Chahal (3/25), who took the field as Jadeja could not play as a bowler in Australia’s innings after taking a hit on his head off Mitchell Starc’s short ball during his unbeaten knock of 23-ball 44, took the important wickets of skipper Aaron Finch, Steve Smith and Matthew Wade to dent the Aussie chase of 162.
The Australians had got off to a good start but Chahal removed Finch and Smith in his first two overs. He came back to get rid of Wade as the Aussie middle-order batsman looked for a big hit in the face of a rising required run rate. T Natarajan (3/30) was the other successful bowler as he picked the wickets of Glenn Maxwell, D’Arcy Short and Mitchell Starc.
The decision to bring in Chahal for Jadeja, who just before getting hit on his head was already limping did not please Australia coach Justin Langer who was seen discussing the issue with match referee David Boon.
Earlier, a well compiled half century from KL Rahul and the late onslaught from Jadeja helped India post 161.
Put…