Pivotal moment gives Aussies advantage

The pivotal moment in the second Domain Test match may have occurred before a ball was bowled.

Standing in the middle of Perth Stadium 30 minutes before play was set to begin, Australia captain Tim Paine was next to counterpart Virat Kohli and tossed a coin high in the in the air.

Kohli called heads. The coin showed tails. For the first time in Paine's Test captaincy career he had won the toss and, with the choice his, elected to bat.

"This wicket ... with some hot weather around we expect it'll crack up and be hard work (later in the game)," Paine said at the time.

It wasn't an easy decision; an hour before the toss Paine inspected the wicket was not sure what he was looking at.

In front of him was a pitch said to be fast and bouncy, covered in bright green leafy grass with cracks visible through the thick foliage.

It was perhaps those cracks that swayed Paine to bat first, and by doing so, it meant India would theoretically bat last.

And in 2018, India have struggled batting last pursuing victory. 

In six Tests this year when they've been set a target in the fourth innings, the world's top-ranked Test team have won just once – a 10-wicket triumph at home in October over the West Indies, who have won just two Tests in the subcontinent in the past 30 years.

The other five failed run chases have been split against Test heavyweights South Africa (two losses) and England (three).

Against the Proteas at the start of the year, Virat Kohli's charges were set a target of 208 in Cape Town and lost by 75 runs, while in the Centurion the visitors fell 135 runs short going after 287.

India's troubles followed them north to England, where they lost the first Test at Edgbaston by 31 runs chasing 194, the fourth Test in Southampton by 60 runs in pursuit of 245 and finally at The Oval, bowled out for 345 having been set 464 to win. 

So when Australia set India 287 to win and retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, the result was by no means guaranteed but recent history suggested the hosts were in the box seat. 

In fact, India have not successfully chased a target in Australia for 15 years, dating back to a four-wicket win in Adelaide where the tourists tracked down 230 on a flat pitch. 

Australia still require five wickets on day five to level the series at 1-1, but should Paine win the toss in the next two Tests, in Melbourne and Sydney, he might consider batting regardless of the conditions. 

Domain Test Series v India

Dec 6-10: First Test, Adelaide Oval, India won by 31 runs

Dec 14-18: Second Test, Perth Stadium

Dec 26-30: Third Test, MCG

Jan 3-7: Fourth Test, SCG

Australia squad: Tim Paine (c, wk), Josh Hazlewood (vc), Mitch Marsh (vc), Pat Cummins, Aaron Finch, Peter Handscomb, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Peter Siddle, Mitchell Starc, Chris Tremain

India squad: Virat Kohli (c), Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Prithvi Shaw, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant (wk), Parthiv Patel (wk), Ravi Ashwin, Ravi Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar