Bowlers lead India's prance into ascendancy


Brief Scores: Australia 195 & 133/6 (Cameron Green 17*, Pat Cummins 15*, Matthew Wade 40; Ravindra Jadeja 2/25, Umesh Yadav 1/5) lead India 326 (Shubman Gill 45, Ajinkya Rahane 112, Ravindra Jadeja 57; Pat Cummins 2-80, Mitchell Starc 3-78) by 2 runs. 

India tightened their grasp on the Boxing Day Test by reducing Australia to 133/6 in the second innings after earning a 131-run lead earlier in the third day, which is aptly called the moving day in Test lingo. Despite Australia holding a slender lead of 2 runs, the scales are now heavily tipped in India's favour thanks to their bowling unit that functioned like a well-oiled machine to set the seal on India's fairytale comeback in the Border-Gavaskar trophy. 

The only blemish to their near-perfect day was pacer Umesh Yadav limping off the field after complaining of pain in his calf muscle. He joins the injury list which includes his colleague Mohammed Shami, who was ruled out of the remainder of the tour after copping a nasty blow on his arm in the series opener. 

The third day is generally considered the best day to bat in Australia and thus, a hefty extension of lead was on India's agenda as centurion Ajinkya Rahane and Ravindra Jadeja made their way out to the middle. However, things didn't quite go as per their plans. With Jadeja being stranded on 49 for four deliveries, the milestone effect saw the duo try and steal a tight single only for Marnus Labuschagne to produce a rocket side-arm flick to draw Rahane's masterclass to a close for 112. It was the maiden instance of the experienced campaigner being dismissed run-out in Test cricket. 

The trademark sword celebration did come out forthwith as Jadeja notched up a well-compiled fifty in 132 balls. He rocked back to pump Nathan Lyon through mid-wicket as India cruised past 300. But Mitchell Starc then abided by the short ball ploy to remove him and dash India's hopes of securing an even bigger lead. The bodyline barrage had Jadeja hopping and swaying fretfully before an attempt to break free landed down Pat Cummins' throat at deep mid-wicket. ending the sublime innings at 57. The tail couldn't wag much as India were dismissed for 326 with an addition of just 49 in the morning session. India would have been rather content with the 131-run lead when they were teetering at 64 for 3 yesterday, but from 294 for 5, they would certainly have felt like leaving a lot on the plate. 

The pitch had flattened out a great deal and possessed no real demons in it, which meant the new ball was India's best bet to strike early. Joe Burns looked all at sea against Jasprit Bumrah before Umesh Yadav's brute of an outswinger arrived with his name stamped on it. Make no mistake, it was almost an unplayable beauty, although the under-fire opener did himself no favours by following and jabbing hard at the sudden away movement. Matthew Wade held Australia's fort with some cracking punches through the off-side and a neat on-drive against Bumrah. However, his partner Marnus Labuschangne lived dangerously for his 28, escaping an lbw shout on the virtue of umpire's call while also skewing a pull into no man's land. He finally ran out of luck as Ravichandran Ashwin induced the outside edge with a slider after laying the trap with a slew of flighted off-breaks. 

Steve Smith, standing on the verge of becoming Ashwin's bunny after falling to him cheaply twice in the series, looked in visible discomfort while facing his nemesis. He varied his pace adeptly while maintaining a ramrod straight channel throughout as Smith was forced back into the depth of his crease. The off-spinner nearly got the better of him yet again when Smith glanced one down leg but it bounced just in front of leg-slip. The surface was offering little in terms of assistance but India's unrelenting discipline kept the run flow in check as the hosts went to Tea on 65/2, trailing by 66.

The final session was Australia's chance to consolidate after a tough grind but Bumrah castled the big fish, Smith, around his legs to throw a big spanner into their plans. What compounded their misery further was that the well-set Wade couldn't convert his start into something of note, with Jadeja setting him up to perfection. The left-armer coaxed Wade forward with a bunch of stuff outside off-stump before darting in the arm-ball to ping him plumb for an unfulfilled 40. Travis Head resisted for a brief while but an inspired bowling change from Ajinkya Rahane did the trick. Mohammed Siraj was brought on for his second burst of the day and got into the act right away as Head perished nicking to second slip. 

India further sliced through the lower-middle order as Tim Paine fell prey to a controversial decision of caught behind off Jadeja. India reviewed the on-field verdict of not out in their favour as the snicko registered a clear spike, despite there being no activity whatsoever on HotSpot. The overturned decision saw Paine fly into a rage as he walked back grumpily towards the pavilion, understandably so, as real-time replays did suggest daylight between the bat and ball. With the scoreboard reading sorry figures of 99/6, Australia were staring down the barrel of defeat. Cameron Green and Pat Cummins managed to hold their nerve till Stumps courtesy a firm 36-run alliance, a saving grace for Australia after being at the receiving end of the visitors' wrath for the better part of the day.

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