It was a riveting second session of Day 4 of the Boxing Day Test between India and Australia in Melbourne. The Australian team has rebounded after a batting collapse, thanks to contributions from Marnus Labuschagne (65*) and captain Pat Cummins (21*), as the hosts now lead by 240 runs.
The hosts started the second session at 53/2, with Steve Smith and Labuschagne at the crease. Although, Smith (13) was slowly trying to get into groove, he tried to slash the blade hard at Mohammed Siraj’s widish ball. As a result, his edge was caught by keeper, Rishabh Pant. The wicket opened the floodgates for the Indian team, while they were in sensational rhythm.
In the following over, Travis Head (1) flicked Jasprit Bumrah’s short delivery straight to the the square-leg fielder, Nitish Kumar Reddy. With this dismissal, Bumrah became the fastest Indian pacer to claim 200 test wickets in 44 games.
A few balls later, Bumrah induced an edge of Mitchell Marsh (0), as the all-rounder continued his disastrous form in the series.
Bumrah came back in his next over to breach the defense of Alex Carey (2), who has the ability to garner runs in crunch situations. Although, the Indian team was looking to continue taking breakthroughs, their plans were dampened in the last hour of the second session.
India run out of luck; Labuschagne-Cummins steer Australia
Much was expected from the Indian bowling unit after the dismissal of Alex Carey, given the hard work they were putting in to secure good carry and bounce. They were spot-on with their lengths to put the pair of Marnus Labuschagne and Pat Cummins under pressure.
After Yashasvi Jaiswal dropped Labuschagne’s regulation catch, the momentum seemingly shifted towards the Australian team. Along with him, the pair were living dangerously and still trying to cope with a terrific effort of the Indian bowling unit.
However, as the field spread out, they looked at ease and started to accumulate runs at a brisk pace. With the sun beating down hard, it was a hard task for the Indian fast bowlers to continue their rhythm.
The last three overs before the close of the second session witnessed Rohit Sharma inviting Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar to throw down the balls. The final over saw Jaiswal not getting low enough to pounce upon the catching opportunity presented by Cummins.
To sum up, the last hour of the second session saw India in frustration and agony in their pursuit to wrap up the Australian innings early. Australia is at 135/6 and has amassed a lead of 240 runs.
