Who would have thought that an off-spinner would have bowled Australia to a Test match victory against India going into the Commonwealth Bank Series. Such a rare feat was achieved at the Adelaide Oval by its former groundsman Nathan Lyon! With figures of 5 for 134 and 7 for 152, Nathan Lyon spun the Aussies to a narrow 48-run victory besides proving his critics wrong who strongly think that he wasn’t a match winner.
Above photo: ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA – DECEMBER 13: Nathan Lyon of Australia celebrates after taking the final wicket of Ishant Sharma of India to claim victory during day five of the First Test match between Australia and India at Adelaide Oval on December 13, 2014 in Adelaide, Australia. (Photo by Ryan Pierse – CA/Cricket Australia/Getty Images)
It was a surprise for the Indian fans as they would have expected their team to be bounced out by the likes of Mitchell Johnson and Ryan Harris. But to go down to Nathan Lyon was quite unimaginable atleast at the start of the Test match. Ofcourse, this young Indian side is showing that they are vulnerable to what looks like innocuous off breaks. Moeen Ali of England was first to highlight this weakness of the Indian batsmen who are otherwise labelled blindly as the best players of spin.
Off-spinners have had success in recent times against the Indian batsmen. Perhaps it is because the Indian batsmen look to treat them with respect and at times end up compensating by going ultra defensive. Virat Kohli was the only batsman who looked in total control against Nathan Lyon yesterday. One would say the Adelaide Oval was a flattish wicket even on the fifth day but it was only for the pacers who hardly got any sideways movement from the pitch. For Nathan Lyon it was an altogether different surface that was full of rough on both the sides.
That debutant Karn Sharma couldn’t make most of the spinning surface is a different story and it was because the youngster could hardly get into a groove with David Warner at the crease. Virat Kohli also did not handle Karn Sharma with the care that was needed. One of the biggest mistakes from Virat Kohli as a Captain was to remove Karn Sharma from the bowling end just when he had taken the wicket of Chris Rogers and was starting to believe in himself. A change of ends upset his rhythm and David Warner completely destroyed his confidence.
For the Australians, Nathan Lyon was the big hero on a surface where batting seemed to be quite easy against all the bowlers. No wonder he was given the Man of the Match ahead of David Warner and Virat Kohli. Nathan Lyon took five wickets in the first innings which helped the hosts to bowl out India for 444 and secure a handy lead of 73 runs.
On day five following a sporting declaration, Australia set a competitive target of 364 which was quite chasable in this T20 era of cricket. A couple of good partnerships and 364 would have been under threat. Of course it needed a mix of caution and aggression which came from the pair of Murali Vijay and Virat Kohli. Nathan Lyon is no Shane Warne to dry up all the runs and take wickets. The off-spinner had to earn his wickets by generously tossing the ball up and taking the risk of getting smashed around. Neither did Nathan Lyon have the variations that Shane Warne had possessed to keep the batsmen guessing all the time.
What Nathan Lyon did was aim at the rough outside off consistently and wait for the batsmen to make mistakes with their footwork. The Indian batsmen got out playing forward when they had to go back. Nathan Lyon made good use of his top spinner which would be bowled just outside off and straighten with extra bounce. Cheteshwar Pujara succumbed to it playing half forward and expecting the ball to spin in. Even a well set Murali Vijay was uncomfortable and was lucky not to be given out lbw when he had padded up to a flattish delivery outside off. With the exception of Virat Kohli, the remaining Indian batsmen had all looked extremely nervous against Nathan Lyon!
All one can say is that Australia have finally found their much needed reliable spinner after the likes of Shane Warne and Stuart MacGill in Nathan Lyon. Yes Lyon may not be highly talented but he does a lion-hearted job for his Skipper. Certainly an underrated bowler as far as the opposition is concerned as that is what helps Lyon take his wickets.