The Aussie offie understands that bowling on this Dharamshala surface is like bowling in his own conditions back home where the ball tends to bounce and kick
Nathan Lyon's single-handed effort in which he scalped four wickets post tea on Sunday has turned the series decider on its head.
The Aussie offie ripped through the Indian middle-order in no time to ensure that Australia's fate would now be decided by their batters in the second essay. After India spent most of the day grinding Aussie pacers patiently and tactically, Lyon's blitzkrieg ensured an even-steven stage with 52 more needed by the hosts' last four batsmen.
Australia may still regret blowing the chance away when Matt Renshaw at first slip failed to hold on to KL Rahul off Pat Cummins early in the day, or that could have swung this game firmly into the visitors' favour.
"We're quite positive. It's an unbelievable feeling to be pretty evenly poised after Day 2," said Lyon. "I know we probably left a few runs out there, but to have six wickets down is a happy moment. Coming over here, everyone wrote us off and to be in this position in the last Test with pressure slightly on India is fantastic," added Lyon, who removed India's dangerman Cheteshwar Pujara and Karun Nair in the space of 11 balls.
The Aussie offie understands that bowling on this Dharamshala surface is like bowling in his own conditions back home where the ball tends to bounce and kick. "It was after bowling a couple of overs before lunch that I sat down and thought about how this pitch is behaving similar to the ones back home. Bowling on some extra bounce is my biggest weapon," said Lyon, who took a career-best figures of 8/50 in the second Test in Bangalore.
"As the day progressed, I started to show a bit more variation with spin and bounce but did not do anything different. There has not been much life for the pacers in this series but the way Cummins and Hazlewood bowled has been exceptional," said Lyon.
On chances of winning this series decider, Lyon observed that everything will now depend on how his batsmen play in the second knock. "Hopefully, it's going to be a massive challenge for them. But that really depends on how long we bat for and how many runs we can set them. But whatever we set India, that's going to be enough for us. We believe we're good enough, it's going to be good fun and a good challenge for us."
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "Nathan Lyon")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}