Ravichandran Ashwin bowled a delivery that was too good to not get a wicket

India came back strongly into the first Test in Adelaide against Australia on the second day of the game by picking seven wickets for less than 180 runs. The Aussies came out to bat after Virat Kohli’s team was bowled out for the same overnight score of 250 in the very first delivery of the day. Veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin led from the front to pick three Australian top-order wickets after Ishant Sharma removed opener Aaron Finch for nought in the third delivery of the innings.

Ashwin, who recently slammed a fan who taunted his bowling performance Down Under on Twitter, bowled impressively and made full use of the two-paced wicket on offer. Besides dismissing debutant opener Marcus Harris, he bowled his bunny Shaun Marsh and also picked Usman Khawaja when he was settling down. Those three wickets ruined the home team’s chances of taking a big lead over India and kept the visitors very much in the hunt for a win.

Ashwin came very close to picking his fourth scalp of the innings in the 76th over. It was Pat Cummins who was on strike and he made a complete mess of negotiating with the ball which turned sharply after pitching and went through his legs to end up in wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant’s gloves. Barring the end result, the delivery reminded the spectators of the magic delivery that Sachin Tendulkar had produced against Pakistan wicketkeeper Moin Khan in an away Test years ago.

Cummins added crucial 50 runs with Travis Head

The fielders were left shattered as the ball missed the stumps while the bowler kept on looking inquisitively, disbelieving his luck. Australia were 170 for 6 at that time with Cummins (8) giving Travis Head, the only half-centurion in the Australian innings, a steady partnership.

Cummins was eventually dismissed by Jasprit Bumrah after he added crucial 50 runs with Head for the seventh wicket. The hosts were 191 for 7 at stumps with Mitchell Starc giving Head a steady company. They still needed 60 runs to equal India’s score with three wickets remaining, adding to the suspense the match is promising.

Here is the video of the wonder ball:

While Ashwin took three wickets, Ishant and Bumrah took two wickets each on Day 2. India’s other pacer Mohammed Shami, who was the most successful of the lot in the four-day practice game against Cricket Australia XI with three wickets, however, disappointed the supporters as he failed to pick a single scalp.

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