Rahul takes a stunner to send back Khawaja as India reduce Australia to 199/6

K L Rahul took a stunning onehanded catch to dismiss a wellset Usman Khawaja as India piled the pressure on Australia by reducing them to 199 for six at tea on day one of the second Test here on FridayAustralia who were at 94 for 3 at lunch went on to lose another three wickets in the afternoon session with the opposition batters continuing to surrender against spinnersPlaying his first match of the series Travis Head went for a slash off Mohammad Shami and a thick edge travelled quickly to Rahul who took a sharp catch at second slipRahuls second catch to send back Khawaja 81 off 125 was the most crucial moment of the session Having scored the chunk of runs sweeping the ball on either side Khawaja went for the reverse off Ravindra Jadeja in the 46th over but Rahul pulled off a sensational onehanded catch at point to end his solid stay in the middleThe final wicket of the session was Alex Carey who only lasted five balls with Ravichandran Ashwin having him caught at first slipPeter Handscomb 36 batting off 75 and skipper Pat Cummins 21 off 31 were in the middle at the breakEarlier Ashwin 357 in 21 overs removed Marnus Labuschagne 18 and Steve Smith 0 in quick succession despite Khawajas well compiled knock that had eight fours and a six over extra cover off the senior offspinnerThis was after Khawaja and David Warner 15 added 50 runs for the opening stand as the visiting team gave a better account of themselves after skipper Cummins opted to bat firstWhile Khawaja was more assertive with his footwork and started with a square driven boundary Warner struggled a lot during the first hourIn fact the Kotla strip aided better bounce and carry with Mohammed Siraj bowling a brisk first spellWhile Shami erred in length during his first threeover spell from the Old Pavilion End Siraj bowled quick and hurried both Warner and Khawaja with pace and bounceAlso readPlaying tour games on Indian pitches is irrelevant Steve SmithWarners slowed down reflexes caused him trouble with Siraj rattling him with quick deliveries Warner got hit on the elbow which required medical attention and then on the head which needed an onfield concussion testHaving been softened up by Siraj skipper Rohit Sharma changed Shamis end and brought him from the Delhi Gate sideHaving pushed him on the backfoot Shami went wide of the crease and angled one in forcing Warner to jab at it and the regulation catch was accepted by keeper Kona BharatKhawaja however started using his feet against Ashwin and Jadeja and collected a few boundaries but it was Labuschagne who got an offbreak from Ashwin that beat him and DRS went in favour of IndiaIn case of Smith full credit to keeper Bharats reflexes and technique as he kept a low centre of gravity and the nick was collected inches off the ground to unsettle Australia who had good first 90 minutes before losing trackThis 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