Australia may have taken only a couple of wickets on the third morning of the Boxing Day Test but they are firmly in the driver’s seat. The Pat Cummins-led side continued their dominance despite a solid fightback from Nitish Kumar Reddy.
Three wickets in the last 20 minutes of day two had put India on the backfoot. The hard work put in by Yashasvi Jaiswal and Virat Kohli for more than two hours was undone and at 164/5, India were in trouble.
It was a nervy first hour for India as Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja were involved in multiple mix-ups but no damage was done. There were a few close shaves as well with edges and beatens. Australia probed away with Cummins and Scott Boland testing the left-handed pair. Nathan Lyon’s introduction created a few chances as well. The veteran off-spinner troubled Jadeja who looked all at sea against him.
In between all of this, Pant got a few boundaries and seemed to be settling in well. But he threw it away, trying to scoop Boland over fine-leg. All he managed was a top-edge which was caught easily at third-man.
India needed Pant to bat long and bat big. But he fell for 28. Jadeja couldn’t survive for long either. He didn’t really look himself. Lyon consistently posed questions to him and eventually, Jadeja was LBW against the off-spinner, trying to force one off the backfoot. He was out for 17 as India slipped to 221/7.
Nitish Kumar Reddy continues to impress and helps India fight
Nitish Kumar Reddy walked in at No. 8 and looked in excellent touch. He has been the find of the tour for India and has batted beautifully in almost every innings. Reddy added 30 runs along with Jadeja where he contributed 22 runs.
The 21-year-old all-rounder drove well and rotated strike nicely. He barely looked troubled as he kept the scoreboard ticking. Like the previous Tests, he was not afraid to go over the top against Lyon as well.
In fact, he was looking to score even in the last couple of overs before lunch. Washington Sundar has joined him in the middle. The left-hander has played 27 balls and has made 5. The partnership is worth 23 at the moment. Reddy has reached 40 in no time. He is the one who stands between Australia and a big lead.
The second new ball is only seven overs away and Australia will want to wrap things up quickly. India still trail by 230 runs and are 31 runs away from avoiding the follow-on. However, with weather not a factor and a lot of time left in the game, Australia may not enforce the follow-on even if they get the opportunity.
BRIEF SCORES: Australia 474 (Steve Smith 140, Marnus Labuschagne 72, Sam Konstas 60, Jasprit Bumrah 4/99, Ravindra Jadeja 3/78, Akash Deep 2/94) vs India 244/7 (Yashasvi Jaiswal 82, Nitish Kumar Reddy 40*, Scott Boland 3/37, Pat Cummins 2/70).
