Ashwin wreaks havoc, India thump Australia by an innings and 132 runs in Nagpur

A wily Ravichandran Ashwin blew away a panicstricken Australia with a fifer as India dismantled visitors second innings in a single session to win the opening Test by a comprehensive innings and 132 runmargin here SaturdayAfter taking a massive 223run first innings lead India decimated Australia for just 91 in 323 overs with the Test match finishing inside three days at JamthaIts rare that an Australian innings folds inside on sessionAfter Axar Patels careerbest 84 and Mohammed Shamis entertaining 37 took India to a commanding first innings total of 400 Ashwin 537 literally mauled the Australians with the new ball taking his 31st fivewicket haul in Test cricketThe Australian batters once again made the cardinal mistake of playing the pitch rather than the bowler and looked utterly confused on whether to defend or attackThe Indian innings showed that demons were in the minds of Australian batters and not in the 22yard stripThe intent was to be positive but even with all the simulated training sessions it was always going to be difficult to read Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja 234 latter playing the second fiddle this timeThey didnt have slightest clue which one was turning and which one was coming straightUsman Khawaja 5 after hitting a boundary was lured with a tossed up offbreak outside his offstump and his half slashhalf drive effort went into Virat Kohlis hands in the slipsMarnus Labuschagne 17 hit a few boundaries but when Jadeja flighted one which turned a shade after pitching the righthander premeditatedly rocked on to the backfoot rather than coming on the frontfootThe result was an easy legbefore decisionDavid Warners 10 stay was struggle and after he charged Ashwin to get two boundaries Ashwin bowled a slider and he wasnt half forward this time and got rapped on the padsMatt Renshaw was then trapped on the backfoot and righthander Peter Handscomb got a classical offbreak which would have disturbed the timber anyway Alex Carey for the second time went for a nonexistent sweep shot and perishedSteve Smith could only helplessly watch as wickets fell like nine pins at the other end He tried delaying the inevitable without much successMohammed Shami 213 after a solid batting show put the final nail in the Australian coffin by trapping Scott BolandEarlier Axar Patels resolute 84 and Shamis entertaining 37 gave India a massive 223run first innings lead The hosts posted 400 by third day lunch session after resuming the day at 321 for sevenThey wouldnt have envisaged that Australia had lost it in their minds even before they came out to bat for the second timeIndia had practically outbatted Australia on a track which the visiting media alleged was doctoredAlso Read Ravichandran Ashwin vs Nathan Lyon Battle of two quality spinnersJadeja 70 and Patel began the proceedings but the former did not last long as he shouldered arms to a Murphy delivery that was fired in from an angle and crashed on to the stumpsThe pitch didnt change its character much and it remained a slow turner where any batter ready to grind would get runsLunch was taken when Indian innings endedShami who was dropped on 6 by Boland at longon off Nathan Lyon decided to launch a swift counterattack on opposition best bowler Todd Murphy 7124He hit the bespectacled offspinner for three sixes a slog sweep over midwicket a flat six over longoff and monstrous hit over longon apart from a couple of boundaries during his 47 ball stayAdding 50plus runs in just over an hour 65 minutes was laudable and Patel on his part gave Shami bulk of the strikeIf Australia had any chance of wrapping it up Bolands goof up proved costly as Shami made them pay dearlyWhile Murphy has been impressive on debut Lyons 1126 performance has been disappointing to say the least as his bowling lacked the biteAlmost all the Indian batters found it easy to defend the veteran offspinner off the backfootOnce Shami was dismissed going for his fourth maximum off Murphy Patel decided to attack and lofted the debutant straight into the sightscreen for his first sixHis and Indias innings ended when he was bowled by rival skipper Pat CumminsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever