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What went wrong for Team India in Ranchi Test
Australia cricket team batsmen Peter Handscomb and Shaun Marsh frustrated India cricket team with a fifth-wicket partnership lasting 62.1 overs on Day 5 to salvage a draw in the third Test at Ranchi
Australia cricket team’s Shaun Marsh and Peter Handscomb batted with grit to salvage their team a draw in the third Test against Virat Kohli’s India cricket team in Ranchi on Monday. (Day 5 highlights)
Going into the final day, Australia were two wickets down (23/2) down and trailing by 152 runs, thanks to the heroics with the bat by Cheteshwar Pujara and Wriddhiman Saha. (Scorecard)
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On a turning track, with Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja bowling in tandem, one would have expected India to seal a memorable win. But it was not to be and here is a look at the key moments that turned things around in Australia’s favour on Day 5.
Matt Renshaw irks Ishant
29th over: Matt Renshaw pulled out just when Ishant Sharma was shaping to bowl his first delivery of the 29th over because Murali Vijay had apparently moved a couple of steps from his position at midwicket.
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In frustration, Sharma threw the ball wide of Renshaw towards wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha and few words were exchanged. Irked, Sharma brought in a bat-pad, making Renshaw think he would bowl a bouncer. Instead Sharma bowled a full-length incoming ball that hit him plumb.
Jadeja spins past Steve Smith
30th over: Virat Kohli’s dismissal in Pune had shown how disastrous shouldering arms to a spinner can be but the lesson probably hadn’t been learnt by Steve Smith.
On the first ball after the over in which Renshaw was dismissed by Ishant, Smith put in half a stride to pad up to Jadeja with his arms raised. The ball pitched in the rough to spin almost square and take the top of Smith’s off-stump, leaving him and the entire Australia dressing room in shock.
A stand against time
30th to 92nd over: India were probably dreaming of winning the Ranchi Test after Smith’s dismissal but Shaun Marsh and Peter Handscomb had other ideas.
Batsmen falter when they seek to play out a draw but not these two. Armed with good defence, both blocked and left many but didn’t let go off the scoring opportunities. In the process, both scored fifties and added 124 runs for the fifth wicket in 374 deliveries. But runs were never of any concern to Australians. Batting out time was key to forcing a draw here and they did exactly that by consuming 232 minutes.
