Todd Murphy captures five wickets and Rohit Sharma scores a century, India vs Australia. Even though Todd Murphy had a five-wicket day in his first Test for Australia, Rohit Sharma’s century boosted India to a commanding lead on the second day of the first Test.
In Nagpur, Rohit scored an elegant 120 as the hosts finished on 321-7, up by 144 runs despite off-spinner Murphy’s 5-82.
Rohit was dismissed by Pat Cummins after tea, bringing India’s lead to only 52. However, an unbroken stand of 81 runs was put up by Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel, and India eventually finished the day at 229-6.
Day one’s wicket-taker Jadeja finished on 66 not out, with Patel also unbeaten on 52.
Murphy claimed his first Test wicket when he caught and bowled KL Rahul on day one, and he also took the first three on day two, including Virat Kohli down the leg side for 12.
The 22-year-old finished with five wickets, his first in senior professional cricket, after dismissing Srikar Bharat lbw on review.
Three of Steve Smith’s potential catches were lost today, one of which was a Jadeja off the next-to-last ball of the day.
Concerns about Australia India’s lead, which they gained after the tourists were removed for 177, may prove to be insurmountable on a wicket that’s turning and will only become worse as the game progresses.
Who exactly is this Todd Murphy?
Murphy, who had just played seven 1st class matches prior to his Test debut, bowled 36 overs, the most he had ever bowled in a senior match, with outstanding precision and pulled substantial turn from the Nagpur pitch.
He also took out Ravichandran Ashwin by lbw and had Cheteshwar Pujara out at short fine leg.
Even at this early stage in his career, the Victorian (he was born in the small, rural town of Echuca) has been heralded as the future successor to senior spinner Nathan Lyon.
He did not begin bowling off-spin till the age of 16, but he has already represented Australia at the Under-19 level and traveled to Sri Lanka with the A team.
Murphy’s action and rapid approach to the crease have been compared to those of former England off-spinner Graeme Swann, and he is preferred to other spinners Mitchell Swepson and Ashton Agar in Nagpur.