One of the great Tests?
It's worth reflecting on what has transpired across the five days of a rich Test match. We could have done with a tighter finish, but there has been no shortage of drama, and this game has seen several heroes at various times, with India punching back repeatedly to stay in the game, before finally falling short. The 184-run margin of defeat doesn't reflect how well they competed.
On day one, we had a manic start to a Test career from Sam Konstas, who took on the best bowler in the world, and prospered for a while. The MCG was in full Colosseum mode for this spirited 19-year-old, and he lapped it all up. In fact he was seen hyping up the crowd all game, even when he was fielding under the lid on the final day.
Then we had Steven Smith return to somewhere near his best form, with a spectacular 140. He'd forged a 112-run partnership with Pat Cummins along the way. On that second evening, Scott Boland and co took five wickets, and left India in serious trouble.
That was until Nitish Kumar Reddy rescued them from the prospect of a gigantic deficit on day three, batting beautifully with the lower order against intense pace bowling, to bring up his maiden century in front of more than 80,000 fans. His family was in attendance too, his father in tears when he reached triple figures.
Day four belonged to Jasprit Bumrah, who bowled lucklessly in the morning, but struck thrice in the space of two overs to bring India roaring back into the game, after they'd conceded a first-innings lead of 105.
On day five, with all four results in play, Australia hunted down India's 10 wickets. The top order, again, was a disappointment. But while Rishabh Pant and Yashasvi Jaiswal batted together, there had been some hope. Australia, in the end, didn't even need the second new ball.
Don't forget too, that crowd attendance for this game is easily a record for a Boxing Day Test. In fact, they had broken the record on day four, and there was a healthy crowd on day five as well.
In one of the great cricketing occasions of the year, Test cricket has reminded us how many compelling narratives and gripping human stories it can produce, and how fine its contests can be. It's been a pleasure reporting on this game.
That's it from me. Take it easy!
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Head's thoughts on the Test
Travis Head on breaking the Jaiswal-Pant parthership: "I had a break for the first four days [he had been out cheaply twice], so it was nice to contribute. I got told at tea by Ronnie (Andrew McDonald) and Pat at tea that I was bowling. I just threw a few down there to see what would happen."
On the crowd: "It was a great win to be part of. The crowds have been fantastic. I don't think we've seen anything like this, and we went into the fifth day with the match in the balance. It's been great from both the India and Australia fans."
On the Test in general: "There were times when India did well, and there were times when we were up. And there were times when we fought. It ebbed and flowed over the five days."
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Cummins' massive contributions
Update: He is the Player of the match.
There were some impressive knocks, and great spells from Jasprit Bumrah in particular, but for me, Pat Cummins has had the most spectacular Test.
He hit 49 in the first innings, and was involved in a 112-run partnership with Steven Smith. With the ball, he got 3 for 89, before being involved in another vital lower-order partnership - this one worth 57 - with Marnush Labuschagne in the second dig. Finally, he's taken innings-best figures of 3 for 28, having dismissed each of India's top three.
He was fantastic with his bowling changes and fields too. You can't ask for a lot more than that from a captain.
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Lyon gets the final wicket
Classic offbreak, pitches outside off, turns into the batter. Too good for No. 11 Mohammad Siraj, who is hit on the front pad, lunging forward slightly. The umpire gives it out, and the mass of fielders around the batter now begin to celebrate raucously.
Siraj review of course, but that's fairly straightforward. Australia go into the Sydney Test 2-1 up.
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Australia are one away
Scott Boland draws yet another end - that of Jasprit Bumrah this time. Steve Smith takes a diving, low catch at first slip. And Australia are on the brink of locking down a 2-1 lead now. Remember the second new ball is available shortly too.
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Jaiswal atop the charts for India
359 No. of runs Jaiswal has scored this series, at an average of 51.28.
It's sort of been lost in the drama of the last couple of wickets, but what a series Jaiswal is having, for his first in Australia. He will kick himself for missing two chances to get to a first Australia century, but he has a match tally of 166 runs, and he's more than 60-runs clear of the next best India batter this series, Nitish Kumar Reddy.
These are incredibly good signs from an opening batter. His stock grows, even as his team struggles.
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Another one overturned for Australia
Australia were convinced there were two noises there. Usman Khawaja even had two fingers up. This is to a Scott Boland length ball, which thuds into Akash Deep's front pad and pops up for Travis Head to catch at short square leg.
Deep doesn't think he's hit it though, and confidently tells his partner that.
But Real Time Snicko shows a tiny spike as ball passes bat, and umpire Sharfuddoula overturns another decision in Australia's favour.
Australia are two wickets away. India have to survive another 15 overs.
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Jaiswal is out. The end of India's hopes?
Surely that's it for India's chances? There are Washington Sundar and a bunch of tailenders left. They've got more than 21 overs to survive, and the second new ball is only eight overs away. Too much for these last four batters to do, surely.
The wicket of Jaiswal, though, is a little controversial. He loses patience and tries to hook a bouncer from Cummins. He only manages to get the edge of the shoulder of his bat to the ball though, and it floats through to Alex Carey.
But's he's given not out on the field initially.
Australia are certain he's hit that, and review the decision. Here's where the strange bit is - although regular replays show a clear deflection, and perhaps contact with bat AND glove, Real-Time Snicko shows a flat line as ball passes bat. Third Umpire Sharfuuddoula has enough evidence to overturn this though.
Jaiswal is not happy, however, having seen the flat RTS line on the screen. Nor are the India fans there, Alagappan Muthu - one of our reporters at the ground - tells me.
That wicket's split the crowd right down the middle. The Australia fans were waving buh-bye to Jaiswal even as he seemed deeply disinterested in leaving. The India fans were all waving thumbs down signs.
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India's slide, in pictures
Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rishabh Pant had put on 88 runs for the fourth wicket, and got India through a wicketless middle session. Then Australia brought on Travis Head after tea, and had Pant holing out to wide long on, where Mitchell Starc took an excellent tumbling catch.
Three overs later Scott Boland got one to rear up at Ravindra Jadeja, and drew his edge.
Next over, Nathan Lyon had India's centurion from the first innings - Nitish Kumar Reddy - edging to Steven Smith at slip.
Right now, even Jaiswal is battling hard as a resurgent Australia test him against the short ball. Washington Sundar is clinging on for dear life.
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Australia exultant as Nitish Kumar Reddy departs
We thought Nathan Lyon would play a role today. He hasn't quite imposed himself as much as I thought, but he's now added to what feels like a definitive phase of play on the last day, and got Nitish Kumar Reddy to edge a sliding ball to slip, where Steve Smith awaits.
India are down to their final batting pair.
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Now Boland gets Jadeja
3.4 Overs between Pant getting out and Jadeja getting out
Having opened up one end, Cummins brings back a wicket-taking seamer, and Boland strikes almost immediately. Second ball of this spell, he pitches one short of a length outside off, and gets it to leap at Jadeja, who attempts to fend it away to off. It takes the edge, though, and Alex Carey gobbles it up.
Doesn't take a genius to figure out that Australia's chances of winning shoot up drastically with that double strike. They have almost 30 overs to get the other five wickets now.
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Pant falls to Head
Oh Rishabh. You were doing so well. 103 balls of mostly self-denial is all Pant can manage, before holing out to wide long on, to a Travis Head long hop. The ball is short and there to hit, but smashing it along the ground is an option too, Rishabh. He tries to pummel it away over midwicket though, and badly miscues. Mitchell Marsh at long on runs back and around to get both hands to the chance as he tumbles. Travis Head makes a hole gesture with his hands, which looks a little obscene, but I'm sure he's saying something
This is exactly what Australia wanted when they brought Head into the attack - a partnership breaking little bit of weirdness. They were tempting the India batters to go after a weaker bowler, and through their aggression, find a wicket-taking chance. Pant has taken the bait.
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Second new ball crucial
26 No. of overs until the second new ball is available, at tea
Twenty six overs more. That's a vital number for India's middle order, because if they can get to that second new ball with only one - max two - further wickets falling, they give themselves a decent chance of playing out a draw. They would only need to face 12 overs after that.
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Pant batting like a monk (by Pant standards at least)
In the first innings, Pant had had to endure an earful from Sunil Gavaskar, who was so disgusted by the falling-over-flick that Pant played to lose his wicket, that he suggested Pant may as well go and join the opposition dressing room.
This time, Pant has produced maybe the least Pant-like innings in his career so far. Alagappan Muthu marvels from the MCG press box:
Does Rishabh Pant get sucked into his own myth sometimes? All through this series he's been playing flashy shots early in his innings. In this one, with the game and the series on the line, he's produced an innings of the highest restraint. Literally. Condition of 25 balls faced, he's never batted at a slower strike rate. At the Gabba in 2021, he was content with scoring just one boundary in 48 balls. Here he went even further, hitting only one boundary off his first 93 balls. At the Gabba, India needed 146 in the final session. Here it is 228.
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Pant and Jaiswal bat out a wicketless session
Two of India's most positive batters put their big shots away (largely), to see India wicketless through the afternoon session. Batting certainly wasn't as difficult as it had been in the morning, but Australia had still asked some serious questions with the old ball. Nathan Lyon was in decent rhythm after lunch too.
But Jaiswal has gone to tea on 63 off 159, and Rishabh Pant is striking at just over 30, after having faced 93 balls. They have given India a serious chance of getting out of this with a draw.
2.84 India's scoring rate in the 27.5 overs after lunch.
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What a draw here would mean for the World Test Championship
OK, so let's say India get what they seem to want out of this match, and it ends in a draw.
Where does that leave the World Test Championship, now that South Africa have qualified, following a manic finish at Centurion.
For India, it means that they no longer have a path to guaranteeing their WTC final berth, and will have to await the results of the Sri Lanka v Australia series in late January/early February. Even if India win the Sydney Test, for example, Australia can still surpass them on the table by beating Sri Lanka 2-0.
For Australia, a draw would mean they can't lock down the WTC final within this series either. Even if they won in Sydney, they'd need to win at least one of their matches in Sri Lanka to secure that spot.
The team that might benefit most from a draw is Sri Lanka, because it keeps them in the hunt. Of the three potential qualifiers, they are the least likely. But a draw here, and an Australia win in Sydney, or another draw there, means they can sneak in to the final if they beat Australia 2-0 at home. An India win in Sydney knocks Sri Lanka out though.
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India playing for the draw?
These two have batted more than 20 overs together now. And although this partnership has been much more positive than what had come before, it feels as if the draw is what India have settled on. Were ate around the 45 over mark, which should mean that batting has got considerably easier, but these two batters are content at picking up only occasional boundaries. Pant has batted more than 60 balls now, and his strike rate is still below 30.
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Jaiswal brings up second half-century
That's Jaiswal's second half-century of the match, and he gets there with a delectable legside flick off Nathan Lyon, which fetches him his seventh four of the innings. He's had to be patient through big portions of this knock making only 14 off the first 85 balls he faced.
He was quicker after lunch, though, in Pant's company. He gets to the milestone off the 127th delivery he faced.
While we discuss the paucity of returns for India's oldest Test batters, the youngest ones - Jaiswal and Nitish Kumar Reddy - have suggested that there is plenty of talent there through which this batting order can regenerate.
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Senior batter blues
As Nathan Lyon settles into his first spell of the day, we're going to throw some numbers at you. Just a warning, if you are an India fan, these are going to be depressing.
In the second half of this year, Rohit Sharma now averages 10.93. He's played 15 innings in that stretch, and crossed 30 only once. His average for 2024 is 24.76.
If you think that's bad, Virat Kohli's average for the year is 24.52 - marginally worse.
While Rohit had a good series at home against England, Kohli has had no major contributions across any series. Even in this Border Gavaskar Trophy, he hit an unbeaten 100 in Perth, and still averages 27.83 across the seven innings he's played.
This obviously causes substantial problems for the India top order. Stats whiz Sampath Bandarupalli tells us that only two batters aged 35+ had worse returns in a calendar year than Kohli and Rohit - 18.13 by Mike Brearley in 1978 and 23.80 by Sachin Tendulkar in 2012 (minimum of 15 innings in the top six).
India may have some serious thinking to do in the new year.
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India raising the tempo?
Two of India's most positive batters are at the crease, so perhaps we should not be surprised that they are scoring more quickly than the previous partnerships had. But in their first 60 balls together, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rishabh Pant have made 38. This is a serious improvement on the run rate of 1.26, which had prevailed before lunch.
Is this evidence India have half an eye on the victory? Hmmm, there's no strong evidence for that yet. It's not as if India have gone into attack mode.
But this pair are actively looking for run-scoring opportunities now, against what is a softening, older ball.
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Jaiswal survives by the skin of his teeth
This is as close as lbw reviews get. I wonder what the margin was on that one from ball tracker.
So Mitchell Starc nips one back into Jaiswal, who is caught on the crease. The ball cannons into the back pad just above the knee roll. The slips, keeper, and bowler all go up in raucous appeal. And the umpire turns it down. It looked out on first viewing.
The replays show the ball jagging back considerably, but hitting Jaiswal in front of middle and leg. And ball tracker suggests it would have gone on to cannon into the top of leg stump. It's not just grazing the wicket - it is hitting the stump flush.
But there's a problem, and that is height. This ball is only taking out the very top of the stump, and that is enough for the system to deem it an "umpire's call". If the ball had hit Jaiswal a couple of centimetres lower, that would probably have been three reds, and thus, out.
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Jaiswal shows some aggression
We're back after lunch, and second over of the session, Scott Boland bowls two successive short and wide deliveries, and Yashasvi Jaiswal plays controlled cut shots to both, sending one along the ground, and one over the top of the infield.
That Boland over:
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Pant, though, so far has been quiet. Though he's only faced a handful of balls.
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Kohli goes! India three down at lunch.
29 No. of balls Kohli batted out before edging Starc to first slip
Kohli's innings followed the Rohit model almost exactly. Like Rohit, Kohli was extremely watchful early on. Both batters also had their edges beaten while defending.
And like for Rohit, the first time Kohli plays an ambitious shot, he nicks off, and is gobbled up behind the wicket. First slip did the catching this time, with Mitchell Starc being the bowler.
With that wicket, the chances of an India victory (given India's general approach before lunch) seem to have nearly vanished. And their chances of a getting out with a draw have taken a serious hit as well.
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Three maidens to follow a double-wicket maiden
Overs 16 to 19 of India's innings.
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From the 16th to the end of the 19th over of India's innings, there have been zero runs and two wickets. That Australia didn't so much give up a leg bye through this period is testament to their intensity. And that even Jaiswal, who has faced more than 50 deliveries now, is not attempting run-scoring of any serious nature, is some inkling that India have decided they are better off attempting to draw this match than win it.
We'll have to keep watching, to see if scoring frees up a bit more in the approach to lunch.
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Cummins lands twin blows
Pat Cummins' seventh over:
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In one over, Pat Cummins has raised Australia's chances of victory significantly. Rohit Sharma was surviving playing tight and not offering shots. His first attempt at a seriously aggressive shot brings his downfall. This was fullish, a little outside off, and Rohit tries to crash it through cover. He ends up edging to gully instead.
Then last ball of that same over, KL Rahul gets a back-of-a-length ball on about a fourth stump line. He initially shapes to defend it, but then decides to leave it. And in that indecision, he ends up edging to second slip.
India are now without two of their most-experienced batters. Australia have their tails up.
Rohit had survived playing tight, but the moment
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India extremely cautious
12 No. of scoring shots off first 90 balls of India's innings.
Nine singles, one two, one three, one four - that's all the run-making India's openers have ventured in the first 15 overs. That reflects the discipline of Australia's seamers too. But this has been a very watchful start.
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Openers survive the first 13 overs
If the plan is to chase this 340 down, Jaiswal and Rohit have not moved into a high gear yet. Perhaps wisely, they are looking to get through this new-ball period with as little damage done as possible. There have been many balls passing the outside edge, batters almost chopping back on to the stumps, and the occasional lbw appeal. But that wickets column remains on zero.
India going slow now doesn't mean they are set on the draw, by the way. Remember they bat down to No. 9. And they've got the likes of Rishabh Pant to come.
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Who blinks first?
As Starc continues to be the primary menace in this incredibly tense passage of play, Alagappan Muthu has sent this in.
Australia are stalking India with smiles. Mitchell Starc flashed one at Yashasvi Jaiwal after beating his outside edge for a fifth time in 16 balls. Pat Cummins flashed one at Rohit Sharma as the batter turned around to see the ball barely bouncing through to the keeper. Eight runs in six overs with every ball an event. Jaiswal kicked the turf when he played away from his body and Rohit came down to talk to him. Rohit spuh-rinted down the pitch when he realised, a little late because all his focus is on playing the correct shot, whether it amounts to runs or not, when one of his soft-hand defensive pushes found the gap at cover. Both teams are playing as if the entire game might hinge on which one makes the first mistake.
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History
If history is a tapestry, there are all sorts of tassels you can tug on, on a day like this. How about the history of teams chasing at the MCG? No one has ever got as many as 340 to win and MCG Test, for a start, so India would need to break new ground to emerge victorious here. In fact, this century, the highest successful chase has been Australia's chasing of 231 (which they did with eight wickets to spare), against England, in 2013.
Then there are all the individual histories. Rohit Sharma has come into this innings with one score over 30 in his 13 last Test innings. He is opening the batting now, which seems like something of an attempt to rediscover form.
At the other end, you've got Yashasvi Jaiswal, who has to overcome the pain of dropping three catches on a crucial day four, yesterday.
And you've got the likes of Nathan Lyon, who has a second-innings strike rate of 44.6 in second innings at this venue. If he gets a wicket roughly every seven-and-a-half overs today, India will struggle.
Right now, though, the key battle is this new ball passage. And Mitchell Starc in particular, is swinging it viciously away from Yashasvi Jaiswal, who has played and missed repeatedly, but is occasionally managing to hit back with a solid drive when Starc gets too straight.
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Australia's last 10 balls
1.4 overs is all the last-wicket pair could manage for Australia today, but they did add six runs to the total.
Here's how those balls went.
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The four, scored by Scott Boland, came off the outside edge.
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Bumrah completes his five-for, India to chase 340
That's it. Second over of the day, Jasprit Bumrah goes full and at the stumps, and splays Nathan Lyon's stumps. So we know what the final equation is now - India have to chase 340 to win. They have 92 overs to do it in, or see out, if they happen to be going for the draw. There's not a lot of rain forecast, so we will hopefully see all those overs played today.
But for the moment, Bumrah has got a very well-deserved 13th career five-wicket haul. It was his triple-strike in the middle session yesterday that brought India roaring back into the game, though Australia's lower order did re-establish some control for the hosts after that.
In any case, he finishes with 5 for 57, and has shown time and again through the course of this series why he is the best bowler in the world at present.
Anyway, here are Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma to open the India innings.
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Thousands flood in to add to record MCG crowd
As Scott Boland's outside edge provides the first runs of the day, and India hunt for that final wicket with the second new cherry, our guy Alagappan Muthu has this update from the MCG, which had seen a cumulative attendance of 291,000 on the first four days - easily a Boxing Day Test record.
Four results. I forgot one of them. I was getting hyped thinking about how three were possible. Imagine if Chennai 1986 got a sequel at the MCG in 2024.
It's AUD 10 entry for adults and free for kids under 15. The atmosphere is already festive. The pre-first ball shows for various broadcasts have been going around getting shots of the crowd giving the people a reason to release some of that nervous tension. One man came in wearing a sign saying "Chasemaster Kohli" and on the back it said "All the way from Canada" with the flag on there for good measure.
This Boxing Day Test has packed so much action that it would almost be stupid not to be greedy and dream about the game going down to the final hour with Australia needing one wicket to win and India needing 30 runs. Plus, if that situation did pan out, we'd get to watch Jasprit Bumrah being front and centre again.
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A delicious final day ahead?
Welcome folks. We're set for a huge final day at the MCG. India already need a record 333, plus whatever Nathan Lyon and Scott Boland can get this morning. Australia's No. 10 and 11 have already added a stunning 55 together.
There has been no overnight declaration, as some suspected there might be. Australia still feel they need a few more runs to be safe, and want to make sure that if they need to get to a second new ball, they'll still have some runs to defend.
The key man on day five, though, will probably be Nathan Lyon. There's not huge assistance for spinners on this deck yet, but there's a little grip for him, and plenty of bounce. He relishes taking Australia home in fourth innings at home, so expect him to bowl a lot of overs today.
And it will be fascinating to see what India's tactics will be too. Do they start gunning from this total from the outset, at the risk of being bowled out and losing the match? At what point do they start playing for the draw.
Although South Africa have booked their place in the World Test Championship final, neither Australia or India have qualified officially yet. And a draw is worth only a third of the points that a win provides, so there is that added incentive to strive for a result.
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India give themselves a chance
Despite the frustrations of the final session, the day has largely been India's. The match, situation though, firmly favours Australia.
Jasprit Bumrah struck the first blow to Australia's innings, bowling Sam Konstas through the gate, before going on to bowl some incredible new-ball spells in which he was unfortunate not to end up with more wickets.
With Mohammad Siraj also finding some semblance of rhythm in this innings, Indias's seamers tore through the middle order, Bumrah in particular was on fire thorugh the second session, claiming the wickets of Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, and Alex Carey in the space of two overs.
The last session was Australia's, and would have allayed most jitters in the dressing room. Pat Cummins was involved in his second big stand of the match, when he and Marnus Labuschagne put on 57 for the eighth wicket. Then Lyon and Boland put on 55 unbeaten, to stretch Australia's lead to 333. No team has ever successfully chased that many at the MCG. India need to set a record if they are to win.
That's it from us on day four. Catch you for what could be an eventful fifth day.
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High drama at the close of day four
Jasprit Bumrah draws the edge of Nathan Lyon's bat, and there is so much drama to follow. KL Rahul fumbles the chance at first, even though it's straight at him at chest height. He has the presence of mind to try and trap it between his knees though, and it sticks there as he tumbles backwards and reaches down to fetch the ball.
Bumrah has a well-deserved five-for. India's time in the field has ended, and they are chasing 326.
But wait. What's that? Bumrah has overstepped? He'd already bowled a no-ball earlier in the over, and now loses out on a wicket because of the mistake.
Lyon then takes a couple off the next ball to take his and Boland's 11th-wicket stand past 50. Final ball, he edges past the slips for four, to cap off a passage of play that has been incredibly frustrating for India.
That over:
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No. 10 and No. 11 get through to second new ball
34 How much Boland and Lyon have made together, when the second new ball became available
Boland and Lyon even seem comfortable against this ball, as India bowl tight until the second new ball becomes available. Akash Deep takes the new ball, second ball of the 81st over.
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The MCG's rocking crowds
It's official. This is now the best-attended Boxing Day Test in the history of Boxing Day Tests. I know these are two of the three biggest blockbuster teams on the planet, but it's nice, as we sit on the tips of 2025, that Test cricket can still set such records.
The official attendance figure for day four is 43,867, which takes the match tally to a mammoth 299,329. This easily beats the previous record set by the 2013 Ashes match, of 271,855.
Alagappan Muthu, who has been hearing, seeing, feeling, smelling, and who knows, perhaps tasting this crowd (I didn't ask, but what happens between consenting spectators is their own business), sends this dispatch on the experience:
Part of the spectacle of a Boxing Day Test are the thousands and thousands that attend it. Australia have drawn from them. Sam Konstas had a lot of fun with them and they with him, following his lead as he led them on warm-up exercises and clapping routines. That mo isn't quite as good as Merv's but he might well end up a cult hero too. Today the crowd has only been half as strong as the previous three days. And a majority of them are in India blue. One upshot of that is Mohammed Siraj didn’t get booed (as much). He got chants. “D-S-P! D-S-P! D-S-P” Following India’s victory at the T20 World Cup earlier this year, Siraj was offered a government post. He is, officially, a Deputy Super Intendent of Police.
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The lead passes 300
India's bowlers are tiring, the ball has become very soft, and this last wicket is annoying the visitors mightily. Jasprit Bumrah by himself has bowled 23 overs on day four, which brings his match tally up to a mammoth 51.4 overs. Australia's batters are still having their outside edges beaten frequently, but suddenly, this has started to feel like toil for India. Every run they make from here is torture.
The second new ball is due in a few overs, but India will be hopeful that someone will provide the last wicket before then. Washington Sundar is at the crease now, for the first time today.
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Do Australia have enough?
231 The highest successfully-chased target at the MCG in this century
Jadeja has just had Cummins caught at slip, so India only have one wicket to get. But will Australia already feel confident of defending this?
India's batting hasn't been especially strong this series. Rohit Sharma is out of form. Yashasvi Jaiswal might have the three dropped catches playing on his mind. Nathan Lyon will relish the opportunity to bowl his team to another home win.
And although the pitch has eased since the first day, there is still something there, with the new ball.
On top of which, India will have to complete the highest successful chase at the MCG in over 70 years at the MCG to win this match.
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Young Konstas = New Warner?
He didn't make much of an impact in the second innings, thanks to Bumrah. But Ian Chappell wonders in this column whether Konstas can fill the David Warner-shaped hole in the Australian dressing room. Here's an excerpt:
Apart from creating an immediate cult following, Konstas made life simpler for his fellow batters. Konstas' outrageous blitz on the Indian new-ball bowlers allowed Australia to burst out of the gates and put themselves in a strong position.
In his own way Konstas caused India to slip into the mentality of feeling sorry for themselves about the opposition playing and missing and edges falling short of the cordon. It wasn't until late in the day when the batting took on a more normal approach that Bumrah began to exert some control over the Australian team again.
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Fear of Bumrah creates another wicket
Jasprit Bumrah is back at the bowling crease, and although he doesn't get direct credit for this wicket, played a part in the mix-up. Mitchell Starc had clipped a Bumrah ball - the first of the over - through square leg, and turned for the second, which seemed comfortable enough.
He was halfway down the pitch when Pat Cummins sent him back, however, likely because he was trying to shield Starc from as many Bumrah deliveries as possible.
Rishabh Pant then did beautifully. He took off the glove on his throwing hand, received the ball at the striker's end, and then threw down the stumps at the non-striker's end as Starc attempted to sprint back. He caught the batter short by about half a metre.
Cummins now stands in the way of India and a chase of less than 300.
Alex Malcolm, one of our writers at the 'G, has this to add: "That's the first run out Australia has had in a Test match since the WTC final when Starc was also run out."
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Cummins in another big stand
He took 3 for 89 in the first innings, but Pat Cummins has made serious contributions with the bat in this match too. In the first dig, his 49 had been part of a 112-run partnership with Steve Smith, which turned Australia's score from a big one into a giant.
This 57-run stand with Labuschagne frustrated India substantially, and ensured that Australia have something substantial to defend, even on an easing surface.
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Labuschagne finally gets out, to Siraj
He'd played and missed and played and missed and played and missed. He'd been hit on the pads several times, prompting big appeals. But finally, Marnus Labuschagne's stubborn innings ends, as Siraj seams one into his front pad, and gets the umpire to raise his finger.
Labuschagne reviewed, by the way, but the ball was projected to be grazing the bails, so he stays out. Doesn't lose a review though.
India are finally into the tail. That partnership had cost them 57 runs, and soaked up 19.1 overs
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Two maidens to start the third session
Impressive relentlessness from India here. The seamers have not allowed the pressure to ease at all today, even after breaks. They are fantastic with their lines and lengths again after tea, and have now bowled three maidens consecutively - Bumrah responsible for two of those. There have been several plays and misses through this passage as well.
The first three overs after tea:
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Bumrah's session, but Labuschagne hangs in
He had Travis Head caught at square leg, nicked off Mitchell Marsh, then bowled Alex Carey with one that jagged back at the left-hander, and in the space of 200 brought India storming back into the match. Through the course of that passage, he became the fastest India quick to 200 Test wickets, and the bowler who has got to that milestone with the best bowling average.
But Labuschagne has been a thorn in the opposition's side - a role this particular batter was born to play. He's rode his luck in surviving 118 balls. As has Pat Cummins in seeing out 40 deliveries. Australia are 240 ahead, and are in danger of setting India less than 300 to win on an easing surface. There's much more pressure on them than there had been at lunch.
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Three close calls
Jasprit Bumrah's spell has ended, but India are keeping the intensity up. They will be worried at how well this partnership is going though - it's worth more than 40 now, and they need to break it quickly.
They have had three close calls over the last few overs. Here's how our commentary captured those balls:
43.3: Akash Deep to Cummins, 2 runs popped high in the air, NKR makes a terrific effort turning around at short extra-cover and running back towards the deepish mid-off region, and he has to dive to reach the ball but he can't quite manage it. Akash bowled this fullish, angling into off stump, and Cummins looked to clear his front leg and go down the ground, but ended up slicing it off the outside half of his bat
45.2 Akash Deep to Labuschagne, no run wow, more luck for Marnus. Length ball angling into off stump, defends with soft hands off the back foot, and it bounces backwards off the pitch, and does it take his elbow too? Maybe, and it continues rolling back and juuuuust misses the leg bail
48.3: Jadeja to Cummins, no run ooh, nearly a catch at silly point, and nothing is sticking in Jaiswal's hands! You could argue that he may have gotten up too early, but it's a good-length ball that Cummins stretches out to and defends off the middle of the bat, straight to him. At catchable height, got both hands to it, but it came so quickly
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Labuschagne keeps Australia ticking
In the background of some incredible India fast bowling, Labuschagne has been putting together an innings. He's played and missed at plenty, but he's looked for runs as well, while wickets have fallen around him. He's got to 50 off 105 balls now, with two boundaries and plenty of twos and threes.
He's had to survive some very high quality bowling to drag Australia even to this position.
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There's never been a bowler like him
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Jaiswal drops another
Jaiswal lets a straightforward chance in the cordon slip, and Rohit Sharma is irate. This is off the bowling of Akash Deep, who also lets out a few frustrated swear words in Jaiswal's general direction. India are desperate here, and you can tell from all their reactions how tense it is in the middle right now.
Jaiswal was at third slip, a little wide of Kohli who was at second slip, and the chance came to him at about waist-hight, a little way to his left. He got hands to it, but couldn't hold on.
Earlier in the day, he'd reprieved Usman Khawaja on 2 as well, off the bowling of Bumrah. He'd been standing at leg gully that time.
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Bumrah's record
So, Bumrah isn't the fastest to 200 Test wickets by matches played (Yasir Shah is, having got there in 33 Tests). But he has a record that in many ways is more impressive: no one has conceded fewer runs while getting to 200.
As stats whiz Shubham Agarwal points out, this means he got to 200 with the lowest average.
Least runs conceded to complete 200 Test wickets
J Bumrah 3912 (avg 19.56)
J Garner 4067 (avg 20.34)
S Pollock 4077 (avg 20.39)
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Bumrah sets the place alight
Bumrah is on a rampage through the Australia middle order. He's now got a fullish delivery to dart back at Alex Carey from around the wicket. The ball is too good for Carey, who plays outside the line and lets it slip through bat and pad.
Timber is rattled. Bumrah is on fire. India are back.
Namooh Shah, from Cricinfo's crack stats team, adds this: Jasprit Bumrah now has the second-highest wickets ever for a visiting seamer at the MCG.
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Another one!
Jasprit Bumrah deserved many more than just the single wicket before lunch, but he's getting some reward now. This is a beautiful away-nipper in the channel, quite short of a length. Mitchell Marsh prods at it indecisively and gets a tiny bit of the shoulder of the bat to the ball. Rishabh Pant takes the catch and Bumrah is on 201 wickets.
That over:
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This is the second time Bumrah has dismissed Head and Marsh cheaply in this Test, by the way. They had made 0 and 4 before he got them in the first innings.
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Double strike! Bumrah has Head caught
44 No. of matches it took Bumrah to get to 200 Test wickets.
Was this a plan from India? If it is, it's worked to perfection. There was a catching square leg in place - quite a distance closer to the pitch than a regular square leg would stand. And when Jasprit Bumrah sent a short-of-a-length delivery at Head's body, the batter flicked it directly to that fielder.
Suddenly, India are back in the hunt in a big way.
That wicket is also Jasprit Bumrah's 200th. He's got to this milestone with an average of less than 20.
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Siraj breaks the stand
An uncharacteristically loose shot from Steven Smith, and Mohammad Siraj has broken through what seemed like a partnership that was set to settle in for the long haul. Smith chased a full, wide ball with very little foot movement, and edged it behind.
He's out for 13, and is still 38 runs short of 10,000 for his career.
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Labuschagne and Smith bat time
Wickets off these early spells are vital for India now. With every over, this ball is getting older. The bowlers are less fresh with every spell. Faced with an intense Indian attack, but with a large first-innings lead in hand, Marnus Labuschagne and Steven Smith are playing this like pros. They are just looking to stay in the middle, until the bowlers tire a little, and run-scoring becomes easier.
Between them, they've now faced over 100 balls.
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India focused after lunch
The first two overs after lunch:
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We're back under way, and Akash Deep is the guy partnering Jasprit Bumrah. Both continue to test the Australia batters. Bumrah's nip-backers have been especially good today.
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India claw their way back further
It's lunch on day four, and Australia are still in control on account of their 105-run lead. But India have built on their good work on day three, and given themselves a chance. India's quicks - Jasprit Bumrah in particular - could have had two more wickets in this session, but were unlucky. Their accuracy, though, means that Australia's batters struggled to find scoring opportunities, so while the wickets haven't come quickly, neither have runs.
This is still a good pitch to bat on, so Australia will want a target of at least 300 - more to be safe. India have started strongly on day four, but it would only take one good session for Australia to undo a lot of that work. They need wickets in the afternoon session.
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India's intensity with the new ball
Here's more from Alagappan Muthu, on how tough India are making it for the Australia batters right now
In 22 overs, India have allowed only 13 singles. That's a good account of how accurate the bowling has been and how active the fielders have been. Jadeja, Rahul, Kohli, Reddy have all been nice and tight at cover, square leg, mid-on, mid-off. It's added to the claustrophobic feeling that India want to create out in the middle.
Jasprit Bumrah continues to bowl as if he's decided bat meeting ball is too passe. Akash Deep has been promoted to take the new ball and he's been excellent too. But the real positive here is Siraj. From the third over onwards, he's been unplayable too. The support has finally arrived.
Problem is, Steven Smith has played only one false shot, and when he's new at the crease, Bumrah's run out of steam. He'd bowled eight of the first 20 overs. He was due a breather. Smith was the one who put things in perspective when he said the top order batting 50 balls is a win in these conditions. Khawaja did, which is why Smith wasn't out there facing Bumrah when he was fresh. The margins in Test cricket really are that small.
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Siraj gets Khawaja
32.3 Usman Khawaja's strike rate through his 21.
It's a lovely delivery, angled across the leftie, straightening off the seam. And it's a loose push from Khawaja, who leaves space between bat and pad, and lets the ball whizz through on to his stumps.
It was a pretty pained innings, but no one has looked comfortable against this bowling.
For Siraj, perhaps this can kick off a bit of a turnaround. He'd gone wicketless and conceded 122 runs in the first innings.
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Labuschagne survives a big shout
On another day, Jasprit Bumrah would have four wickets by now, such has been the quality of his bowling, and the intensity of his misfortune, to keep missing the edge of the bat.
In his seventh over, he created another chance that could easily have gone his way. He nipped one back at Marnus Labuschagne, who was caught on the crease, and hit slightly above the front knee roll in front of middle and off stump. The standing umpire said not out, so the ball needed to be taking out a substantial portion of leg stump for the decision to be overturned.
Unfortunately for Bumrah, the ball was projected only to be brushing the top of leg.
Next ball, he beat Labuschagnes outside edge with a beautiful away-seamer, of course.
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Khawaja struggles through first 50 balls
Usman Khawaja has had his outside edge endlessly flirted with by the balls the three Indian quicks have sent down. He was dropped off Bumrah's bowling too, of course. And in general, it seems a travesty that India have only had one breakthrough, when the bowling has been so good. To underline just how tough it's been for Khawaja, he has only been in control of 72% of the balls he has played by the end of the 15th over.
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India keep things incredibly tight
After six overs, Australia were 20 for no loss. And then this happened:
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Mohammad Siraj and Akash Deep have been incredibly disciplined, gleaning bits of seam movement from a largely-flat deck, while Rohit Sharma has had his fielders ringfence the batters.
Bumrah, meanwhile, has been pretty much unplayable. Sampath Bandarupalli has these stats to quantify just how good Bumrah has been:
Jasprit Bumrah has beaten the bat 12 times today. He did it 11 times in his first spell in the first innings. The 23 times that Bumrah beat the Australian batters in the first ten overs across both innings of this Test is comfortably the most for any bowler since the start of ESPNCricinfo's ball-by-ball Logs in 2002. Mohammad Asif vs SL in Kandy 2006, Dale Steyn vs NZ in Centurion 2006 and Junaid Khan vs PAK in Pallekele 2012 all have beaten the bat 20 times apiece.
Bumrah induced 28 not-in-control shots from the Australian batters in the first ten overs across both innings of this Test, the joint-most since 2002, alongside Asif against Sri Lanka in Kandy in 2006.
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India fighting to save every run
Up in the MCG press box, Alagappan Muthu has his finger on the pulse, ear to the ground, and corneas up against the binocular lens. Bumrah has bowled another stunner (what's new?), and India are looking electric in the field.
Every single member of the team was out by the dugout to celebrate Nitish's century. That had brought them back into the game, given them something to fight for and now not only are they fighting, they're desperate for those little things to go their way. Kohli is getting the crowd amped up to create a claustrophobic atmosphere.
For Akash Deep's over, the one following the wicket, Rohit is almost annoyed at Washington Sundary being too far back at mid-on. Then he walks over to leg gully and positions him like a Dad making his kid sit down in one spot. Point moves to gully. Mid-off is asked to come up closer. No singles. Close catchers (leg gully and short leg now). This is a team that doesn't think it's 100-plus behind. This is a team sensing a huge opportunity.
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Khawaja gets a life
It went straight to Yashasvi Jaiswal at leg gully. Usman Khawaja was on two, and flicked a Jasprit Bumrah delivery down leg. But Jaiswal couldn't hold the chance.
A wicket at this point would have been a great way to get themselves into this innings, and consolidate on the gains Reddy made for them on day three. But they'll have to keep searching.
21 Khawaja's high score this series
Khawaja is struggling though, particularly against Bumrah. He's not been able to get a score this series.
Akash Deep is also causing Sam Konstas some early problems. Konstas was very nearly caught in the gully off a leading edge.
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Record-breaking crowds at the MCG
One fun bit of information from Cricket Australia is that this is set to be the best-attended Boxing Day Test ever. The previous record had been set by England's Test here in 2013, when 271,865 people had come to watch. This Test had seen more then 255,000 fans by the end of day three, which means we are almost certain to beat that record today.
Alagappan Muthu, who has been at all the grounds on this tour, captures some of the mood:
Drama to start the day - what did you expect from a Boxing Day Test at the 'G. Australia's openers were walking off even as the bump ball/slip catch was being adjudicated by the third umpire. Then they had to stop. Then the not out came on the big screen. Then Pat Cummins wanted to player review an umpire review and now it doesn't matter because the innings is over. The trams into the G are all paaaaacked. Transport officials were asking people to be patient and wait for the next ones "They're the big ones, they'll have more space, you'll get there on time, trust me." Sunday morning has dawned with a Test match on the line and everybody wants to be a part of it.
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Have Australia let things slip against India's lower order?
Have Australia made a habit of conceding big lower-order partnerships to India, in Tests they would otherwise be dominating? Alex Malcolm asks the question, and observes that India have been especially good at hurting Australia from lower down the order in recent years.
It was noted on Friday after Steven Smith and Pat Cummins' exemplary stand, that Australia had only produced four century stands for the seventh or lower wicket in the last ten years. India have produced four in the last four years against Australia alone. Only one other team, England, have managed one in that time against this Australian attack.
On the field, Konstas and Bumrah are back in battle. This should be fun.
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Australia wrap up the tail
105 Australia's lead heading into the second innings.
India add only 11 to the overnight total, before Nitish Kumar Reddy holes out against Nathan Lyon for 114.
There was some drama at the end of the previous over, when Australia thought they had Mohammad Siraj edging a full Pat Cummins delivery into the slips, only for the third umpire Sharfuddoula to rule it a bump ball. I'm not sure it was a bump ball, actually. The ball may have hit the bat at the same time as the ground, but it didn't look like it hit the ground after it hit bat.
Cummins even asked for a review of the umpire's review, as he too was unconvinced that that was clearly not out.
Either way, Reddy tried to clobber Lyon down the ground and ended up slicing it to long off soon after, so the innings came to an end without another run being added. Australia take a strong - but not unassailable - lead into the second innings.
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All set for an early start
Welcome folks, to a hopefully drier, and brighter day at the MCG. Day three of this Test undoubtedly belonged to Nitish Kumar Reddy, who begin s this morning in the company of No. 11 Mohammad Siraj, with 105 runs to his name. India are 116 runs behind. How close can they get to Australia?
Here's more from Alagappan Muthu, on Reddy's blockbuster ton.
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A bumper crowd at the MCG
Is Test cricket dying? Not if the MCG on Boxing Day has anything to say about it. So far this Test has seen more than 255,000 people in the stands, spread across the three days. In all likelihood, this Test will set an MCG record for most spectators at a Test ever, on day four. This is from Cricket Australia:
Day 3 crowd is 83,073. This is the largest Day 3 crowd ever for a Boxing Day Test. It is also the largest Day 3 crowd for an MCG Test since January 1937 (87,798 - Bradman 56* at stumps). Total attendance so far is 255,462.
Record total attendance for a Boxing Day Test is 271,865 v England in 2013.
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More bad light
5:48pm: That's stumps folks. We are very much done for the day now, and will start a half-hour earlier tomorrow morning to make up some of the lost time.
It's been a big fightback day for India, who started 310 runs behind with five wickets down, and then lost both overnight batters in the first session. But then came Nitish Reddy and his wonderful partnership with Washington Sundar. The pair batted beautifully in the second session, and early in the evening, completed milestones. Sundar got to his fifty and got out, and Reddy was left to make the three runs he needed for his maiden Test ton in the company of the tail.
He got there, and India are only 116 runs behind now. Australia are still well in control, but Reddy and Sundar have given India a chance.
We'll see you again tomorrow.
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5:40pm: The latest is that more covers are coming on as it's raining now. And that while it isn't heavy rain, perhaps enough has fallen to make a restart difficult, particularly with this light situation.
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I wonder if we're done for the day. Nine balls after Reddy gets to the century, the teams go off the field because of bad light. Reddy has his bat aloft and is soaking in the love from the crowd, and from his teammates. A lot of India fans in today.
Either way, play has stopped. We'll have more updates as we get then.
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Reddy gets a maiden Test ton at the 'G
Oh what spectacular style to get to your maiden Test ton in! A lofted on-drive. You dream of these moments all your cricketing life if you're a batter. That first century celebration playing for your nation.
How to top the occasion, though? Your team was in massive trouble when you came in at No. 8. You had to put up a century stand with the No. 9 batter to drag the team to some semblance of respectability. You had to see out a short ball barrage. You had to weather the second new ball. You had to defuse a top-quality opposition spinner. And you have played perhaps the innings of your life in front of 60,000-plus fans in one of the most colossal and storied grounds in the world. Your father is one of them.
It's been a sublime innings from Reddy, and he soaks up the moment, going down on one knee with the bat upright beside him. He's helped bring India back in this game. How many more can he get?
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High drama as Reddy nears century
Reddy has the strike for an entire Scott Boland over. He turns down singles early in the over as he doesn't trust Jasprit Bumrah to see him through to his ton. He then fails to get a single off balls four and five of that over. Off the last ball, he tries an aerial slog down the ground, but slices it over the infield.
Instead of settling for one and keeping the strike, however, he runs two on instinct, and finds himself off strike as Pat Cummins comes into the attack. Bumrah, try as he might, can last only three balls.
So now, Reddy is stuck at the non-striker's end on 99, hoping Siraj can survive three deliveries.
Sampath Bandarupalli tells me, by the way, that Reddy's score is already the highest in Australia by a No. 8 or lower, since 1947.
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Australia get reward for bowling dry
Overs 97-112
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As Nitish Reddy nears that dream debut hundred, Australia have made him (and Washington Sundar) sweat. They've been incredibly accurate, and have given so little away since returning from the rain break. They have conceded only 22 from the 15 overs they've bowled this session.
And now, the partnership has been broken to boot. Nathan Lyon loops one up outside off stump, and it dives, and jives to take Sundar's outside edge, before slip gobbles it up. Fantastic little fightback from Australia, who funnelled their frustration into the squeeze.
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Sundar gets to fifty
It's been much harder going for the more-limited Washington Sundar, than for his partner Nitish Kumar Reddy. He's hit only one boundary (though there was also an all-run four), and it took Sundar 146 balls to get to this milestone, his fourth Test half-century.
Remember the last time Sundar scored a half-century in Australia? On that occasion, on Sundar's debut, India went on to win by three wickets.
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Reddy-Sundar stand verging on record territory
The Reddy/Sundar stand goes on, fairly smoothly, and is now worth 117.
Shubham Agarwal, from Cricinfo's stats towers, has chimed in with this list. Reddy, Sundar are second already.
Highest partnerships for India for the last three wickets in Australia:
- Sachin-Harbhajan - 129 for 8th wicket - SCG, 2008
- Kumble-Harbhajan - 107 for 8th wicket - Adelaide, 2008
- Gavaskar-Shivlal Yadav - 94 for 10th wicket - Adelaide, 1985
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More Gavaskar on Pant
We're rolling again at the MCG, with Mitch Marsh bowling the first over after the break.
Meantime, Gavaskar has said yet more on Rishabh Pant, going as far as to doubt his place at No. 5 in the batting order, if he is going to continue to play this way.
That full story, right here.
55.71 Rishabh Pant's average at No. 5, even after this innings.
The thing is, as the stat above suggests, Pant does have success at No. 5. And while he averages less than 20 in this series after five innings, he averages 46.75 in Australia overall, which suggests he does understand bouncier conditions too.
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Rain has stopped; covers are coming off
3:55pm: We have an official restart time of 4pm, five minutes from now.
3:43pm: Better signs from the MCG, where it looks like the covers are coming off because the rain has stopped. The umpires are out there inspecting the field, and because the drainage is quite good and the rain was fairly light, the outfield shouldn't need much drying, hopefully.
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Gavaskar slams Pant
"Stupid, stupid, stupid" says Sunil Gavaskar of the shot Rishabh Pant played to get out. Uff, this is quite the outburst, on the Australian Broadcast Corporation's commentary.
"That is throwing away your wicket," Gavaskar continues. "You have to understand the situation as well, you cannot say that is your natural game. That is a stupid shot. That is letting your team down badly."
"He should not be going in [the India] dressing room. He should be going to the other dressing room."
What Rishabh had done, was try to flick a full delivery outside the off stump off Scott Boland, over square leg. He ended up getting his tumbling flick very wrong, and not only ended up on the ground, but sent the ball to deep third off the leading edge.
This is quite the outburst from Gavaskar, though. But if your name is on the trophy, you are allowed a few of these.
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Bad light, just as India were building
This has been a mighty eighth wicket stand from Nitish Kumar Reddy and Washington Sundar. By tea, which was taken early because of the players going off for bad light, the pair had batted out 32.1 overs together, and put on a vital 104-run stand.
Reddy has driven that advance, scoring 63 of the runs in this partnership, off 80 balls. Washington Sundar has been far more cautious, making 40 off 115.
What they are doing is working, though. So far, they have not come especially close to losing their wickets to the second new ball. And they have whittled the lead down to 148, which is still large, but not overwhelming.
Rain update at 3:12 pm local time: The rain has got a bit heavier, and more covers are coming on. But with luck, the weather will blow through, as the wind is quite strong.
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Reddy surges
23 Runs Nitish Kumar Reddy has got off his last 20 balls, by end of 96 overs.
Nitish Kumar Reddy was on 62 runs after 99 balls. After 119 balls, he's on 85, having just struck Mitchell Starc for consecutive fours. The second of those boundaries came off a gorgeous back-foot punch through extra cover.
Here's another input from stats maestro Sampath Bandarupalli:
There have been eight sixes by Nitish Kumar Reddy in this series so far, which is the joint-most by a visiting batter in a Test series in Australia. Michael Vaughan in 2002-03 Ashes and Chris Gayle in 2009 also hit 8 sixes in a series
Did not expect to read Vaughan's name at the top of that list.
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India's first-innings woes
India have had trouble surpassing 300 of late, so it will be a relief that Nitish Kumar Reddy and Washington Sundar have taken them well past that score, and are looking comfortable here. Stats whiz Sampath Bandarupalli chimes in with this insight:
This is India's first 300-plus total in their first-innings in Tests since the 376 they made against Bangladesh in Chennai, at the start of the 2024-25 season. They were bowled out under 300 in their first innings in six consecutive Tests since the start of the New Zealand series before today.
India had only three worse streaks of getting bowled out under 300 in their first innings, all coming more than 60 years ago - 10 in 1959-1960, 9 in 1936-1946 and 7 in 1958-1959.
India's first innings didn't last even last 50 overs in four of their previous six Tests. Bangladesh (in 2005 and 2007) are the only team other than India to be bundled out inside 50 overs on four occasions in their first-innings in a Test season. India had five first-innings that were cut under 50 overs (or 300 balls) in 2024 if we add the Cape Town Test at the start of the year, the most such instances for any team in a calendar year.
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Not a lot in this pitch now
The seven overs with the second new ball so far:
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If the first seven overs with the second new ball are to be believed, there is not a lot to worry batters in this surface at the moment. While both Reddy and Sundar were watchful when Mitchell Starc first took the new ball, they've found run-scoring a little easier since then.
There was even an all-run four through midwicket for Sundar. You barely see threes in most venues in the world now, so an all-run four (Australia is the only place it really happens without overthrows), is quite the nerdy delight.
In any case, India look to stabilise further, and having batters this low down is paying off. Vital that India bat for as long as they can and are in the middle while the pitch is like this.
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Reddy a future No. 5?
Alagappan Muthu has been stroking his imaginary beard in thought in the MCG press box, and sends us this dispatch on India's newest young Test batting talent:
Nitish Kumar Reddy has once again walked into a difficult situation and shown excellent batting chops. He's had three scores of 42 and one 41 on this tour and each time he's deserved more runs. He looks like the kind of guy who could grow and become a No. 5. Some of the drives he plays are just top draw. It's just that he's doing all this from No. 7 and runs aren't the only priority for a person in that post. But that's a call India's decision makers need to take. All Reddy can do is his job and with the bat he's been pretty much flawless.
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Nitish Kumar Reddy puts up.a fighting fifty
It's been a controlled response from 21-year-old NKR, who has left very judiciously, driven well, and scored the vast majority of his runs in front of square. It's never looked like he was rushed, but he's kept the scoreboard ticking, and even came down the track to launch Nathan Lyon for a straight six, at one point. He gets to his first career fifty by throwing his hands at a wide half volley, and sending it screaming through cover point. How long can he and Washington Sundar resist here?
Shortly after he got to the milestone, India also got to within 200 of Australia's score, thereby avoiding the follow-on.
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Second new ball is about to drop
3.26 India's run rate over the first 80 overs.
It's the jam Australia have been waiting for - that bright red Kookaburra with which they'll hope to knock over the final India wickets. They've even got Travis Head bowling some dirty old-ball overs to give their quicks a rest.
Starc and Boland haven't bowled after lunch. I suspect they will share the new ball. Yes, here is Starc. Has the new cherry in his hand straight away.
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Was the shot Pant played to get out "shocking"?
Sunil Gavaskar thinks so, calling it "shocking" on air. Pant had attempted to flick a fullish ball outside off stump from Scot Boland over the legside, and fell over as he attempted to do so. We've seen him connect and score runs with that shot before, but was it too much of a risk on a bouncy track against a bowler of Boland's height? It was the bounce that caused the dismissal in the end, as a top edge flew to fine leg.
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Australia take the morning
80 Runs India made off 27 overs bowled on the third morning.
Two wickets in a session doesn't sound like a lot, but in the context of this game, it's plenty for Australia. They are only one wicket away from some serious tailenders, and India haven't even avoided the follow-on yet (not that it was ever likely to be imposed).
The pitch looks to have settled as well, though we should wait to see how Australia's bowlers go with the second new ball, which is seven overs away. All signs point to a big Australia lead. But if India are going to whittle that lead down to a manageable size, a big partnership between Washington Sundar and Nitish Kumar Reddy will have to lead them post-lunch.
We'll catch you after the break.
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Cummins gets hostile
Cummins' over to Reddy, the 68th of the innings.
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If Nitish Kumar didn't know he was in a fight, he does now. Cummins bowled an incredibly hostile length to him in this over, getting Reddy's spine to do all sorts of gymnastics as the batter tried to get his head and shoulders out of the way.
It's indication too, that 60-odd overs in, there's no movement for the seamers, so they are going to different tactics.
This should have been the easiest period for India to bat, but they are seven down and just surviving.
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Lyon nails Jadeja in front
Nathan Lyon been working Jadeja for a while, sending down some tantalising, looped deliveries. But then he slipped the flatter, faster one in, and caught Jadeja flat-footed. The ball scudded into Jadeja's back pad in front of off, and that was a simple decision for the umpire, which Jadeja unsuccessfully tried to overturn (the ball was projected to only be hitting the bails, so India retain their review.)
That's Lyon's 124th wicket against India, by the way, which is more even than his wicket-tally against England. In fact, 23% of Lyon's 533 wickets have come against India.
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Boland's MCG mastery
There's no doubt this Melbourne crowd is in love with two players right now. The first is 19-year-old Sam Konstas, for his batting heroics on the first morning. Their other love is 35-year-old local boy Scott Boland, who as of this moment has three wickets in the innings, having just finished up his latest spell.
Boland is playing only his 12th Test for Australia, but his third at his home venue - the MCG. And he has dominated here.
13.46 Scott Boland's average at the MCG, after 13 wickets.
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Pant falls while falling over
He couldn't keep the audacity level down. Rishabh Pant had generally been the most formal, and restrained version of himself this morning, but somewhere in that 56th over of India's innings, he felt he needed to vent some creativity.
On ball three of this Scott Boland over, he tried to get inside the line of a shortish delivery, and ended up edging the ball into his own body, before falling flat on the pitch.
Next ball, he tries something even more mad. He gets across and attempts to flick a fullish delivery over square leg. But this pitch still has some bounce, so all he does is send the ball high in the air to deep third, off the top edge. He is way off balance, so he is on the ground as he watches the ball settle in Nathan Lyon's hands.
Australia are set for a big lead from here, unless India show some serious fight.
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India's manic running
Alagappan Muthu, one of our people at the MCG, sends this in, on India's close calls between the wickets this morning.
India seem to be determined to add to the highlights reel in this Boxing Day Test. Ravindra Jadeja was sent back on a quick single earlier this morning. Rishabh Pant has just been sent back on a quick single. He clearly owns this ground to the extent that he puppet masters perfectly good batters into looking like they're Sunday players. There's nothing happening off the pitch and India have already given Australia two chances at breaking this partnership due to poor running. The series is still 1-1 but it seems like one team is certainly acting like they're under the pump a little more than the other.
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Half an hour down
18 Runs India got off the first eight overs of day three.
India's overnight pair have navigated the first half hour, but not without some drama. Pat Cummins thought Rishabh Pant had got some glove to a bouncer that ended up in Alex Carey's glove, but it had only brushed elbow. Ravindra Jadeja came charging down the pitch looking for a single Pant clearly did not want to take, and almost created another run out chance.
But in between, Pant has been striking some confident boundaries too.
Just as I finish typing this, Pant has now come haring down the pitch after pushing one to mid off, before tearing back into the crease as the throw came in, having been sent back by Jadeja.
It's tough going, but India have hung in so far.
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Smith finds his hands, and his old self
While Pat Cummins, Scott Boland and co. strive for early wickets, it's worth taking the time to appreciate the man who lit up Day Two's morning session - Steve Smith. He'd had a rough lead-in to this series, but with two hundreds in two matches now, appears to have rediscovered something close to his old self, writes Alex Malcolm.
It was a classic Steve Smith innings, which ended in the kind of crazy dismissal only Steve Smith can conjure up, when he charged Akash Deep, ended up inside-edging the ball into his back leg, and then watching in horror from down the pitch as the ball dribbled and spun into the stumps.
51 No. of runs Smith needs to get to 10,000 for his career
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More Kohli drama
Virat Kohli has been lighting fires this series, perhaps even more than usual. On Thursday, it was his shoulder bump with Sam Konstas that sent tremors around the world. On Friday, it was the run out with Yashasvi Jaiswal. Opinion is split as to whose fault that run out was.
Some believe that run was never on, and that Kohli was right to refuse it, and it was Jaiswal who raced madly out of his crease without checking on his partner. I tend to think there was a tight run there, and that Kohli could have trusted his partner's call a little more.
What is possible is that having been incredibly disciplined outside off stump before that run out, Kohli flirted with a ball in the channel he could have left alone, in the over after that Jaiswal dismissal, and nicked off. Alagappan Muthu breaks down Kohli's day nicely here.
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Can India's lower order keep them in the game?
Morning folks. It was another eventful Border-Gavaskar day on Friday, with Australia taking the Test by the collar, as their quicks picked up wickets after Steve Smith had crashed 140 runs.
India begin 310 runs back, with their last five wickets left. They need Ravindra Jadeja, Rishabh Pant, Nitish Kumar Reddy, and Washington Sundar to put together some serious partnerships on day three. We're not far from a start.
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Pat Cummins on the day's play
Speaking to Star after play, on Steve Smith's 140: "Smithy was awesome this morning. He was so composed and took the game on later on. It was nice to get those late wickets.
On the stunning delivery that dismissed Rahul: "I wish I could do that every ball (speaking of the ball to get to KL Rahul). It's special when it happens."
On getting Jaiswal out lbw: "They just ticked over the 100-run partnership and were looking solid. And a wicket in that situation is always great."
On playing in front of a crowd that adores Scott Boland: "I have to wrestle with myself when I'm bowling. I feel like I'm letting everyone down when Scotty's not bowling."
That's it from us. We'll catch you tomorrow for Day Three!
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India finish five down, 310 runs behind.
It has been Australia's day quite decidedly. It began with Steven Smith and Cummins extending their overnight stand to 112, as Smith reeled off an 11th Test ton against India. All up, Australia added 163 runs to their overnight score, which gave them a commanding total.
India then lost Rohit Sharma early, rebuilt through a century stand to Kohli and Jaiswal, before a massive mix-up had Jaiswal run out for 82. Kohli and Akash Deep also falling soon after gave Australia an iron grip on this Test.
It's been an eventful day, but by far the most dramatic moment was the run out of Jaiswal. Kohli probably should have responded quickly and taken the run. Remember all this is playing out with a Kohli subplot in the background, after he was pilloried in parts of the Australia press for shoulder-bumping Sam Konstas.
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India are 159 for 5 in the last over of the day
Safe to say, India are in substantial trouble, with Australia's late wickets. The cordon is packed for Jadeja as Starc wheels in.
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Australia get two more
Kohli is dismissed by Boland, playing in that channel and edging one behind. He'd been so good at leaving those balls earlier in the innings. Was he thinking of that run out, which led to the error in judgement?
And now nightwatch Akash Deep has been dismissed by Boland as well, with Nathan Lyon diving forward at leg gully to take an inside edge off Deep's bat.
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Is that Kohli's fault?
A lot of people will blame Kohli for this run out, and a lot of people may be right. Jaiswal gets a full one from Boland and Jaiswal flicks it to mid on and calls Kohli through for a single. Kohli, though is ball-watching as Cummins moves to pick up and throw, as Jaiswal charges down.
The throw from Cummins misses the striker's end, but by this time, it doesn't matter. Both batters are at the non-striker's end, arguing about whose fault it is. Jaiswal sacrifices himself as Kohli returns to the crease, and is out just 18 short of another Australia hundred.
It was Jaiswal's call, a do-able single, and Kohli had in fact initially looked interested in the run. It needed to be one of those where both batters take off immediately and run hard, however. And Kohli just wasn't into it.
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Jaiswal and his hands
Here's more from Alagappan Muthu, who sent this in just moments before Jaiswal boshes Mitchell Marsh for six down the ground to move 78.
Batters are often told to get behind the ball. But if you're as good as Yashasvi Jaiswal is when he is beside the ball, just ignore that. There was a shot he played to Mitchell Starc which looked very simple. A flick of the wrist and away the ball went. But two things. Starc was trying to cramp him, and york him, at 140-145kph. Jaiswal had to get his feet out of the way. Fast. He basically had to accept being out of balance to try and get bat to the ball.
Balance is so crucial to batting but this guy has such good hand-eye that he sacrificed it to play one of the best shots of this innings. High pace requiring him to be just a little bit inventive. Jaiswal's back leg eventually came down and centered him but that was after he had played the flick and it was scurrying away for four. His cut shots are also another example of how good his hands are. He plays them without requiring a lot of room.
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Australia switch to short-ball attack
Jaiswal is batting beautifully, but Kohli has started nicely too, leaving with especially good judgement. Having earlier tested him outside the off stump, Pat Cummins has put a backward square leg in and begun sending the occasional short one at Kohli. So far, Kohli is ducking the ones he doesn't want to hit, and he has just smashed one through square leg when it's been only at waist-height.
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Jaiswal moves past fifty
This has been another high quality innings from Jaiswal, against good bowling on a surface that offers plenty to the seamers still. He's given India a platform on which to build.
Of his first 50 runs, 33 came in front of the wicket, which is some indication of how good his driving has been. He's also pulled well, and played a superb ramp over the slips off Cummins as well.
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Kohli makes a bright start?
This is from our guy Alagappan Muthu at the MCG. We pre-apologise for any jinxing.
Seven minutes before the tea break was due to end, Kohli was already waiting by the boundary line, leaning on his bat. A few yards in front of him there was a boy holding the Indian flag. So there was this artsy shot of the flag fluttering away to reveal his face and another artsy shot behind him with a fan holding up a sign saying "the King is back in his territory" referencing the 2022 T20 World Cup game.
When Kohli walked out to the middle, there were boos. When he took strike, there was chanting. When he got off the mark, Cummins looked down at his hands curiously, as if to figure out just how he could bowl on the pads of one of history's greatest flickers of the ball.
Kohli's movements in this little innings are already promising. The first shot he practiced was a leave. People sometimes do the forward defensive just to get a feel of the hands going through to the line of the ball. He is responding to length a lot better in this innings, actually shifting his weight back when he has to instead of always lunging forward. Even with his leaves. There were a couple that were wide of off stump but he still shifted his weight back, in response to the shorter length, and pulled his bat up. Then there was another against Pat Cummins that was pitched up and on that fifth stump line. He covered his stumps, pressed forward, and then left. The impact point with the ball on the cover drive that brought him his first boundary was right under his eyes. Reaching for the ball has been his problem. He isn't doing that here. And it's been so easy not to do that.
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"Clown Kohli/King Kon"
If you haven't been following, there has been a furore overnight over Kohli's behaviour on day one. Australian media have taken umbrage to Kohli's shoulder-bumping teen sensation Sam Konstas, while Konstas was batting beautifully.
And Kohli, who has very firmly been in the spotlight since arriving in Melbourne having also had an altercation with a TV journalist at the airport, now has this massive MCG crowd against him. He would love nothing more than to silence them with a big score here. At which point the crowd would probably go back to respecting him, however grudgingly, such is the nature of the Australian audience.
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Jaiswal steady, as Kohli attempts to get in
Yashasvi Jaiswal continues to have a good series. He has been India's best batter so far in this innings, and has been excellent on the front foot in particular this innings.
He's just got into his 30s, though, and will need to kick on to something much bigger if India are to stand a good chance of reeling in this big score.
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Cummins strikes again
While India's captain struggles with form, Australia's has shone today. His 49 with the bat helped push Australia from a big score to a giant one. And now he has removed KL Rahul, who had batted smoothly for his 24 off 42 balls.
The ball to get him was a stunner, pitched full, angled in at the right-heander, then seaming away to beat the outside edge and clang into off stump. This was just before the break, so India go to tea at 52 for 2.
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Rohit's modest Test year
With one innings to go (potentially), Rohit has had a rough year in Tests. The team has not been especially good under him in the back half of the year (losing 3-0 to New Zealand, for example). And he himself has now racked up scores of 0, 8, 18, 11, 3, 6, 10, 3 in his last eight innings.
Rohit has played more innings this year (25) than any other of his career. But he has only two hundreds - both against England - and averages 25.41, which very nearly makes it his worst year ever.
He desperately needs runs in the second innings to shore up his captaincy.
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Rohit goes up the order, promptly gets out
22 Rohit's total runs this series, after four innings.
The experiment hasn't worked. Rohit perhaps thought it was time to shake things up a little, and opened the batting for the first time in the series, alongside Yashasvi Jaiswal.
But in the second over, he spots a shortish ball from Cummins, ties himself up in knots trying to play it to leg, and ends up just spooning it in the air towards midwicket, where Boland tracks it down.
His scores this series: 3, 6, 10, 3
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India wrap up the tail
It's finally over. It's been nearly three hours of frustration for India, who would have hoped to wrap up the Australia innings much earlier. Because they scored at quite the rate, particularly when Smith was batting, the hosts have piled on 163 runs on day two, off 36.4 overs.
Bumrah nails Nathan Lyon in front to end the innings. Twice Australia's last-wicket pair had reviewed lbw decisions to remain at the crease. Not this time - the ball was projected to be grazing the off bail.
India now have a mountain to climb.
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India Smith's favourite opponent?
WHile India look for that final wicket, it's worth asking quickly if Steven Smith has been unusually effective against India, who have had an outstanding attack for much of Smith's career.
Smith averages more against the West Indies - a whopping 124.57. But that's off only 15 innings, compared with 43 against India. There certainly is no team he has scored more runs against (he's got 2306 now), at a higher average (62.32), than India.
You look down the innings list, and there is really no long dry spell against this opponent. The longest he went between centuries was between January 2021 and mid-2023, when he batted 10 times against India without getting to triple figures. Even through that period there were two fifties and several starts.
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Smith - run out by own self?
India got two wickets in the space of five balls:
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Finally, some relief for the visitors. Mitchell Starc misses a lightly spinning delivery from Jadeja, before a wonderful Smith innings ends with a wonderfully Smith dismissal.
Smith had run down the track at Akash Deep, tried to slap it down the ground, then got an inside edge that hit his back leg, then spun away, bouncing and dribbling along the ground, like a legbreak bowled by a baby, into the stumps, where the ball had just enough force left in it to dislodge a bail.
Smith was watching all this in horror from way down the track, about three-and-a-half metres away from the stumps at this stage. Officially it will go down as bowled, of course, but it felt more like a self-runout.
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Australia seize the morning
5.22 Australia's scoring rate in the first session of day two.
There's no denying it. Australia - largely through Steve Smith - absolutely dominated that session, reaping 141 runs off 27 overs. Even better, they lost just the wicket of Pat Cummins, for 49.
Smith was spectacular in the second hour, particularly after he reached triple figures, really taking a fight to the India bowling. His two over-the-shoulder sixes, one off Jasprit Bumrah, and the other off Siraj, were particular highlights.
Australia are looking at a commanding total, and this session went some distance to giving them firm control of this Test.
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SIraj's rough morning
While Bumrah has been menacing again, Siraj has had a poor start. In Siraj's six overs so far in the day, he's leaked 46 runs, with Smith in particular taking him on. Alagappan Muthu has more:
When Mohammed Siraj came in for his first proper spell today, Rohit Sharma came up to have a word with him. Then the India captain felt the need to abandon his place at slip and go down to mid-off to keep a closer eye. KL Rahul has that job now.
Siraj's drop in form is startling. He's going at five runs an over in this innings. Smith almost had to hold himself in position - bat high over his head - waiting for the bouncer which he hooked for six to reach him. And then knowing the next ball will be pitched up, he charged down the track and belted Siraj through wide mid-off. You treat medium-pacers like that. Not new-ball bowlers.
It seems like he is following the broad plan - bowl a good length or just short of it, but he isn't getting as much out of the wicket as say Jasprit Bumrah or even Akash Deep. He's lost his bite.
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Cummins goes
112 No. of runs the Smith-Cummins stand was worth
One run short of his fifty, Cummins tries to launch Ravindra Jadeja down the ground, slices it, and is caught nicely in the deep by a sprinting Nitish Reddy.
The pair have done plenty of damage, though. Just this morning they put on 100 runs together inside 90 minutes. This is getting to be a commanding total, given the nature of the pitch.
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Smith gets to triple figures in style
A beautifully-timed push through cover, off Nitish Kumar, gets Smith to his 34th hundred.
Smith celebrates, but importantly, looks like he's started again after that 100 with intent to stay and push Australia's advantage. It hasn't been a perfect knock, but few Smith innings are. He's survived, played the percentages, and willed his way to another ton.
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Australia claim the first hour
60 No. of runs Australia made in the first 14 overs, with no casualties.
Bumrah made Steven Smith play and miss plenty in the channel, but the batter kept covering the line, and survived, even joisting a Bumrah bouncer over his shoulder for six, as drinks approached. Cummins put away some bad balls and hung on at the other end.
Australia are nicely set up to build on what is already a substantial score on a sporting pitch.
Smith's on the verge of that 34th Test hundred too.
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Revenge of the Smith?
This observation is from Alagappan Muthu, who's been on of the writers dispatching the fantastic news and analysis you've read from Australia, over the past few weeks.
Just FYI, Steven Smith, at the non-strikers' end, is doing the reverse scoop. Last night at the presser, Sam Konstas said new generation, new era when he explained how he responded to being beaten repeatedly by going on the attack. Looks like some of his more grizzled team-mates are keen to follow his lead - or at least fantasise about it. There's no way Smith's playing the scoop to Bumrah. He has too much fun being in the battle. Even when he was beaten back to back to back - squared up by the angle into him and done by the seam movement away - he thrust out a thumbs up. This feels like the old Smith (I just typed out Sith, which doesn't feel all that off considering how often he's broken India's back)."
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Smith starts brightly
The first hour here is vital - India's bowlers will have hoped to make serious inroads while they and the pitch are at their freshest.
But Smith has left well in the initial exchanges, and pounced confidently on the loose ones as well. The best of his three boundaries so far was the square drive off Akash Deep in the 90th over. Bumrah is causing trouble outside off stump, though.
This is how the first four overs went.
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The shoulder bump that shook the world
So much happened on an especially bouncy MCG surface on day one, but one moment has dominated discussion.
As Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation states, everything with mass has a gravitational force, and Konstas shoulder must just have seemed like it had a lot of mass to Kohli's shoulder at that moment, the way it veered from the infield like a small spaceship caught in the Death Star's tractor beam.
If you want to read more about that, we have this story.
Meanwhile, it's not yet 5AM in Colombo and this coffee is not quite hitting. Wish Kohli would come over and shoulder barge me.
We're about ready to start in Melbourne. Siraj has the ball.
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Four Australia fifties; three Bumrah wickets
A strong 87,242 crowd at the Boxing Day Test in MCG has been treated to some exhilarating cricket. It started with 19-year-old Sam Konstas trying to ramp Japsrit Bumrah off his 11th ball in Test cricket. He went again and failed, and then again... and once he got a hang of it, Konstas was unstoppable. He took on Bumrah, arguably the best bowler in Test cricket at the moment and scooped, reverse-scooped, charged down, swished and smashed 60 off 65 balls to give Australia a flying start. There was also a shoulder-barging incident with Virat Kohli and verbal volleys against Siraj.
Labuschagne and Smith also scored fifties, so did Usman Khawaja but as Australia were sitting pretty on 237 for 2, Bumrah ushered in another collapse as the hosts slipped to 246 for 5. Carey and Smith held fort before Akash struck with the second new ball.
Australia have finished day 1 on 311 for 6. They would feel they could have lost at least two lesser. India would believe they have stormed back after two tough sessions. Smith remains key and could be the difference between Australia getting to 400 or being bundled out for under 350.
Andrew McGlashan's report will be up soon, but that's it from me tonight. We will be back nice and early on day 2 in what's shaping up to be a riveting Test match.
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Smith-MCG: a love story made in heaven
Steven Smith continues his love affair with the MCG. He has an incredible record on this ground. Coming into this Test, Smith had 1093 runs in 11 matches with four centuries and five fifties. He’s added another fifty here to improve on that record. Australia have lost a number of wickets around him, but he’s held his own.
Apart from Konstas, Smith is probably the only batter, who did not look scratchy. The century in Brisbane seems to have given him confidence and he has cashed in here. The only bowler who he had issues facing is Akash Deep, against whom his control percentage is only 56 (25 balls). Against Siraj – 100, Jadeja – 100, Washington Sundar – 100, Bumrah 90, Nitish Kumar Reddy 81.
The way he used his feet against the spinners was a feature of his innings and that shows in his control percentage which is 100%. Against Jadeja, he scored 18 off 25 balls, while against Washington, he had 16 off 32 balls. Going off unbeaten, he will want to desperately convert this fifty into another century and take Australia past that 400-mark.
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Akash gets rewarded... finally!
Akash Deep has fully deserved that wicket of Alex Carey. He has been penetrative all day, beaten the bat umpteen times, and now finally gets rewarded with Carey’s wicket. And it was a snorter to see the back of Carey. The ball pitched on the short of a length and shape away late to catch the outside edge of Carey’s blade.
Akash has beaten the bat a total of 20 times today, and drawn 34 false shots. Those are incredible numbers to show for only one wicket.
20 Number of times Akash Deep beat the bat on day one of the MCG Test
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Bumrah doing Bumrah things
That's what this man does. The ball has gone soft, the crowd has gone mellow, there isn't much happening off the deck and bam, he will hit back with wickets out of nowhere. It needed Washington Sundar to provide India with the Labuschagne breakthrough but Bumrah hit Australia big time with the wickets of Head and Marsh.
He's bowled 108 balls so far in this match, and has induced a false shot 36 times! With Bumrah, it's always a case of angles and those angles have got him these two wickets.
With Marsh's wicket, Bumrah's tally now moves to 24 in BGT 2024-25, which is the most for him in a series. And he still has three innings and a bit to add to his tally.
24 Most wickets for Bumrah in a Test series
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Is time running out for Marsh?
Here's Alex Malcolm on Mitchell Marsh's troubles: "Australia feel Mitch Marsh is at his best when he's aggressive. Even Marsh himself has conceded he does not have a great defence. There had been concerns around his dismissals in this series. Four nicks to half-hearted defensive prods and a chop-on trying to indecisively push off the back foot in Perth. And with the exception of that 47 in the second innings in Perth, he had hardly done any scoreboard damage.
His pull shot gets him going and he had barely latched onto any. There is no doubt that ahead of this week he was encouraged to be aggressive again and look for the pull shot. He tried to pull the first ball that looked remotely short from Bumrah but in reality, it was a pretty good length and nicked it.
His Test average has dipped below 29 and nine of his last 13 Test scores have been 10 or less, including five single digit scores out of six in this series. Those numbers are hard to justify when he is not contributing much with the ball either."
20.21 Mitchell Marsh's average in Test cricket in 2024
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And just like that... India are back!
Marnus Labuschagne has given it away the first ball after the drinks break as he waltzes down the track to Washington Sundar looking to go up and over, but fails to get under it. He can only give Kohli a simple catch at mid-off. That ends an 83-run stand between Smith and Labuschagne and India suddenly have an opening.
Why you ask? That's because Jasprit Bumrah came back from the other end and cleaned up India's nemesis Travis Head for a seven-ball duck. It was that length which has troubled Head. He left the ball on line which was outside off, but Bumrah got the ball to nip back sharply into the batter, who was shouldering arms and the ball took his off bail.
Then Mitchell Marsh, who has been in woeful form all series goes for a pull to a Bumrah delivery which was not short enough and India are suddenly now deep into Australia's lower order. This could end up being a collapse late in the day.
Australia have now lost 3 for 9 in 23 balls.
1 This is the first duck for Travis Head against India in International cricket. Also the first single digit score for him against India since the WTC 2023 final
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Did India get their bowling combination right?
Here's Alagappan Muthu gathering his thoughts on what's been an insipid bowling performance so far from India.
"Taking 20 wickets is kind of important to win Test matches. India continue to impair their own ability to do that in the 2024 Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
They went into the MCG with six bowling options. But for the first 50 overs of the innings they had to turn to the same four over and over again. And this time even Jasprit Bumrah took some tap. He has been carrying this bowling attack and that’s not just because the rest of them are flat, it's because team selections have been strange.
The two bowlers that India barely needed – Washington Sundar and Nitish Kumar Reddy – seem to be in the XI to give them a safety net; a source of runs in case the quality of the Australian attack in their own conditions overwhelms them.
Boxing Day was always going to be hard on the team that had to bowl. The forecast said temperatures would hit 40C and it was right. It was “fire weather” where the heat is so severe and the moisture is so lacking that there is a risk of bushfires. India considered that and went in with two spinners. What clearly blindsided them was Sam Konstas, and from there on, they've had to play catch up, and playing catch up with just three frontline bowlers supported by three batting allrounders is not an easy thing to do."
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Marnus making a mark
He's been far from his fluent best this innings or this whole series rather, but what's important is that Marnus Labuschagne has fought it out. A second fifty of the series for him and this one is really hard-fought. He was hit on the crotch at least three times by Mohammed Siraj, but what's important is that he brushed those blows aside and cashed in. A fifty off 114 balls with six fours.
Here's Alex Malcolm adding a bit more flavour from the ground. "It hasn't been a fluent innings from Marnus Labuschagne. Runs are a hard graft for him at the moment. But his thirst for batting has never abated despite his lean patch. And you can feel the warmth of the crowd for his efforts. They know it has been a grind. Some, no doubt, would query his place in the side given what happened to Nathan McSweeney. But there's an appreciation for how hard he works. He continues to grind as only he can. He's certainly benefitted from Sam Konstas today. It was just the second time in his last 15 innings he has walked out with the score at more than 31 for 1. He looks determined to make the most of it."
Here's his control percentage against each of the Indian bowlers.
vs Jadeja - 91
vs Siraj - 76
vs Akash Deep - 88
vs Bumrah - 78
vs Washington - 66
vs Nitish - 100
The top three have all scored a fifty now. The last instance of Australia's top three batters scoring 50-plus runs in a Test innings was in March 2022 in Rawalpindi.
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Tea on day 1
Only 64 runs scored in 28 overs after lunch with Usman Khawaja falling. India will believe they have managed to stay in the game after what was an attritional second session. After Sam Konstas ran riot in the first session, the Indian bowlers came up with a plan post lunch and that was to bowl as close to the wicket as possible. They kept a leg slip for Labuschagne, with Siraj bowling into his body and also hitting him on the crotch multiple times. Jasprit Bumrah was lucky with the wicket of Usman Khawaja who fell for a patient 57 off 121 balls, during a knock where he looked scratchy and unsettled. But, he hung around to score his maiden fifty off the series before falling for the fifth time to Bumrah.
Labushagne also has had his fair share of troubles but is unbeaten on 44 at tea off 109 balls and with him is Steven Smith on 10.
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Trouble for Kohli and Konstas?
India's senior batter Virat Kohli and Australia's latest debutant Sam Konstas had a mid-pitch altercation in the first session of the ongoing MCG Test. The incident occurred after the 10th over of the morning when Kohli and Konstas bumped shoulders while moving across the pitch once the over ended.
"Have a look at where Virat walks," former Australia captain Ricky Ponting observed while commentating on Channel 7 while watching the replay of the incident. "Virat's walked one whole pitch over to his right and instigated that confrontation. No doubt in my mind, whatsoever."
Wonder if the entire incident could have been avoided.
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Bunny alert!
Jasprit Bumrah has picked 22 wickets in 7 innings so far in BGT 2024. He will be the first to admit that Usman Khawaja's wicket in the MCG Test was the luckiest. An innocuous short ball at the start of a new spell, which Khawaja toe-ended straight to Rahul at midwicket. But that was reward for Bumrah being at his relentless best.
In the first 12 overs of his spell, he induced a false shot 25 times. He was given a pasting by Konstas upfront, but that didn't affect him and he was at it at all times. The Khawaja wicket might be counted as lucky, but, Bumrah has deserved it.
5 The most times Khawaja has fallen to a single bowler in a Test series. He is 5 for 24 against Bumrah in BGT 2024
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Control percentage vs Impact
Here's Sampath with an incredible stat:
Lowest control % for a fifty-plus score in men's Tests: (Since 2015)
53.42 - Tim Southee (65) vs IND, 2024
56.92 - Sam Konstas (60) vs IND, 2024
57.14 - Neil Wagner (66) vs WI, 2020
57.69 - Niroshan Dickwella (64) vs AUS, 2019
58.46 - Sarfaraz Ahmed (68) vs SL, 2017
56.92 - Sam Konstas (60) vs IND, 2024
57.14 - Neil Wagner (66) vs WI, 2020
57.69 - Niroshan Dickwella (64) vs AUS, 2019
58.46 - Sarfaraz Ahmed (68) vs SL, 2017
Sometimes, the control percentage might not tell the entire story. Konstas might have been scratchy, been beaten during his debut innings, but his 60 had a huge impact in Australia getting off to a quick start.
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Khawaja back among the runs
Khawaja will be the first to agree that this was not the most fluent of his innings, but that he reached a half-century - his first of the series - will please him to bits. He has been scratchy, been beaten multiple times, but has hung on. He’s had a control percentage of 73 against Akash Deep, 69 against Siraj and 66 against Bumrah. But, what this doesn’t show is that he’s faced just 15 balls of Bumrah, which included just three early on. This is where Konstas’ innings was so crucial to Khawaja getting back among the runs. The youngster took on Bumrah, which meant Khawaja had to mostly deal with Siraj, which he did well.
There have been a few streaky shots, and a couple of edges that have fallen short, but all in all Khawaja has looked solid. What he would not want to do now is throw away this start. The Indian bowlers are bound to start getting tired in this MCG heat, and this is a golden chance for both Labuschagne and Khawaja to score some runs.
India have managed to retain some control after lunch, but they will want some wickets.
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Luckless India?
It’s easy to blame the bowlers after the opposition has been off to a flyer. But, it’s not been all poor from India. As Sampath points out: The Australian batters were beaten 40 times in the first 30 overs by the Indian bowlers. Since 2011, only once was a team beaten more often in their first 30 overs while batting first - 44 times by India against New Zealand in Bengaluru earlier this season. South Africa also was beaten 40 times by England in Manchester in 2022.
The post-lunch passage further highlights this point. Both Labuschagne and Khawaja have been circumspect. The first four overs after the break were all maidens before Khawaja broke the shackles with a fierce pull off Akash Deep. But, as was the case in the Brisbane Test, Akash has so far troubled the Australian batters the most without much reward. In the first 45 minutes or so after the break, he’s beaten the bat umpteen times. Induced the outside edge more than once, but to no luck. He’s already induced 15 false shots out of the 60 balls he’s bowled.
In fact, India have induced a total of 55 not-in-control shots in the first 30 overs, the fourth-highest by any team since 2002 which did not produce more than one wicket (as per ESPNcricinfo's BBB logs).
In the eight overs after lunch, Australia have just managed seven runs with both Labuschagne and Khawaja looking all at sea. Five of these have been maidens. What India might look to do a bit more though is bowl a touch fuller and try and induce the edges.
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A morning to savour for Konstas
Was he pushed too early into Test cricket? Was Nathan McSweeney hard done by? Is a debut on Boxing Day too much to ask for? Sam Konstas came in and has answered all the questions with aplomb. He attempted a scoop off Bumrah the 11th ball he faced in Test cricket, after being beaten five times in the first over. He connected with his third ramp, and once he did, the floodgates opened. It was some of the most sensational ball-striking you will ever see. Konstas finished with 60 off 65 balls:
vs Bumrah: 34 off 33 balls; four fours and two sixes
vs Siraj: 20 off 19 balls; two fours
vs Akash Deep: 4 off 7
vs Jadeja: 2 off 6; 1 dismissal
At the other end, Usman Khawaja was solid and went to lunch unbeaten on 38 with Marnus Labuschagne for company.
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And the fun ends...
But what an innings that was. Konstas, all of 19, has smashed the Indian bowlers around finishing with 60 off 65 balls, his innings including six fours and two sixes. He added 89 runs for the opening wicket with Usman Khawaja, which is comfortably the best start for Australia all series. Gets undone by the straight Ravindra Jadeja delivery and is caught in front. He walks off to a standing ovation from his 90,000-strong MCG crowd.
More than anything else, it was Konstas' confidence which stood out. He was revving up the crowd, he was chatting with the bowlers, he was not backing down when Kohli shoulder-barged him. During the drinks break, he spoke to Fox Cricket's flying Fox mic:
“It’s quite surreal. Look at the turn out. I’m just trying to play with some freedom and just back myself. Hopefully I can get a few more. (Did you think about the ramps last night or when the ball was coming down?) When the ball was coming down. I’ll look to keep targeting him. Hopefully, he might come back on. But we’ll see what happens. (Agro with the India players) Whatever [happens] on the field stays on the field. It doesn’t get any better for a debut with this packed stadium.”
How's that for confidence? And now, he's on the sidelines, signing autographs and taking selfies. It is way too early in his career, but Konstas just has all the makings of a superstar. Now to see whether he can back this up.
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Khawaja holds his ground
It's all been Konstas this morning and that's in a way helped Usman Khawaja who has been woefully short of runs this series. This is already his highest score this series, and he's looked comfortable, though the conditions have played a role. He has ensured he remains unaffected by the carnage that is going on at the other end, and gone on to score a few crisp boundaries.
Khawaja was 4 for 17 in 71 balls against Bumrah coming into this Test, and what Konstas has done here is shield his partner from Bumrah. Khawaja has just played three balls against Bumrah so far and scored four runs. He has a control percentage of 66 against him and 78 against Siraj, against whom he has looked fairly comfortable.
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Fifty of the very best!
He gets there with a risky two to the on-side, an innings which has been fraught with risk but, oh my word has been exhilarating edge-of-the-seat stuff. Five fours, two sixes and he's smashed India's best bowler around.
Konstas has a control percentage of 57 against Bumrah and 42 against Siraj, but what counts is the runs he's scored. Three-four off 33 balls against Bumrah, which includes four fours and two sixes! And this is a bowler, who has been nigh unplayable all series. Konstas took Bumrah for 18 in the 11th over the innings, the most expensive over that Bumrah has bowled in Test cricket.
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Here's Alagappan Muthu: "India are desperate. Less than an hour into the Boxing Day Test, even their great hope, Jasprit Bumrah has abandoned his usual method of trying to hit the deck on a length, pin the batter to the crease, deny him run-scoring opportunities and then take him out. He’s gone bouncer. He’s gone yorker. He’s gone slower ball. He’s been forced into a place where the only thing he can think of to stop Sam Konstas is to take him out.
Those scoop shots have been front and centre of this chaos. He plays them like Jos Buttler. His back leg pushes out into the leg side, creating a kind of imbalance, his head falling away, which in turn helps push his body out of the way of the line of the ball so that he can make contact and generate power with those wrists. Nailing those boundaries behind the wicket forced India to abandon third slip and chuck him over to deep third. They had a long leg as well. And a deep square leg well behind square as well, worried about his scoops. That opened up options in front of the wicket and Konstas went for it. One shot, he middled for six, the other he beat the infield for four.
18 Most runs scored off a Bumrah over in Test cricket
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"A different look" indeed
Alex Malcolm, who has watched a fair bit of Konstas is as perplexed by this onslaught as any. "The Australian selectors said they wanted to "throw a different look" at India when they dropped Nathan McSweeney and picked Sam Konstas. It's hard to know whether they had this in mind but he has delivered on what they asked for. Aside from one reverse scoop off Akash Deep in the Prime Minister's XI game in Canberra when the score was 50 for 2 in 14th over of a 50-over game, there is little evidence of Konstas doing this in Sheffield Shield cricket. He did try the shot in the last Shield game for NSW against WA but didn't score a boundary. Yet in front of 90,000 at the MCG on Test debut, having been beaten five times in his first 11 deliveries by Jasprit Bumrah, he tried to reverse scoop and missed. He tried again in the following over and missed. But if at first you don't succeed, try, try again.
In Bumrah's fourth over he scooped him for six over fine leg, and then reverse scooped for six and four in the same over. It is the first six Bumrah has conceded in Test cricket in nearly four years. He also got third slip moved to deep third and then nicked one to where third slip would have been in Bumrah's fifth over and survived. He then launched down the ground, got in a sledging exchange with Virat Kohli after they bumped shoulders. It has been incredible batting with the crowd on the edge their seats the whole time. What a selection gamble from Australia. They have made a fast start on a 40-degree day having been going nowhere against Bumrah in the previous three Tests."
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Sam Konstas... you cannot do that!
Sampath Bandarupalli with an interesting stat: Third over (at 2.5) is the earliest point of a Test match any batter has tried to play a reverse ramp or a scoop (since 2014 as per ESPNCricinfo's BBB logs). Ben Duckett attempted a reverse sweep off Noman Ali in the recent Rawalpindi Test on the last ball of the 4th over. The previous earliest anyone attempted off a pacer was David Warner, who went for a paddle scoop in the 6th over (on 5.2) against Stuart Broad at the Lord's in 2023.
When Konstas first tried it in the third over, it seemed to be nerves, brought about a few laughs. But this looks a proper gameplan. He tried it again in the next over, which did not come off. Konstas then went for a swish and a hoick against Siraj which were followed by a few verbal volleys. But it's what happened in Bumrah's third over which was incredible.
Here's the sequence. The first ball of the sixth over, Bumrah goes fuller around off stump, Konstas shuffles across and Bumrah over the keeper's head. But, he's not done yet. The next ball, Bumrah goes full again expecting the scoop. Konstas now goes the reverse scoop way and goes all the way over the slips. Then he goes a third time, a reverse scoop again with the ball landing juuuust short of the deep third fence.
As Sampath points out: That was the first six off Jasprit Bumrah in Tests since Cameron Green in Australia's second innings in Sydney in 2021. Overall, only the eighth six hit off Bumrah in Tests. It was also Bumrah's third most expensive over in Tests.
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Boxing Day Test, with all the feels
Alagappan Muthu is soaking it all in: Christmas day at the Melbourne city centre was warm and funky. The streets were all lit up. There were festive songs bubbling through inside the coffee shops. The people joined in, wearing reindeer hairbands and Santa beards.
Twenty-four hours later, at the MCG, the feeling is entirely different. All the mellow has gone. Happens when close to 90,000 people are experiencing the same emotions. Excitement. Appreciation. Tension. Disappointment. You know how thunder rolls in the clouds? Well, that’s how the ooohs have sounded here when Bumrah goes past Konstas’ bat. Boxing Day cricket is something else. And we’ve barely had a half hour of it.
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Welcome to Test cricket, Sam Konstas
Six balls from Bumrah to Konstas, and he's beaten the bat five times. No easy sighters, no Christmas presents, Bumrah is on the money, right on! Gets the ball on that awkward length, just outside off. Not a lot of movement, but Bumrah doesn't need all that. Konstas all at sea first up. But, hey, that's expected. To his credit, Konstas didn't really push at the ball or go searching for it.
He is finally off the mark in the second over. Bumrah goes a little straighter and Konstas picks him for two behind square to a huge ovation. And, haaaang on! Let me see if I got this right. The fifth ball of the second over he's faced in Test cricket, and Konstas has gone for a reverse ramp... to Jasprit Bumrah. Wowza! The exuberance of youth and all that. It's woken up the crowd for sure. Khawaja has a smile on his face, so does Bumrah, so does Kohli, so does Pant. Bumrah follows it up with an absolute jaffa, and gives Konstas a long stare.
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Whose home game is it anyway?
Alex Malcolm chimes in: Based off the crowd noise post the anthems, this is a home game for India. Which was expected. He further adds that there was a huge roar for the announcement of Sam Konstas over the PA... and an even bigger roar for Jasprit Bumrah.
Konstas, on debut, to take first strike against Bumrah. Let's go!
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What to make of the Gill decision?
Here's Sidharth Monga: Four years ago, in the corresponding Test of that BGT, Shubman Gill made his debut, had some crucial luck early on and then went onto play a significant part in perhaps the greatest upset of all time. Four years later, he finds himself being dropped for the exact same Test.
One of the reasons perhaps is the way he has been getting out. Three innings, two starts of 31 and 28 in the day-night Test, but out to three half-volleys, which is extremely rare for a Test batter. The lengths of the three balls that have got him out are 3.2m, 3.5m and 4.3m. These are proper half-volleys.
Do the team management sense a technical issue with him there? Or do they feel they needed an offie should Travis Head be batting against the old ball, which is when he has really damaged India? India have gone at 5.65 an over at an average of 113 in the 20 overs leading to the new ball. And once they decided they needed an offie, did they decide they didn’t want to lose neither of Jadeja and Reddy because they have been in the runs?
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Two spinners and Rohit at the top ...
Some very interesting calls made by the Indian team. No Shubman Gill at the very venue where he made his Test debut four years back. India have Ravindra Jadeja at No. 6, Nitish Kumar Reddy at No. 7 and Washington Sundar at No. 8... that is a lot of faith on three allrounders. Also, Rohit Sharma, who is searching for runs is back at the top of the order. There is a bit of grass on the surface which means Bumrah will be in the game early against Konstas. Plenty of subplots waiting to happen. This should be a good one.
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Australia bat; two spinners for India
The coin has gone in Pat Cummins' favour and Australia will bat. So, that means Sam Konstas will be in early against Bumrah and Co. Good luck to him! The heat is going to be a factor, with temperatures likely to soar as high as 40 degrees on the Celsius scale.
Cummins says, "The pitch looks good. There's a bit of a grass like an old MCG wicket, looks nice and firm. The sun is out, 1-1, which is what everyone wanted to see. It’s been a great series so far." He confirms Konstas' debut and that Scott Boland comes in for Josh Hazlewood.
Rohit Sharma says that he would have batted as well. "We have to bowl well. The series is 1-1 and a lot to play for. We fought really well in that game [Brisbane]." Rohit also confirms that Shubman Gill misses out, and that he will bat at the top of the order. Also India have gone with two spinners, with Washington Sundar coming in.
Playing XIs
Australia: Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins(capt), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland
India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma (capt), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep
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What do we have in store?
The Border-Gavaskar Trophy is the short answer. India win this Test and they will retain the trophy. Australia will be desperate to not let that happen. How's the pitch going to play? It is likely to have 'pace, bounce and excitement', but what about runs? Alex Malcolm tries to search for an answer.
Then there are also all the talks about India's top order, in particular, the two youngsters Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill, who have been as consistent as they would want to be. Rohit Sharma, though says he doesn't want to 'complicate too many things' for the duo.
Talking about youngsters, we also have a 19-year-old Sam Konstas all set to make his debut at the top of the order for Australia in front of an estimated 90,000 fans. No stress, Sam!
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Hey, ho... let's go!
There is something about a Boxing Day Test in Australia that just gets you up and running. And when it is India taking on Australia in a series which is all squared up with just two Tests to go... oof! The bane of a five-match series is one team taking the lead nice and early and the other playing catch-up cricket the rest of the time. That has not been the case here. India will be the first to admit they've come up short a lot of the times in these three Tests. So, just the fact that they are heading into MCG 1-1 will rev up their confidence. India have been on the winning side the last two times they were here. Can they make it a hat-trick of wins at the MCG? Can Australia continue their good form and make it 2-1? No matter what the result, the cricket will be exhilarating.
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