Melbourne [Australia], December 29 (ANI): Talisman pacer Jasprit Bumrah’s fiery spell in the second session on Day 04 at the Melbourne helped India gain momentum over Australia on Sunday.
At Tea, Australia stood at 135/6, with Marnus Labuschagne (65*) and Pat Cummins (21*) unbeaten on the crease. Currently, the hosts lead by 240 runs.
The Aussies resumed the second session from 53/2, with Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne on the crease.
In the first few overs of the second session on Day 04, the Aussies capitalized a few runs on the board. However, that didn’t break the Indian pacers’ confidence, who were determined to put up a show in the game.
In the 33rd over, Mohammed Siraj got his second wicket after he removed Steve Smith from the crease for 13 runs.
Travis Head replaced Smith on the crease, but he couldn’t get time to settle as the mighty Bumrah removed Travis for one run in the 34th over. With Head’s wicket, Bumrah achieved the milestone of becoming the first Indian to pick the fastest 200 Test wickets.
The top India pacer was on fire in the second session. Bumrah got rid of Mitchell Marsh for a four-ball duck in the same over. The 34th over turned out to be a game-changer as it helped India dominate over the Aussie batter.
Alex Carey replaced Marsh but struggled to cement a partnership with Labuschagne. Bumrah got his 4-fer as he removed Carey in the 36th over for two runs.
After losing six wickets in their second inning, skipper Pat Cummins and Labuschagne took things on their hand and cemented a crucial partnership of 44 runs.
In the 43rd over, Labuschagne slammed his half-century. He held Australia’s inning together in the second session.
The visitors need to keep a check on their fielding as they cannot lose runs in the third session on Day 04. Yashasvi Jaiswal’s performance on the field will also raise a few questions as the youngster dropped three catches in the second session itself.
In the second session, Australia scored 82 runs and India picked up four wickets from the 24 overs of play.
The visitors will be aiming to bundle out the Aussies as soon as possible. Meanwhile, Cummins and Labuschange will be eyeing to build up a partnership.
Earlier on Sunday, India resumed their innings at 358/9 on Sunday with Reddy (105*) and Mohammed Siraj (2*) at the crease.
The Aussies took only 21 balls in the first session to take the final wicket and end India’s first inning at 369, which put an end to Nitish Kumar Reddy’s tremendous knock.
The crucial stand of 127 runs from Nitish Kumar Reddy and Washington Sundar helped India to make a comeback and settle in a better place or else things could have been worse.
Sam Konstas and Usman Khawaja opened for the Aussies during their second inning. The India pace attack became a big threat for the Aussies in the initial first few overs of the second inning.
In the 7th over, Jasprit Bumrah found success as he dismissed Sam Konstas for 8 runs from 18 balls.
The Aussie openers could only cement a partnership of 20 runs at the start of their second inning.
Later in the 19th over, Mohammed Siraj troubled Khawaja for some while and finally rid of him for 21 runs from 65 balls.
Brief score: Australia 474 & 135/6 (Pat Cummins 21*, Marnus Labuschagne 65*, Jasprit Bumrah 4/30) vs India 369 (Nitish Kumar Reddy 114, Yashasvi Jaiswal 82; Scott Boland 3/57). (ANI)
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