Australia have a priceless opportunity to post a rare Test victory in India after Steve O'Keefe made spin great Shane Warne eat his words by producing a stunning career-best performance to turn the series opener on its head.
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O'Keefe's incredible spell stuns India
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Steve O'Keefe took 6 for 35 as India lost their last seven wickets for 11 runs as Australia finished the day with a 298 run lead.
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O'Keefe's incredible spell stuns India
Steve O'Keefe took 6 for 35 as India lost their last seven wickets for 11 runs as Australia finished the day with a 298 run lead.
A three-day game is firmly on the cards but the result may not be what everyone thought 48 hours ago. Steve Smith's men hold the aces heading into the third day of the first Test but Australia, after nine consecutive Test defeats in Asia, should know from history that India cannot be discounted from seemingly hopeless positions.
VVS Laxman, India's saviour in Kolkata in 2001 and again nine years later in Mohali, is well into retirement but Virat Kohli can still have a major say on the result of this game – even after his duck in the first innings.
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After spinning India out for a dismal 105, Australia reached 4-143 at stumps – an imposing lead of 298. If Smith can shepherd his side through another two sessions at the crease then not even a masterclass by Kohli may be enough to extend India's unbeaten run of 20 Tests at home.
Australia needed to do everything right to play their way back into the match after their collapse on day one – and they delivered on a dramatic second day where 15 wickets fell on the Pune minefield.
They struck early to expose Kohli to a newish ball, and dismissed him cheaply before O'Keefe ran through the middle and lower orders with an inspired burst of 6-5 in 24 balls. India spectacularly lost 7-11 in 38 minutes – the type of capitulation that had been synonymous with Australia on these shores.
Smith then led from the front with the bat, riding his luck – and three lives – with an invaluable half-century. Youngster Matt Renshaw again stepped up under duress, battling a dodgy stomach and a nasty hit on the arm for his 31. He vomited shortly after Umesh Yadav struck him with a 140 km/h-plus thunderbolt.
They were also given a hand by some butter-fingered fielding from a sloppy India, who put down four chances, including two by the substitute fielder Abinav Mukund.
The day's turning point came when opener Lokesh Rahul gave up his wicket trying to smash O'Keefe into the stands. He inflicted more damage on himself, hurting his left shoulder and leaving the field visibly distressed.
O'Keefe's game-changing spell should force Warne, who has been a fierce critic of the left-armer, to reassess the Sydneysider's credentials as a Test bowler.
Warne believed Australia should have instead picked Ashton Agar and Mitchell Swepson though, thankfully for the visitors, the selectors did not share his point of view.
"You don't see him as a huge danger with big turning deliveries – he just bowls tight," Warne said on the Star Sports telecast. "In these conditions, guys like Swepson and Agar can be a danger package. O'Keefe is a safe option because you know he won't bowl much rubbish."
O'Keefe's 6-35 surpassed Warne's best mark of 6-125. In fairness to the leg-spin great, those comments came during an underwhelming spell by O'Keefe before lunch during which the Indian batsmen were able to score on both sides of the wicket without taking any risks.
O'Keefe's fortunes took a turn for the better after a change of ends while India's plummeted. The left-armer pitched the ball up outside off stump and found just enough turn to catch the edge and bring the men around the bat into the game.
"He wasn't bowling that well early and the change of ends worked, he found his mojo and away he went," Warne said. "He was always going to have big role to play on this surface.
"In his wildest dreams I don't think he imagined it could have gone that well, none of us did, but well done to him."