Australia v India: Rohit Sharma wicket leaves hosts on top

Australia v India, Brisbane (day two)
Australia 369: Labuschagne 108, Paine 50; Natarajan 3-78, Sundar 3-89
India 62-2: Rohit 44; Lyon 1-10
India trail by 307 runs
Scorecard

Australia remain on top after a rain-shortened second day of the decisive fourth Test against India in Brisbane.

India made a positive start in reply, reaching 60-1, but Rohit Sharma fell to Nathan Lyon for 44.

The tourists were 62-2 at tea and heavy rain meant there was no further play after the interval.

Australia remain favourites to win the Test and take the series 2-1, but any time lost favours India’s hopes of a draw.

They only need to avoid defeat in order to retain the Border-Gavaskar trophy.

Rohit wicket leaves Australia on top

Only 54.2 overs were possible in the day but there was enough time for the momentum to swing from one side to the other before eventually ending tilted towards Australia.

The home side began in the ascendancy as Paine and Green took the total beyond 300 – and their partnership to 98 – but they fell in consecutive overs as India hit back.

Paine edged an expansive drive to second slip and Green was bowled by off-spinner Washington Sundar.

But rather than quickly polish off the lower order, India’s inexperienced attack were frustrated as the last three batsmen – Mitchell Starc, Lyon and Josh Hazlewood – added 55 between them.

Australia took a tighter grip on the game by dismissing opener Shubman Gill early – he edged Pat Cummins to second slip for seven – but when the stylish Rohit was moving serenely towards the half-century mark, India looked in little trouble.

Rohit contributed 40 to of a partnership of 49 with Cheteshwar Pujara before coming down the pitch ad chipping to deep mid-on to gift Lyon the first wicket of his 100th Test.

‘We lacked that killer edge’ – reaction

Former Australia bowler Stuart Clark on ABC: “Australia are in front but not by a massive margin.

“Rohit was so comfortable and India have a long tail. They don’t have the luxury of Jadeja (injured all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja). They don’t have the strength in batting to give away wickets like that.”

Australia assistant coach Matthew Mott: “It was a pretty frustrating finish. Both teams bowled extremely well.

“We made a bit of an ‘in-between’ total. We can’t hide the fact we would have liked a four at the front of the total. We just lacked that killer edge.”

Former Australia women’s spinner Kristen Beams: “It was really good Test cricket. Both teams will say they had chance to nail the other team and didn’t quite do it. India started to get on top before his wicket was thrown away by Rohit.”