(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Off-spinner Nathan Lyon claimed career-best figures of eight for 50 to help Australia bundle out India for 189 on the first day of the second Test at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium yesterday.
It was the third batting meltdown in a row for the hosts, who were dismissed for 105 and 107 in the opening Test in Pune during a 333-run loss inside three days. India had posted three consecutive totals of 600-plus before this series.
In a 16-over spell either side of lunch, Lyon dismissed Cheteshwar Pujara, India skipper Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane on a pitch that had offered extra bounce and turn for the slow bowlers.
The 29-year-old returned for his second spell after tea and added five more wickets to finish with the best figures by a visiting bowler in India, eclipsing former South African pacer Lance Klusener's show of 8-64 at Kolkata in 1996.
Australia openers David Warner and Matt Renshaw then piled on the misery by staying unbeaten on 23 and 15 respectively to take their side to 40 without loss at the close. Warner was dropped on nine by Rahane at gully off paceman Ishant Sharma to complete a wretched day for the world's top-ranked Test side.
Kohli made a good start when he won the toss and opted to bat but paceman Mitchell Starc soon had the hosts on the back foot when he dismissed Abhinav Mukund, a replacement for injured Murali Vijay, in the third over. Playing his first Test in almost six years, Mukund's scoreless innings lasted eight deliveries with the left-handed batsman missing a full toss from Starc to be given out lbw.
Australia captain Steve Smith waited seven overs before handing the ball to left-arm spinner Steve O'Keefe, whose 12-wicket haul in Pune helped the tourists cruise to victory. O'Keefe should have captured Rahul's wicket but Peter Handscomb dropped a low chance to his left at short cover to reprieve the batsman on 30.
Rahul played some loose shots but also entertained the sizeable crowd with crisply driven boundaries in his 90. He was dropped again on 61 by Warner at leg slip off Lyon.
Pujara rarely looked troubled in his innings of 17 before he got an inside edge off Lyon on to his pads and this time Handscomb held on to the catch at short leg to end a 61-run second-wicket stand.
Kohli started strongly with two cover driven fours but he was given out lbw for 12 without playing a shot to a straight delivery and his attempt to overturn the decision on review proved futile.
Rahane was out for 17, stumped by Matthew Wade while Karun Nair, who replaced spin bowling all-rounder Jayant Yadav in the Indian team, fell for 26 in similar fashion to O'Keefe.
India lost their last five wickets for 15 runs — all to Lyon — including that of Rahul, who holed out trying to hit a big shot in his quest to get to his hundred.
Lyon said he studied Ravichandran Ashwin to excel in Indian conditions. 'Obviously I have studied a lot of what (Indian off-spinner) Ashwin does very well over here. He is the best spinner in the world and if I can learn off him then so good, Lyon told reporters.
'It's finally very satisfying to get some rewards for the hard work that you put in, added Lyon, also giving credit to former Victoria wicketkeeper Darren Berry and Australia spin consultant John Davison, with whom he has worked at different phases during his career.
This was the third successive time in the four-match series that the world's number one Test side failed as a batting unit after they scored 105 and 107 during their opening loss.
But the pitch in Bangalore, which has an average first innings score of 451 in the last seven Tests, seemed to have no demons like the turning track in Pune that was rated poor by the match referee.
'Interesting wicket. It's what we expected over here. We knew we weren't going to have much grass on the wicket, said Lyon, who bettered his previous best of 7-94 at Delhi in 2013. 'I didn't expect so many cracks on day one but they're there. I'll reassess the wicket after both teams bat on it, he added.
Indian skipper Kohli, who had a rare flop in Pune with scores of 0 and 13, faltered again after choosing to pad up Lyon's off-spin that headed straight onto the stumps and was adjudged lbw.
Kohli, who was bowled by left-arm spinner O'Keefe in the second innings of the first Test in Pune, wasted a review as the replays agreed with the umpire's call and the star batsman walked back with pin drop silence at the ground.
'He is one of the best players in the world. To take his wicket today was exceptional but we know it's a long series. We expect him to bounce back, said Lyon.
Indian opener Rahul, who survived two dropped catches on 30 and 61 at his home venue, did grind his way against the Aussie attack but got little support from the other end. Rahul, who recorded his third Test fifty in his 15th match, injured his shoulder during an ugly slog against O'Keefe in the latter part of his innings.
Rahul's 61-run second wicket stand with Pujara (17) seemed to be the only bit of resistance in the Indian batting. Karun Nair also contributed with 26. 'Like I said, the cracks are opening up and it's only getting harder to bat on this wicket, said Rahul of the Bangalore track.
Rahul also backed Ashwin to come back hard against the Australian batsmen on the second day. 'We know Ash (Ashwin) is a top class bowler and once he gets a couple of wickets and gets into that rhythm then he is going to run through the Australian batting line-up, which we are very confident of, he said.
Scoreboard
India (1st innings)
L Rahul c Renshaw b Lyon 90
A Mukund lbw Starc 0
C Pujara c Handscomb b Lyon 17
V Kohli lbw Lyon 12
A Rahane st Wade b Lyon 17
K Nair st Wade b O'Keefe 26
R Ashwin c Warner b Lyon 7
W Saha c Smith b Lyon 1
R Jadeja c Smith b Lyon 3
U Yadav (not out) 0
I Sharma c Handscomb b Lyon 0
Extras (b-12, lb-4) 16
Total (all out, 71.2 overs) 189
Fall of wickets: 1-11 (Mukund), 2-72 (Pujara), 3-88 (Kohli), 4-118 (Rahane), 5-156 (Nair), 6-174 (Ashwin), 7-178 (Saha), 8-188 (Jadeja), 9-189 (Rahul), 10-189 (Sharma)
Bowling: Starc 15-5-39-1, Hazlewood 11-2-42-0, O'Keefe 21-5-40-1, M Marsh 2-0-2-0, Lyon 22.2-4-50-8
Australia (1st innings)
D Warner (batting) 23
M Renshaw (batting) 15
Extras (nb-2) 2
Total (no loss, 16 overs) 40
Bowling: Sharma 5-0-8-0 (1nb), Yadav 4-1-16-0 (1nb), Ashwin 6-0-11-0, Jadeja 1-0-5-0
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