Jaiswal, Kohli put India in winning position

PERTH: Virat Kohli brought all his technical expertise into play while dealing with vagaries of variable bounce during his 30th hundred after heir apparent Yashasvi Jaiswal’s classy 161 put India in sight of a remarkable Test victory against a nervous and fumbling Australia here on Sunday.

The Indians dominated the third day to first set an improbable 534-run target for the host before reducing it to 12/3 at close of play.

Once Kohli reached an unprecedented seventh Test century Down Under, Indian skipper Jasprit Bumrah declared at 487 for 6 with five overs to go flat out.

The skipper then immediately disposed of debutant Nathan McSweeney (0) and Marnus Labuschagne (3), both of whom got balls that kept perilously low.

The nervousness was palpable when rival captain Pat Cummins walked in as the night-watchman and the decision proved to be a not so wise one.

The match would be memorable for many reasons and one of them would be the exhibition of top quality batsmanship by the ‘King’ and ‘Prince’ of current India batting but in contrasting conditions and different match situations.

Jaiswal built a fascinating structure with care and Kohli (100 not out, 143 balls) polished it and put a beautiful coat of paint while throwing caution to the wind while reaching the landmark.

The 22-year-old Jaiswal, on Sunday, emerged as the unofficial flag-bearer of Indian batting for the next decade and a half during his 297-ball stay at the wicket, giving a glimpse of his ever-improving technique and composed temperament.

But it was veteran Kohli, who showed how to play on a wicket that consistently misbehaved during his second hundred at the Perth Stadium and 30th overall, which incidentally took him past Sir Don Bradman’s 29 Test tons.

There were deliveries that simply didn’t bounce. One from Mitchell Starc was upper cut for six over backward point while the shot of the day was an on drive off Cummins.

When Nathan Lyon started turning the ball square, he either got a big stride forward or brought the sweep shot, which he doesn’t play often, out of his closet. His hundred, in fact, came off a sweep.

The straight six off Lyon with the turn was exhilarating as young Nitish Reddy (38 not out off 27 balls) only enhanced his reputation with some muscular IPL-like strokes that took India past the 500-run mark.

Before Kohli took charge, Jaiswal, just a month short of his 23rd birthday, notched up a classic fourth century in Tests. The knock has provided his skipper Bumrah with enough ammunition to exploit the treacherous bounce that is starting to trouble batters.

The post-lunch session turned out to be the most productive one for Australia since the opening day as India, starting the session at 275 for 1, slumped to 321 for 5 but by then, the lead was well past the 360-run mark and it didn’t hurt the team much.

Brief scores: India 150 & 487/6 decl. In 134.3 overs (Y Jaiswal 161, V Kohli 100*, KL Rahul 77) vs Australia 104 & 12/3 in 4.2 overs