Moama’s Todd Murphy showed no signs of easing the pressure on India in his second Test match for Australia, retaining his spot for the second match of the series in Delhi.
Murphy followed up his barnstorming Test cricket debut with a helping hand in Australia’s eventful day two fightback, adding two wickets to his career haul.
Australia was well-placed heading into day three on the back of an excellent performance with the ball, with Murphy finishing the innings with figures of 2-53 off 18 overs.
Ravindra Jadeja was first to fall to the 22-year-old off-spinner, trapped LBW for 26 in the 46th over of the innings, revenge for Murphy after Jadeja dismissed him for a duck in Australia’s first dig.
This left India 5-125 in pursuit of Australia’s first-innings total of 263 runs, but yet another stubborn fightback from Axar Patel helped India keep the runs ticking along.
Patel was Murphy’s second victim on the last ball of the 82nd over, caught at mid-on by a flying Pat Cummins for 74.
It was another probing innings from Murphy, who set the cricket world alight with a debut haul of 7-124 in Australia’s opening-match defeat to India in Nagpur.
The 22-year-old was Australia’s most dangerous asset in that Test, and his subtle variations have kept India’s batsmen on their toes in the second match.
Murphy’s bowling complemented another Nathan Lyon five-wicket haul, ending with 5-67 after rolling through the Indian top order, while debutant Matt Kuhnemann snared two, including the prized scalp of Virat Kohli.
Murphy’s exploits have seen him sign with English county cricket club Durham in what shapes as a pre-Ashes campaign to put his name forward for another starring role in the Australian Test squad.
At the time of writing, Australia had resumed its innings at 1-61 with a lead of 62 runs.