Australia vs India 2018-19: 4th Test, Day 3 - Report

Updated - 05 Jan 2019, 01:54 PM

Australia vsWest Indies vs India 2019: 1st Test - Dream 11 Indian National Cricket Team 2018 | Day 3 | Sydney |
(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Indian National Cricket team once again dominated day two at the Sydney as their spin duo backed up the brilliant effort from the batters as the visitors stare at their first-ever series win in Australian soil.

Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav shared five wickets between them and were at their persistent best across the two and something sessions that they bowled before bad light set in. Virat Kohli couldn’t take the second new ball, but to be fair, he didn’t need to. That’s how well his spinners were bowling. And that after Australia tried their best to throw them off their lengths with constant, sometimes overdone, use of the feet.

However, the hosts started the day three on an aggressive note scoring 95 runs from 30 overs for the loss of just one wicket.  Usman Khawaja’s wicket was the only dismissal as the southpaw struggled to read Kuldeep’s variations. As a result, his wicket shouldn’t come as a surprise. Moreover, he ran out of luck too. Rishabh Pant dropped him off the bowling of Mohammed Shami last evening, and then almost clipped Ravindra Jadeja’s first ball today to midwicket. Even an athletic dive from KL Rahul there fell short.

Ravindra Jadeja, Australia vs India 2018-19, Marcus Harris
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Jadeja and Kuldeep proves to be decisive

Meanwhile, the departure of Marcus Harris early in the after session set the tone for the Indian National Cricket team. Harris rotated the strike to good effect in the first session, so the decision to bowl outside the off paid dividends. Jadeja bowled one wide to Harris and got him chopping on. Shaun Marsh and Marnus Labuschagne fell within a space of 24 runs. Furthermore, Tim Paine’s dismissal right after tea welcomes more trouble for Australia.

Although the spin duo posed enough trouble, Peter Handscomb and Pat Cummins bailed Australia out before the umpires called off day’s play due to bad light.

Brief Scores:

India 622/7 declared lead Australia 236/6 (Harris 79, Handscomb 28*, Cummins 25*; Kuldeep 3-71, Jadeja 2-62) by 386 runs