Brisbane Test: Spirited bowling helps India claw back into the game

Indian bowlers put up another spirited performance on day 2 of Brisbane Test, scalping the last five Aussie wickets for under 100 runs to prevent the hosts from going past 400.

In response, India were 62/2 before rain came down heavily preventing any further play in the day.

Australia started the day at 274/5 with skipper Tim Paine and Cameron Green looking good to post a mammoth total on the board. However, the Indian bowlers quashed their plans with removing Paine, Green and Cummins within four runs.

But just when it looked like India were going to run away with a huge advantage by wrapping up the Aussie innings well before 350, Nathan Lyon decided to come to the party along with Mitchell Starc. Playing his 100th Test, Lyon struck a 22-ball 24, while Starc remained not out on 20 off 35. Even number 11 Josh Hazlewood added 11 runs to the total, taking Australia to 369. For India, Shardul Thakur, T Natarajan and Washington Sundar ended up with three wickets each, while Mohammed Siraj bagged the wicket of David Warner.

Having prevented the Aussies from crossing 400, India were expecting a solid start from their openers but Shubhman Gill failed to emulate his performance from the previous Test, departing early trying to poke at an away going delivery from Pat Cummins. Rohit Sharma who looked good on the day threw his wicket trying to attack Nathan Lyon. India are still 307 runs adrift of the target with two batting mainstays, Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara, in the middle.

How the duo goes about their job will shape the match for the tourists, who will also keep an eye on the skies for the forecast.