The momentum continued to sway from one end to the other. Australia landed big punches early on the third morning before Prasidh Krishna helped India fight back. The game has ebbed and flowed constantly but Australia have found a way to nudge ahead.
After picking up wickets of Rishabh Pant and Nitish Kumar Reddy in the last hour of day two, Australia wrapped up the Indian innings in a jiffy. All they needed was 7.5 overs to pick the last four wickets.
India just couldn’t offer enough resistance as they could add only 16 runs to their overnight tally. It was once again Pat Cummins and Scott Boland who did all the damage. The duo opened the bowling on the third morning and bowled excellently.
Boland posed questions to Washington Sundar in his first over of the day. Meanwhile, Cummins dismissed Ravindra Jadeja in his second over. The left-handed all-rounder nicked off as the Australian captain pounded away on a length. He picked up his third as India’s last recognized pair was dislodged.
Sundar didn’t last long either. He was knocked over by a nip-backer from Cummins who had his fourth. The Tamil Nadu all-rounder was out for 12.
Jasprit Bumrah walked out to bat at No. 10 but unlike the first innings where he got 22, couldn’t trouble the scorers. Boland wrapped up the innings with two wickets in three balls. He had Mohammed Siraj caught at first slip to complete his second fifer in Test cricket before knocking over Bumrah a couple of balls later. The India skipper went for a big slog and missed only to see his stumps rattled.
India were bowled out for 157 and their lead was 162. They lost their last six wickets for just 33 runs. But with the pitch playing some tricks, it was still something to bowl at.
Poor bowling from India gives Australia a flying start before Prasidh Krishna takes three
Chasing a tricky score, Australia got off to a flier. They were helped by some thrash bowling from Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna. India could ill-afford extras defending a small total but that’s exactly what they conceded. They clearly missed the leader of the pack, Bumrah who didn’t come out to bowl. Back spasms prevented him from taking the field and India struggled to get a good start.
Australia got 35 runs in their first three overs as Siraj and Krishna sprayed the ball all around the pitch. Siraj conceded five wides on his third delivery and gave away 13 runs in the opening over. Krishna couldn’t find his lines and lengths either as wides and byes saw the hosts fetch 13 runs from his first over as well. Sam Konstas struck a couple of boundaries off Siraj as Australia raced away and ate into the target quickly.
Krishna started to find some control as he bowled more and was rewarded with the wicket of Konstas. The 19-year-old Australia opener went for a big, wild slog and only managed a top-edge which was caught at mid-off.
Krishna was getting the ball to rear up from a length and accounted for Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith. Labuschagne guided one straight to gully while Smith was undone by a delivery that bounced sharply from a length. The Australia No. 4 was dismissed with him needing just one run to complete 10,000 runs in Test cricket.
Travis Head walked in and struck a boundary. Usman Khawaja has looked solid. Bumrah had his number throughout the series and Khawaja seems to be making the most of his absence.
Siraj bowled a very poor spell. He has conceded 38 runs in seven overs so far and hasn’t looked at his best. Krishna has been slightly inconsistent but has been the better of the two. Nitish Reddy hasn’t bowled yet and with Bumrah unavailable, India have a stiff task ahead of them.
Australia need 91 runs and India are seven wickets away from a famous win. The game is on a knife’s edge but Australia will fancy their chances of regaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy after 10 years.
BRIEF SCORES: India 185 (Rishabh Pant 40, Ravindra Jadeja 26, Jasprit Bumrah 22, Scott Boland 4/31, Mitchell Starc 3/49) & 157 (Rishabh Pant 61, Yashasvi Jaiswal 22, Scott Boland 6/45, Pat Cummins 3/44) vs Australia 181 (Beau Webster 57, Steven Smith 33, Prasidh Krishna 3/42, Mohammed Siraj 3/51, Jasprit Bumrah 2/33) and 71/3 (Sam Konstas 22, Usman Khawaja 18*, Prasidh Krishna 3/27).
