26, Alex Carey 21; Jasprit Bumrah 5-30) by 405 runs