Only 24.1 overs of play was possible on the final day of the third Test at the Gabba in Brisbane which ended in a draw. The series still stands 1-1.
When lightning arrived on early on the fifth morning and washed out almost the entirety of the first session of the last day at the Gabba, the writing seemed to be on the wall. It looked like no play would be possible in the day at that stage. But the weather gods relented for a bit and the game moved along rapidly.
The heroics of Jasprit Bumrah and Akash Deep helped India avoid the follow-on late on day four. India added eight more runs to their overnight score before they were bowled out for 260. However, that’s exactly when lightning arrived at the Gabba and kept the players away from the field for more than two hours.
But once play resumed, Australia kept losing wickets before they declared after 18 overs. Usman Khawaja started with a couple of boundaries off Mohammed Siraj before Bumrah did Bumrah things. He got rid of Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne.
Khawaja was out bowled before Labuschagne edged one to the keeper. Nathan McSweeney nicked off to give Akash Deep his first wicket. Travis Head walked in and struck a couple of boundaries to release the pressure a touch.
At the other end, Mitchell Marsh and Steve Smith didn’t last long. Marsh was caught behind while Smith was strangled down leg-side for the second time in the series.
Carey, Cummins hit quickfire 20s; India bat only 2.1 overs before bad light, rain forces a draw
Alex Carey came out and was very busy, kept rotating strike and got the odd boundaries. He added 27 runs with Head before the latter top-edged one straight to Rishabh Pant behind the stumps. Captain Pat Cummins came out swinging and smashed two sixes along with two fours. He made 22 off 10 balls before he holed out.
Australia declared in the same over after they reached 89/7. They had a lead of 274. India had 54 overs to see off. But with bad light and iffy weather around the corner, it would be more about time than overs.
KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal played out 2.1 overs, scoring eight runs without any loss. It got very dark before the umpires took the players off due to bad light. Tea was taken before rain made another appearance as predicted. It was quite heavy and the officials called off the game.
The third Test ended in a draw and the series still remains level at 1-1. The action now moves to the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) for the Boxing Day Test. India just need one win to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy while Australia will be under pressure to win at the MCG where they last beat India back in December 2011.
KEY PERFORMANCES: Australia 445 (Travis Head 152, Steve Smith 101, Alex Carey 70, Jasprit Bumrah 6/76, Mohammed Siraj 2/97) & 89/7 decl (Pat Cummins 22, Alex Carey 20*, Jasprit Bumrah 3/18, Akash Deep 2/28) drew with India 252/9 (KL Rahul 84, Ravindra Jadeja 77, Akash Deep 27*, Pat Cummins 4/80, Mitchell Starc 3/83) & 8/0 (KL Rahul 4*, Yashasvi Jaiswal 4*).
