India v Australia: Turner worked in our favour, says Smith

PUNE: With their incredible 333-run victory in the first Test, the Australians have made sure of one thing: If the series result is going to be 4-0, it won't be in favour of the Indians. A key narrative of the series-opener here has been how the visiting spinners were able to exploit the turner at the MCA better than the home team.

The duo of Nathan Lyon and Steve O'Keefe together bagged 17 of the 20 Indian wickets -three more than the Indian trio of R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Jayant Yadav. O'Keefe himself grabbed 12 of them for a mere 70 runs.

Wickets apart, Lyon and O'Keefe together bowled only 25 overs in India's first innings and less than 30 in the second. In comparison, their Indian counterparts rolled their arms over for 71.5 overs in Australia's first knock and 71 overs in their second.

Australian captain Smith said the turner worked in his team's favour. "I think it was certainly a pitch that was more likely to suit Indian players. It evened up the contest a lot more," he opined.

"We saw the way our spinners bowled on that pitch. They were able to extract good turn from the surface and also employed good variations.

"It was up to them (India) to prepare the pitch, and the one they prepared actually played into our hands. It would be interesting to see what kind of surface they come up with in Bangalore."

What would have hurt the Indians more is the fact that one of their own helped the Aussies get the better of them: S Former Tamil Nadu player S Sridharan Sriram, a left-handed opener and spinner, has t been working with O'Keefe.

"I didn't think it was going to turn out the way it did today," O'Keefe said of his bowling display in the second innings."When you've got good structures around you, including the captain and the coaching staff, you're bound to go out there feeling confident in your own ability. That's important, particularly if you are a spinner."

The 32-year-old also credited his spin partner Lyon for his success. "Nathan and I enjoy bowling together. We've done it unsuccessfully as well as successfully," he said.

"The best thing about Nathan is that he takes that in his stride and we're willing to communicate in how we can improve and we do that throughout the match."

Smith said his team would be prepared for a fightback by the Indians. "The pressure was on us (coming into the series).Everyone had written us off and expected India to win 4-0.That can't happen anymore," Smith said. "There is still a long way to go in this series."