Chasing a target of 287 runs in the fourth and final innings, India ended the fourth day of the second Test here on 112/5, requiring another 175 runs to register a victory and go 2-0 in the four-match Test series against Australia.
The visitors had a dreadful start as they lost their opener KL Rahul for a duck in the first over by Mitchell Starc. As Rahul tried to leave the ball, it found the toe end of the bat and crashed on to the stumps.
Australia were convincingly in command as Cheteshwar Pujara (4) too, became a victim for the hosts as he edged behind a superb Josh Hazlewood delivery to give a simple catch to wicketkeeper Tim Paine.
Following an early blow to India, Virat Kohli and Murali Vijay tried to steady the innings with a 35-run partnership. However, Nathan Lyon broke the building momentum by scalping the big wicket of the Indian skipper for 17 runs.
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The Australian off-spinner picked up another wicket in consecutive overs putting India on the back foot again. As Vijay went for the front foot drive, the ball did not get forward enough and he went back to pavilion after adding 20 runs to India’s tally.
On a surface with plenty of cracks leading to uneven bounce, Ajinkya Rahane and Hanuma Vihari stitched together a 43-run stand for the fifth wicket. Just when the partnership seemed solid and started to build, Hazlewood pinned Rahane (30), when the latter played a poor shot and gave a simple catch to Travis Head.
With a mountain to climb, Vihari and keeper-batsman Rishabh Pant remained unbeaten on 24 and nine runs respectively.
With just five wickets in the bag, India posted 112 runs at stumps and have a tough task, as they need another 175 runs for a victory on the fifth day.