Photo: Collected
Requiring 340 to win on the final day of the fourth test against Australia, India made a shaky start to reach 33-3 at lunch Monday at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Mitchell Starc struck in the final over before lunch, capturing the key wicket of Virat Kohli (five) who was caught at first slip. Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal was unbeaten on 14.
India had labored for 25 runs without loss off 16 testing overs before Pat Cummins produced a double-wicket maiden, dismissing Rohit Sharma (9) caught at gully and K.L. Rahul (0) caught at first slip. A crowd of over 50,000 on Monday's fifth day of play lifted the attendance figure for the match past the previous record for a Melbourne Test of 350,534, set during the Don Bradman-era 1936-37 Ashes series.
Earlier, Australia was bowled out in its second innings for 234. Jasprit Bumrah (5-57 off 24.4 overs) claimed his 13th five-wicket haul by bowling Nathan Lyon in the second over of the day.
Bumrah, 31, is the leading wicket-taker in the series with 30 victims at an average of 12.83. The 44-test veteran took match figures of 9-156. Bumrah is the only player in test history with at least 200 wickets and a bowling average under 20 (203 at 19.42).
Bumrah removed Travis Head (1), Mitchell Marsh (0) and Alex Carey (2) cheaply before the home side reached 228-9 at stumps Sunday. Half-century partnerships between Marnus Labuschagne (70) and Pat Cummins (41) for the seventh wicket and Lyon (41) and Scott Boland (15 not out) for the 10th wicket pushed Australia's lead out to 339.
Steve Smith top-scored with 140, his 34th test century, in Australia's first innings of 474. India replied with 369, led by 21-year-old Nitish Kumar Reddy's maiden century (114). The five-match series is level at 1-1. The fifth and final Australia-India test is scheduled to start on Jan. 3 at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Messenger/JRTarek
