Brisbane Test, Day 4: India 157 for 7 at lunch

Brisbane, Dec 20: India reached 157 for seven at lunch on the fourth day of the second Test against Australia, in Brisbane on Saturday with their overall lead being only 60 runs with three wickets in hand.

Starting at 71 for one, India lost six wickets in the session with injured Shikhar Dhawan battling it out on 41 in company of Umesh Yadav (9).

Cheteshwar Pujara (43), Virat Kohli (1), Ajinkya Rahane (10), Rohit Sharma (0) and Mahendra Singh Dhoni (0) were all back in the hut.

Dhawan hurt in practice

Shikhar Dhawan retired hurt ahead of the resumption of play on Saturday in the second Test against Australia after being hit on the forearm during a net session, prompting complaints from the India team about the state of the practice wickets.

Dhawan batted for 23 overs late Friday and was not out on 26 overnight with the India second-innings total at 71 for 1.

The India team management said Dhawan was hit on the right wrist, but didn’t have time to go for medical scans. He went out to bat later Saturday with India reeling at 117 for 6.

Virat Kohli was also hit during practice, but went to the crease to bat in Dhawan’s place to start play on day four. He was bowled by Australian paceman Mitchell Johnson for one after facing 11 balls.

India team management said it had been asking for several days for fresh pitches to be prepared in the nets but it had not happened.

“Instead of that, they have asked (us) to practice on worn out wickets which (have) uneven bounce,” the team said in a statement. “Because of that two of our batsmen got injured.”

Scoreboard at lunch:

Shikhar Dhawan not out 41

Murali Vijay b Starc 27

Cheteshwar Pujara c Lyon b Hazlwood 43

Virat Kohli b Johnson 1

Ajinkya Rahane c Lyon b Johnson 10

Rohit Sharma c Haddin b Johnson 0

M.S. Dhoni lbw b Hazlewood 0

Ravi Ashwin c Haddin b Starc 19

Umesh Yadav not out 7

Extras: (2lb,2nb,5w) 9

Total: (for seven wickets) 157

Overs: 47. Batting time- 229 minutes.

Fall of wickets: 1—41, 2—76, 3—86, 4—86, 5—87, 6—117, 7—143.

Still to bat: Varun Aaron, Ishant Sharma.

Bowling: Mitchell Johnson 14—4—54—3 (1nb,5w),

Josh Hazlewood 11—0—51—2 (1nb), Mitchell Starc 8—1—27—2, Shane Watson 10—6—12—0, Nathan Lyon 4—0—11—0.

Toss- India.

Series- Australia leads 4—test series 1—0.

Umpires- Ian Gould, England, and Marais Erasmus, South Africa.

Third umpire- Simon Fry, Australia. Match referee- Jeff Crowe, New Zealand.