Australia ripped out seven Indian wickets in the final session of the fourth Test in Melbourne on Monday to win by 184 runs and go 2-1 up in the five-match series, reports AFP.
India collapsed to 155 all out with just 12.5 overs left in the match. Australia captain Pat Cummins took 3-28, including the wicket of top-scorer Yashasvi Jaiswal for 84. The final Test starts in Sydney on Friday.
Pat Cummins and Scott Boland took three wickets each while Nathan Lyon took two as Australia wiped off seven wickets in the third session and won the epic fourth Test by 184 runs.
Yashasvi Jaiswal's long stay in the middle was ended by Australia captain Pat Cummins and that has exposed India's tail. Washington Sundar is the last recognised batter out there.
Jaiswal absorbed 208 balls for his 84 runs before going for a hook shot and perishing rather controversially.
Rishabh Pant earlier showed in the second session that he can drop anchor when needed but then ended his great act of resistance in the most horrible way early in the third session. Pant went for a big shot out of nowhere against Travis Head and ended up being caught in the deep. That ended an 88-run partnership with Yashasvi Jaiswal which lasted 197 balls.
Ravindra Jadeja then fell to Scott Boland and Nitish Kumar Reddy to Nathan Lyon in the over after that.
Pant and Jaiswal ensured that India lost no wickets in the second session after three fell before Lunch. Jaiswal started the session aggressively and there was an over against Nathan Lyon in which he got away with trying to hit him out of the park and failing. But the young opener has largely been India's anchor throughout the day after Australia set them a target of 340 to chase.
Pant and Jaiswal's resistance in the second session meant that Australia went back to the dressing room at Tea rather frustrated.
Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul earlier fell in the same over to Pat Cummins shortly after the drinks break in the first session of Day 5 of the 4th Test between India and Australia at the MCG. Rohit and Jaiswal dealt with some utterly unplayable deliveries from Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and later Scott Boland but the Indian openers were a picture of concentration as they survived the early pace salvo. Rohit in particular looked far better than ever on this tour but fell for just nine runs off nine off 40 balls. India are chasing a target of 340, much higher than the record for the highest succesfull Test run chase at the MCG which was set all the way back in 1928.
It was Jasprit Bumrah once again for India at the start of the day. Mohammed Siraj bowled the first over of Day 5 and then Bumrah took just four balls to uproot Nathan Lyon's middle stump and end his extraordinary last wicket stand with Scott Boland. Australia were all out for 234 in their second innings.
Indian captain Rohit Sharma expressed his disappointment in the post-match interview, saying: “Not that we went with the intent of not putting up a fight, we wanted to fight till the end but unfortunately couldn't do it.”
It will be tough to assess just the last session, he added, saying: “We have to look at the overall Test match, we had our opportunities, we had our chances, but we didn't take them and we let Australia come back into the game when we had them 90/6.”
“I know things can get difficult but that is what we are here for, we wanted to be in tough situations and play hard cricket, I just don't want to look at one incident in the game.”
Winning captain and man of the match, Pat Cummings expressed his joy during the port-match interview. He said: “What an amazing Test match, one of the best to be part of, the crowd has been ridiculous and cricket has been just as good, pretty happy change room at the moment, pretty happy to contribute.”
He shared credit with his teammates, saying: “Marnus helped me out in the second innings big time, never really know what you going to get with our batting, fortunately it came off in this game.”
“… amazing innings from Smith to hold the first innings together.”
He explained the reason behind their victory. “Getting more than 400 in the first innings set the game for us. You always think anything can happen. We bowled well in the first session to have them 3/30. They batted well in the middle session. We knew that we had to get one breakthrough and anything can happen and that proved to be the case.”
“We had plenty of runs to play with, we had plenty of fielders with the helmet around. We talk about a lot about us as a lower order, we put a lot of work into it. We know it can be the difference in a lot of Test matches and we work on ourselves a lot, to try and contribute a few more runs,” he continued.
“I give the coach the credit for that one (Sending Head to bowl), we were also behind on the over-rate so we thought let's get Travis in there and he might get a breakthrough. (On Smith's knock in the first innings) Amazing, it wasn't an easy wicket, he showed how to bat on it. He got an opportunity and he pounced and really upped the ante with the tailenders. He also took some catches which often go unnoticed. We are really happy with the way we played, we will savour this one before we head on to Sydney,” he furthered.
Bd-Pratidin English/ AM
