Aussie spinners set sights on series win

Australian spinners Steve O'Keefe and Nathan Lyon, having taken 17 of the 20 Indian wickets to fall in Pune, can't wait for the second Test in Bangalore.

Australia's Steve O'Keefe, left, and Nathan Lyon celebrate

Steve O'Keefe and Nathan Lyon defied recent history to deliver victory in Pune. (AAP)

Steve O'Keefe and Nathan Lyon defied recent history to deliver victory in Pune, now they want to spin Australia to an even rarer Test series win in India.

The tourists claimed a 1-0 lead in the four-Test series on Saturday, with O'Keefe and Lyon delivering the goods on a dry pitch that had been prepared with the hosts' star spinners in mind.

O'Keefe's match haul of 12-70 will rightly grab the headlines, no visiting spinner has ever recorded such impressive figures during a Test in India.

But Lyon also bowled well and threatened in both innings. The offspinner cleaned up India's tail on Saturday, taking the final three wickets of Australia's first Test win in India since 2004.

It was pacemen Glenn McGrath and Jason Gillespie who did the bulk of the damage in Australia's breakthrough success in 2004, their only Test series win in India since 1970.

Australia's quicks have outperformed the spinners on every tour since, but that trend ended when O'Keefe and Lyon shared all 10 wickets to fall in the final innings of the first Test.

Not since Shane Warne and Tim May bamboozled England at Edgbaston in 1993 have two Australian spinners taken all 10 wickets in a Test.

It is a performance that both men want to back up in Bangalore, where the second Test starts on Saturday.

"Nathan and I enjoy bowling together, we've done it for a long time. We've done it unsuccessfully and we've done it successfully," O'Keefe said.

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

"We've got a good relationship there and that's going to be important going forward (in the series). These guys are great players ... there's going to be some tough periods."

The big question is what sort of pitch will be prepared in Bangalore, where Australia have lost only once in five Tests. Steve Smith, who scored arguably the most impressive ton of his career on the spinner's paradise in Pune, is keen to find out.

"They prepared a wicket that actually played into our hands. It'll be interesting to see what they come up with in Bangalore," Smith said.

Lyon, speaking on Star Sports, hopes it is a carbon copy of the strip that Shane Warne likened to the "surface of Mars".

"It was great. I'll take this pitch everywhere," Lyon said.

"I'm very happy with SOK, our partnership throughout the whole game was exceptional.

"But it's only one Test .. they're a world-class team and we know they'll hit back hard."

Smith paid tribute to both tweakers, highlighting O'Keefe's "willingness to learn and try different things, and adapt to different conditions".

"He's able to bowl differently to what he does back home ... here he changes seam position and gets the most natural variation out of wicket.

"I'm really proud of Steve, he's worked very hard to get here and had a few sacrifices."


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Source: AAP



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