India vs Australia Highlights, 3rd Test, Day 4: India 98/2 at stumps, need 309 more to win
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Day 4 summary
Australia dominated yet another day of this Test, although India did well to start the second innings well. Australia, resuming their innings on 103/2, posted a strong 312/6 declared with Steve Smith and Cameron Green scoring half-centuries. There were a couple of dropped catches, coupled by six spectators being ejected out of the stadium for discriminatory remarks towards Mohammed Siraj.
Australia set India 407 to win and India began their response well with opening batsmen Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma adding 71 runs for the first wicket - the second fifty-plus partnership between them in the match. But Australia hit back with their wickets to deal India a massive blow. At stumps, India were 98/2, still 309 away from win. But with a massive Day 5 ahead, batting out will be the key for the tourists. A great day of Test cricket and hopefully another one awaits.
With that, we'll take your leave. Join us again tomorrow morning for Day 5. They hardly last this long anymore.
Stumps on Day 4, India need 309 more to win
India negotiate the final over safely and with that, they end the day on 98/2, still needing another 309 to win. A massive final day awaits. The final session was shared, only the second shared session of the match.
Last over of the day
Nathan Lyon coming up with the final over of the day. It's been a good session for India, but could have been a lot better without those two wickets, especially the one of Rohit who fell two overs ago. None the less, these final six balls very crucial.
WICKET: Rohit perishes
OUT! The promising knock comes to an end as Rohit holes out to Mitchell Starc at fine leg. Cummins banged it in short, Rohit plays the shot he loves the most - the pull - but fails to place it right and finds the fielder. India lose their second wicket for 92.
FIFTY for Rohit Sharma
Rohit brings up a half-century with a four towards midwicket. This is just his second innings in this Test series and he's done well to get a fifty under these trying circumstances. It's still early days for Rohit as a Test opener, but a fifty in Australia, in the fourth innings with India chasing a dauting target will hugely boost his confidence.
Four off Lyon's sixth
Pujara and Rohit run a triple. With 12 overs left in the day, India would love nothing more than these two batsmen to stay unbeaten at stumps. Rohit has batted brilliantly to move to 46, one strike away from completing a half-century and cementing himself further as a fine Test opener for India.
Lyon to Pujara: FOUR
Early show of intent from Pujara. Took strike to Lyon for the first time, he comes down the wicket to play a fine cover drive. Not allowing Gary to settle. India 80/1 after 26 overs.
Pujara survives
Hazlewood almost had two in the over as the ball hit Pujara on the back leg. Umpire Wilson raised his finger. Pujara took the review looking pretty displeased with the decision. There was no inside edge but the ball was going over the stumps. India 71/1 in 23 overs.
WICKET
OUT! First wicket down for India for 71. Hazlewood gets Gill for 31. The ball takes the outside edge of Gill's bat and he's out caught behind. Gill's head turned straightaway as the ball left him. Umpire Wilson took some time but raised his finger anyway. Gill took the review for some reason and the hotspot showed white spot on the edge of his bat.
Green to Rohit: SIX
The Rohit Sharma pull comes out, and in some fashion. Short ball from Green, Rohit gets into position quickly before effortlessly launching the ball over deep midwicket. Terrific timing. India 70/0 after 21 overs, need another 337 runs to win.
Rohit takes 11 off Starc's over
Great over for India as Rohit Sharma signals his intent with a couple of beautiful cover drives in the over. Caps off the over with a triple runs to take India to 64/0 in 20 overs. They need another 343 to win. 20 more overs left in the day.
Gill brings up India's 50 in style
Gill pummels a thumping four down the ground to bring up the 50 for India, their second fifty partnership for the opening wicket in the match. Only the second time India have done so in Test matches in Australia. Safe to say that India will be sticking with Gill and Rohit for at least the next couple of games.
Inside edges saves Gill
That was a nervy moment for Shubman Gill facing Mitchell Starc. Coming round the wicket, the ball stayed low and thudded into Gill's pads. Fortunately, the batsman got an inside edge, else it was as plumb as they come.
FOUR! Spanking drive
Rohit breaks the shackles with an authoritative cover drive which races away for four. Full from Cummins and Rohit brings out the booming cover drive for a boundary. India 46/0 after 17 overs as players take the drinks break.
The foot comes down in time
Close shave for Rohit Sharma. The ball raps him on the pads and rolls on to Steve Smith in the slips. However, watching Rohit, who lost his balance going for a pull shot, Smith connected with a direct hit. The third umpire was called for but fortunately for India, Rohit got his foot down right in the nick of time.
Props to Siraj for calling out the offenders
It's so good to see players addressing those directing out racial slurs than just 'letting it go'.
Starc replaces Lyon
The left-arm quick returns, this time goes round the wicket to Gill, who presses forward but gets an inner edge. Single taken, gets Rohit on strike. 15 overs have been bowled and the openers have done a great job is seeing off the new ball. Still, danger not averted.
Cummins bowling some gems
It was just a matter of time before Pat Cummins, the No. 1 Test bowler in the world, began making the ball talk. Sends down some unplayable deliveries to Rohit. Beat him twice in that over and bowls a brilliant maiden over. No swing, no problem for Cummins. He makes the ball do some terrific things.
Cummins to Gill: FOUR, DOT, FOUR
A rare instance of Pat Cummins losing his line. He strays down Gill's pads and the batsman flicks behind the keeper for a boundary. Two balls later, Gill edges the ball through a huge gap in the slip cordon for another four. No one positioned at second slip and the gully fielder has to go all the way to fetch the ball back. India riding a bit of luck to reach 39/0 after 13 overs.
Nathan Lyon in
Only 11 overs before Nathan Lyon is handed the ball. Just four wickets for him in this series so far, but with India chasing over 400 on a slow, turning, deteriorating surface, the off-spinner must be licking his chops.
Australia lose a review
Interesting five minutes of play. After the Rohit review, Australia take a caught behind review against Gill. Again, there was no bat involved and the thud sound that there was was due to the ball hitting Gill on his back thigh pad on the way to Paine's gloves. Australia one review down. India 25/0 after 8 overs.
India review successfully
Rohit Sharma takes a smart review. Hazlewood pins him on the backfoot but the impact looked high. Umpire Reiffel was quick to raise his finger but equally swift was Rohit to review it. While there was no inside edge, the ball was doing a lot and would missing the stumps by quite a bit.
Cummins to Gill: Crunched for FOUR
Typical Gill. Latches on to that back of a length delivery to crack a four off the backfoot off Cummins. The hotspot shows the ball hitting the sweet spot on the bat. India 23/0 after 7 overs.
India milking singles
Not much early movement for Australia's bowlers. India openers content taking singles. Plenty of open spaces in the ground. Meanwhile, Pat Cummins has replaced Mitchell Starc. The No. 1 bowler in the world is in the attack early. Shubman Gill, watch out for that teasing delivery outside off.
First FOUR for India
A little wide and Rohit Sharma creams Mitchell Starc through the offside for India's first boundary. The batsman opened the face of his bat and just placed it through point.
Inside edge
Gill just a tad late to bring his bat down and gets a thick inside edge on the legside for a single. India 10 without loss after 4 overs.
Another outside edge, another couple of runs
Gill a little indecisive of his foot movement there. Tries to drive the ball but it takes the outside edge and goes between third slip and gully. A couple of runs more taken. Hazlewood spot on early in his spell.
Leading edge: 2 runs
Rohit gets a leading edge trying to flick Starc, but the ball goes to third man allowing him and Gill to run a double. India six without loss after three overs.
Maiden from Hazlewood
Hazlewood keeps it tight in his first over. Huge appeal of LBW against Shubman Gill off the last ball but the impact was clearly very high on the pads. India 4/0 after 2 overs.
Four runs off the first over
Rohit, Gill and India off the mark in that over. Rohit pulled the first ball for a couple of runs, followed by a single off the next ball. Shubman Gill taps the ball to fine leg to get off the mark as well.
Out walk Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill
So the Indian innings is about to get underway. They put on 70 runs for the first wicket in the first innings and India would want their openers to improve on it if they are to have a chance of making something of this chase. Tim Paine marshalling his troops out to the ground. Mitchell Starc has the ball in hand.
UPDATE: Australia have declared
So the declaration has finally arrived with Australia on 312/6, setting India 407 runs to win. More importantly, India will look at it as four sessions of survival. Remember, there is no more rain expected, so India will need to bat out four sessions if they are to save this game.
The session that was
Only 23 overs bowled in the session but one that further cemented Australia's position in the match. 130 runs scored with Cameron Green really turning on the heat. The session began with Ashwin dismissing Smith right after the break, but as Rohit dropped Paine at first slip, the floodgates opened. Paine and Green did not hold back and played some aggressive shots with Green scoring his maiden Test half-century. He smacked four sixes and was closing on on what could have been a maiden Test ton. In between, a few spectators were ejected out of the stadium for mouthing a few words at Siraj as well. A lot happened.
India end the session with Green's wicket
OUT! Green goes for another heave but the ball kisses the inside edge of his bat on its way to Saha's gloves. Bumrah finally gets a wicket as Green misses out on a maiden Test ton. With that, it'll be tea on Day 4. Australia head into the break on 312/6, ahead of India by 406 runs.
FOUR, SIX from Green
The big man can hit them equally big. Smashes Bumrah down the ground and hooks him for six, his fourth of the innings.
Four people have been asked to leave
The security guards firmly ask six guys seated in a row to leave from their positions. It seems as if the group was responsible for mouthing a few unpleasant words to Siraj. Play resumes with Paine taking a single off Bumrah.
Play halted
Siraj comes to his captain Ajinkya Rahane from the boundary and they are having a discussion with umpire Paul Reiffel. There were reports that Siraj and Bumrah were subjected to some derogatory remarks by the crowd. A similar incident happened last evening and this doesn't seem to be much different.
Siraj to Green: Consecutive SIXES
If the stunning six in the last over wasn't enough, Green has decided to have some fun. Gives himself room and hammers back to back sixes off Mohammed Siraj to make it 17 runs off the over. Australia bring up their 300, the lead is 395.
FOUR! Maiden Test fifty for Cameron Green
Plays away from the body and the ball flies wide of gully. Gets a boundary and with that, Cameron Green brings up his first half-century in Tests. It's taken him five innings, but he's finally gotten there.
India take second new ball
India have taken the second new ball. Jasprit Bumrah to bowl the first over with it. There can't be a better time for India to have a shot at picking up a wicket than now.
What do you make of the Steve Smith dismissal?
Let the debates begin.
Paine on the attack
The Australia captain is batting in a manner we haven't seen him in quite some time. Ashwin lands a carrom ball outside leg, Paine tries to drill it on the legside but the ball takes the inner half of the bat. Four runs none the less. Australia have scored 82 runs in 16 overs in the session.
Saini to Green: FOUR
Navdeep Saini replaces Jasprit Bumrah. Cameron Green welcomes him with a spanking boundary off an authoritative pull shot. Follows it with a couple to bring up the 50 partnership off only 67 balls. Australia's lead heading towards 350.
Paine plays the reverse sweep for FOUR
Cameron Green gives himself, hoping to give Ashwin a big swing on the offside but gets an inside edge for a single. Paine plays the reverse sweep for a four. Australia's intentions are pretty clear. They move to 252/4, lead India by 346 runs.
Consecutive FOURS for Paine
The Australian captain is gaining his confidence since that drop as he hits back-to-back boundaries. Paddles sweeps Ashwin fine behind square and slaps the next ball through covers as the off-spinner drops it short.
Bumrah to Paine: FOUR
Keeps getting worse for India. This time, Paine squeezes the ball wide of a diving Rahane at gully for a second boundary in the over. Bumrah shakes his head, and you can't blame him. He hasn't been supported by his teammates.
Boundary for Paine
As it happens most of the time, Paine gets a boundary two balls after he is dropped. Plays the drive on the up and gets enough to send it to the boundary.
DROPPED: Rohit puts down Paine
Dropped. Tim Paine survives as Rohit Sharma drops him at first slip. Bumrah has another catch dropped off his bowling. India cannot afford this with the lead over 300. We understand the tired minds but just not a scenario where dropping catches is an option.
Ashwin to Green: FOUR
Australia stepping on the accelerator. Green advances down the wicket and chips Ashwin over the infield on the legside to bring himself another boundary. Australia 227/5, lead India by 321 runs.
Is that a drop? No, just falls short
Bumrah gets the ball to pop up, foxing Green. It hits the top end of the bat and slices up in the air but falls just short of a diving Hanuma Vihari at short mid off. For a moment, it looked like Vihari may have grassed another one off Bumrah.
