Siraj shines but India handed Herculean 328 on final day at Gabba

Brief Scores: India 336 & 4/0 (Rohit Sharma 4*, Shubman Gill 0*; Mitchell Starc 0-4) need 320 to win against Australia 369 & 294 (Steve Smith 55, Cameron Green 37; Mohammed Siraj 5-73, Shardul Thakur 4-61)

Australia walked a tightrope between hoarding as many runs as possible to bolster the lead and preserving their wickets to avert the risk of a defeat as they managed to rake up 294, setting India an onerous target of 328 given the demons lurking in the pitch. Mohammed Siraj and Shardul Thakur were the stars of the show, bowling with heart and hostility to capture a maiden five and four-wicket haul respectively. Violent rains, as forecasted, interrupted proceedings every now and then, swallowing the majority of the final session as India control proceedings at 4 for no loss, their aspirations of a draw to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy spurred by the fact that the weather gods are presumed to intervene again on the final day. 

The first session moved at the rate of knots with the left-handed duo of Marcus Harris and David Warner scoring at a fair clip. T Natarajan served half-volleys ripe for cover drives while Siraj bore the brunt of a few savage strokes on the off-side. It wasn't a chanceless passage of play though, with edges teasing Rohit Sharma at second slip, either eluding his leaps or landing just in front. Following their stupefying rearguard, it was Thakur and Washington Sundar who arrived at India's rescue yet again as India put the kibosh on Australia's freewheeling openers. Harris paid the price of not dropping his wrists against Thakur's bouncer which grazed his glove on its way to Pant. Sundar then duped Warner into camping back to a full delivery only to be pinged on the pads as India breathed a huge sigh of relief to see the back of Warner, two shy of what would have been his first half-century of the series. 

The overnight batsmen done and dusted, India made further merry as Siraj sliced through the middle-order with a twofold strike. Having walloped to 25 on the back of five boundaries, Marnus Labuschagne fell prey to a tinge of away movement with Rohit Sharma proving as safe as houses at second slip. Matthew Wade was then strangled down the leg in a soft dismissal as India recoiled into the contest with the hosts hobbling at 123/4. 

However, lynchpin Steve Smith was always going to be a hard nut to crack as he went about his business with tremendous zeal and vigour in order to plump Australia's lead. Navdeep Saini was the first man in the firing line, his lack of intensity due to the injury turning him into a sitting duck for Smith to take full toll. The batting behemoth pranced down the deck to scythe Sundar along the carpet through covers, but also received a lease of life when he tried to take the aerial route with Siraj erring in judgement on the long-on boundary. He even shelled a return catch to reprieve Cameron Green but fought redemption with an absolute seed of a lifter that just exploded out of nowhere to lob off Smith's glove towards gully. Circumspect of whether his hand was in contact with the bat handle upon impact, Smith sent the matter upstairs only for the on-field mandate to stay. It was a big blow to Australia as Smith was looking in fine fettle and could've ushered them into the box seat had he kicked on for a bit longer. 

Thakur then rocked Australia's boat by eliciting an edge from Green for 37 before bouncing out skipper Tim Paine for a brisk 27. With a thunderstorm looming large and threatening to rob chunks of play, it felt as if the declaration was around the corner with the hosts having procured a beefy 276-run led as a brief shower forced an early Tea. However, they didn't and placed their trust in the tail to wag and yield the final flourish. In retrospect, the jury will be out on whether the delay in the declaration was worth the gamble as Pat Cummins consumed 51 balls for his unbeaten 28 and Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon and Josh Hazlewood failing to deliver the goods. However, it didn't require a genius to fathom the logic behind their patience as India were well and truly capable of chasing anything under 300 on the final day given weather's permission. It also helped Siraj facilitate his fifer as he nabbed Hazlewood and Starc off miscued lofts while Thakur accounted for Lyon as India took due care of the tail for a change.

Neither of the three results can be ruled out as this crackerjack of a series approaches its business end. Australia's pace trio would be licking their lips as the cracks widen up, but India have never shied away from a fight on this tour and would relish the challenge of survival. There's plenty at stake, keeping in mind the series is on the line and the World Test Championship dynamics and would sure make for an emphatic swansong in what has been a series that'll be penned down with golden letters in cricketing folklore.

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