Tough day in the field for Aussies as Vijay and Pujara hit centuries

Centuries from Cheteshwar Pujara and Murali Vijay have India in complete control of the second Test against Australia in Hyderabad.

Resuming at 0-5, India closed day two at 1-311 thanks to the efforts of Pujara (162 not out) and Vijay (129 not out).
Peter Siddle (1-51 off 19 overs) was the only wicket-taker for Australia yesterday as a toothless bowling display saw Pujara and Vijay add an unbeaten 294 runs for the second wicket.
It is the highest ever Indian partnership for the second wicket against Australia, breaking Sunil Gavaskar and Mohinder Amarnath’s 224-run stand at the SCG in 1986.
Temperatures approaching 35 degrees did not deter a crowd of close to 30,000 fans attending the day’s play but the runs did not flow in the early stages of the day.
India added just 49 runs in the opening session as James Pattinson (0-56 off 18), Siddle and Moises Henriques (0-38 off 19) bowled well.
The trio got swing and stemmed the flow of runs, with Siddle claiming the early wicket of Virender Sehwag (six).
The Victorian removed the out-of-form opener with a terrific ball that got good bounce and took the edge of his bat, with wicket-keeper Matthew Wade doing the rest.
Signs were promising in the first session for the tourists as Vijay played a couple of false shots early but he soon settled and a patient display of batting was in order as India went to lunch at 1-54.
The hosts lifted the tempo in the second session, scoring 106 runs as Australia turned to their spin bowling options.
Xavier Doherty (0-85 off 26) was not disgraced and got good turn past the outside edge on a few occasions.
He could have also dismissed Vijay on 71 but Michael Clarke could only get his fingertips to the edge at slip.
Glenn Maxwell (0-55 off 10) leaked runs though and the two spinners were nowhere near as threatening as their Indian counterparts.
Pujara batted superbly and was strong through the off-side, particularly the covers and down to third man.
He hurt his knee diving to make ground and although that hampered him when running between the wickets, you would not have known due to his excellent display of batting.
Both Pujara and Vijay – who showed excellent application and technique – were more than comfortable using their feet to attack the spinners and while the quicks did not bowl poorly, they failed to cause problems also.
Pujara brought up his fourth Test century in the 70th over of the day – which Maxwell conceded 15 runs from – when he glided a two down to third man.
And it was Vijay’s turn to celebrate shortly after when he hit Doherty over extra cover for four to bring up his hundred.
Part-time leg-spinner David Warner (0-14 off one) was tried but had no luck and his over summed up the last session, which saw Australia concede 151 runs as the Indian pair put the foot on the pedal.
And the tourists just had no answers for their display of batting which sees India already leading by 74 runs with nine wickets in hand.
Pujara is fresh off scores of 203 not out and 352 in domestic cricket and Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni are still to bat. (CA)

AUSTRALIA first innings 237 for 9 declared: M.Clarke 91
, M.Wade 62, B.Kumar 3-53

India first innings
M. Vijay not out             129
V. Sehwag c (wkpr)  Wade b Siddle  6
C. Pujara not out                   162
Extras: (b-1,lb11,w-2)              14
Total: (1 wicket; 93 overs)   311
Bowling: J. Pattinson 18-7-56-0 (w-1), P. Siddle 19-5-51-1, M.Henriques 19-7-38-0 (1w), X.Doherty 26-7-85-0, G.Maxwell 10-1-55-0, D.Warner 1-0-14-0

 

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