SPORTS
Australia win thriller to take series lead over India

Border-Gavaskar Trophy: Fourth Test, day five, Melbourne

Australia 474 (Smith 140; Bumrah 4-99) & 234 (Labuschagne 70; Bumrah 5-57)

India 369 (Reddy 114; Boland 3-57) & 155 (Jaiswal 84; Cummins 3-28)

Australia won by 184 runs and lead series 2-1

Scorecard

Australia beat India by 184 runs in a thrilling conclusion to the fourth Test in Melbourne to take a 2-1 lead in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

India were set a target of 340 in 92 overs and batted cautiously throughout the innings with little ambition to chase victory.

But a sensational bowling performance in the evening session saw Australia take the final seven wickets for just 34 runs as India were bowled out for 155 in the final hour.

Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal looked determined to seal a hard-fought draw for India after the rest of the top order failed as the tourists slipped to 33-3 before he was caught behind off Pat Cummins for 84 from 208 balls with 21 overs remaining.

Jaiswal had earlier battled through a wicketless afternoon session with wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant, who made 30 from 104 balls – but they were the only batters to pass double figures.

Pant’s departure after tea sparked the collapse, as he ran out of patience by slogging Travis Head to long-on for another wasteful dismissal.

Cummins and Scott Boland finished with three wickets each while spinner Nathan Lyon took two after his batting heroics, falling for 41 in the second over of the day as Australia were all out for 234.

He was bowled by Jasprit Bumrah, who finished with 5-57 in another scintillating performance.

The series concludes in Sydney from 2 January, where a win would secure Australia’s place in the World Test Championship final.

Cummins stars in classic win

In front of a record attendance for a Test match in Australia – with 373,691 spectators at the MCG over the five days – captain Cummins delivered another masterclass with the ball and with his tactics to seal the victory.

India openers Jaiswal and captain Rohit Sharma started slowly to set the tone for the team’s approach, battling to 25-0 from 16 overs with just 12 scoring shots played within the first 90 balls.

However Cummins’ double-wicket maiden in the 17th over burst the door open for Australia, as Rohit edged to gully for nine and KL Rahul was caught at slip for a duck.

Three further maidens followed before Mitchell Starc removed Virat Kohli for five on the stroke of lunch with India firmly on the back foot.

But after the break they were thwarted by resistance from Pant and Jaiswal, who both adapted to the situation by calming their usual aggressive approach.

Their fourth-wicket stand of 88 was watchful and looked like saving the game until a stroke of brilliance from Cummins saw him throw the ball to part-time spinner Travis Head.

Pant could not resist attacking and clubbed a short delivery to Mitchell Marsh on the boundary which ignited Australia and opened the gates for their seamers to pounce on a nervous middle-to-lower order.

Ravindra Jadeja was caught behind off Boland for two, first-innings centurion Nitish Kumar Reddy edged Lyon to slip and when Cummins landed the hammer blow with Jaiswal edging a well-directed bouncer to wicketkeeper Alex Carey, it felt as if India’s hopes departed with him.

Source: Bbc.com

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