BRISBANE: Bad light came in to interrupt an exhilarating final day of the third Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) after Australia set a 275-run target for India on Wednesday.
After the weather forced Tea to be taken early, India’s score read 8/0, 267 runs away from victory, with KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal unbeaten with scores of 4(7) and 4(6), respectively.
Jaiswal and Rahul looked in good touch, effectively negating the pace blitz of Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc. The opening pair found a couple of perfectly timed shots to keep the scoreboard driving.
India were put to bat after the Australian skipper, Cummins made a bold call to declare on 89/7 with a lead of 274 runs. A bit of surprise was evident as Cummins showed the intent of the Australian team to push for a result, despite being a pacer down.
Australia tried to fire quickly with Usman Khawaja picking up a couple of fours to lay down their intent. The intent to play aggressively came with a risk that Australian batters were willing to pay off.
In a space of the first 18 overs, Australia lost seven wickets and managed to put 89 runs on the board. In the first 10 overs, runs were scarce as skipper Rohit Sharma shuffled his bowlers well.
Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj bowled in tandem before the latter was taken out and Akash Deep was thrown into the mix. The move worked magic, with Bumrah and Akash making inroads and restricting Australia to 28/4.
Alex Carey (20*), Travis Head (17) and Cummins (22) kept their swift approach alive and tried to deal with boundaries. Wickets kept falling but runs rose simultaneously on the board as well.
With their surge, Australia managed to put 89/7 on the boards, which Cummins and the management thought should be enough to push for a result.
Earlier in the day, India folded on 260 following Akash Deep’s dismissal, and Australia were supposed to begin their innings, but the rain had other plans.
Fans waited patiently for the opening duo of Usman Khawaja and Nathan McSweeney to take the crease, but the moment never arrived.
The waiting game began when bad weather didn’t allow the game to resume. But the conditions worsened after rain arrived at The Gabba, limiting the session to just 24 balls.
Before the intervention of the weather gods, Akash and Jasprit Bumrah continued to churn out runs for India, adding to Australia’s misery.
The Australian bowling unit had to be patient in their attempts to find a breakthrough. While Nathan Lyon tried to create pressure from one end, Travis Head tried to exploit the tail end from the other.
Head, who starred for Australia with his 152-run blitzkrieg, eventually got the breakthrough. He invited Akash forward, got past him with a slider, and Alex Carey removed the bails at lightning pace. The replay showed Akash had nothing behind the crease with his foot on the line at the moment Carey dislodged the bails.
The superb cameo from Akash came to an end as he walked back with figures of 31(44). Jasprit Bumrah and the rest of the bowling unit appeared on the field to warm up after the rain stopped.
Brief Score: Australia 455 & 89/7 d (Pat Cummins 22, Alex Carey 20*; Jasprit Bumrah 3-18) vs India 260 & 8/0 (KL Rahul 4*, Yashasvi Jaiswal 4*). (ANI)
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