Key events
WICKET! Smith c Jaiswal b Prasidh 4, Australia 58-3
10th over: Australia 58-3 (Khawaja 12) Khawaja keeps pushing the singles. Smith is beaten on the outside edge by Prasidh and hit low on the pad, but his step across has taken the impact point outside the line of off stump. India review, Kohli shrugging like they may as well take the punt, but it’s a green light for Smith.
Got to do away with that Law, it’s so redundant in this age. Track the ball’s path, give it out if it’s hitting.
But you know what? That doesn’t matter for India today. The bounce does him, Smith stepping across the surprised by another explosive lifter, sliced into the gully, and Jaiswal ends the over with a ripper. Tumbling to his right, low to the ground, and Smith is out on 9999 Test runs.
Brian Lara got out twice in the 9990s too.
9th over: Australia 55-2 (Khawaja 11, Smith 2) In comes Steven Smith, with the chance to improve on a poor fourth-innings record. Makes it easier when that innings come on day three rather than five. Doesn’t make it easier on this pitch, his first ball a beaut from Siraj that straightens past the edge. But he’s off the mark next ball with a clipped brace. Steps right across and pulls his bat inside the line of a sharp lifter. It’s still doing plenty. If India hadn’t bottled the first three overs here, this could be a contest.
WICKET! Labuschagne c Jaiswal b Prasidh 6, Australia 52-2
8th over: Australia 52-2 (Khawaja 10) Absurd appeal for caught behind after Prasidh brushes Labuschagne’s pad on the way down the leg side. Wind ruffling the players’ uniforms, two slips and a gully await…
and Labuscahgne feeds the latter! Last ball of the over. He’s got out on the back cut a few times this summer, and goes again, catching practice, struck in the air with no attempt to keep it down, straight at Jaiswal, who dropped so many in Melbourne and looks like he might do the same here, flinching as the ball reaches him, but he hangs on.
7th over: Australia 51-1 (Khawaja 9, Labuschagne 6) Sliced drive by Khawaja, two more, then a single. Siraj throws in a no-ball, because the donations have apparently not yet been adequate. Fourteen runs in extras, for Fred’s sake.
“Well done, Scott Boland,” says Damian Clarke. Peter Brown is more effusive. “Boland. Must. Play. With Cummins apparently not touring Sri Lanka I wonder if he’ll start?”
Well, yes, Cummins has a kid on the way, so will probably miss the whole tour. It does open up a chance for Boland as second quick behind Starc. Smith will captain.
6th over: Australia 47-1 (Khawaja 6, Labuschagne 6) Marnus looking in good touch. Drives a couple of runs straight, clips four through wide long on. Prasidh coughs up another half dozen.
5th over: Australia 41-1 (Khawaja 6, Labuschagne 0) There is so much bounce in this pitch. It’s at the point of being too extreme, have to say. Thinking back to the one that hit Washington on the gloves, and now a normal length from Siraj leaps over Labuschagne’s bat and over Pant’s head. Another bye, this time through no fault of bowler or keeper.
4th over: Australia 39-1 (Khawaja 5, Labuschagne 0) Batting, bowling, and fielding, that was one of the ugliest openings to a Test innings I have ever seen. Yuck.
WICKET! Konstas c Washington b Prasidh 22, Australia 39-1
At the stumps, miracle of miracles, and Konstas has backed away and tries to barrel it over cover, missing and nearly losing his stumps. A good thing that Prasidh goes back to the leg stump junk line for Konstas to flick two more runs. Then another one, two more that is almost four, saved by a dive in the deep.
Fifth ball of the over, Prasidh bowls another on the rare off-stump line, and Konstas plays a truly horrible shot. Where was even trying to hit that? It looked like long off at first, then I think maybe long on? Angled bat, off a length at the top of the bounce, trying to flay it like Rishabh but without the timing. All he does is hit it a mile in the air, and it lands in the hands of Washington at mid off, who has remembered how to field.
3rd over: Australia 35-0 (Konstas 18, Khawaja 5) Trash. More trash. Down the leg side again from Siraj, which is bad enough to begin with, then Washington at fine leg slides in and fumbles a regulation stop over the rope. What does Siraj do? Gives Konstas another boundary, with a leg-stump half volley that the opener can shovel through square. Finally Siraj remembers how to bowl outside off stump, and immediately beats Konstas’ back-foot punch. Who would have thought.
13, 13, 9 the overs so far.
2nd over: Australia 26-0 (Konstas 9, Khawaja 5) This is just atrocious. Dismal, dismal bowling. After Siraj bottles it, on a pitch where Australia prospered with seam movement from a full length, Prasidh Krishna decides to bang the ball in halfway down, and metres down the leg side. The first errant bouncer is saved at fine leg, conceding three wides rather than five, so he follows it up with a ball over the keeper’s head for four byes. Then short again and gets wiped through midwicket by the Konstas pull shot for three.
13 off the first over, 13 off the second, and you could not possibly draw a wilder distinction with what might have happened had Bumrah opened up.
1st over: Australia 13-0 (Konstas 5, Khawaja 3) Siraj with a good ball first up, beating the edge and the off stump, but then loses his line and bowls twice down the leg side. The second one is so wide it beats Pant for four byes. The collection plate has gone around. Two slips and a gully, with a deep third to discourage the ramp, and Konstas plays it along the ground to that man for one. Khawaja pulls without timing through midwicket for two. Then advances to push and run, diving in at the non-striker’s end as the ball is thrown from mid off. That lets Konstas play his first Konstas shot, charging at Siraj and thrashing the cover drive aerially for four.
Australia get almost 10 percent of the target in one over.
It will be Siraj and Prasidh to open up, at any rate. Indian team in position, Konstas facing up with Khawaja watching on.
Tight huddle from the Indian team, a long conversation. It must be Kohli leading that, imploring them to produce something special. I think that’s Easwaran as the sub fielder. So is there no Bumrah, or will he get jabbed up and appear?
Where is Bumrah? He’s not with the team boundary side, warming up. Might still be taking his pads off.
“Morning! Long time follower, first time emailer,” chirrups Rishi. “It’s been a tough series to follow as an Indian fan since Perth, I won’t miss anxiously waking up and seeing us 80-4. Looking forward to the England series. Our last frontier IMO. Love your work!”
Thanks Rishi. There’s a certain tour to the south of Africa that India have never won either, though they’re unlikely to play more than two Tests there on any future trips. Doesn’t feel the same.
India all out 157, Australia need 162 to win
Even on this difficult surface, Australia shouldn’t mess this up. Although who knows, when it comes to nerves and small targets and seam movement and perhaps a last flourish from Jasprit Bumrah if he can get his back to cooperate.
WICKET! Bumrah b Boland 0, India 157-10
Ten-wicket match for Scott Boland. The first time in his career. Bumrah doesn’t make it too hard for him, after Prasidh pinches a run first ball with a straight push. Bumrah decides that slogging is the go, and gives it a big attempt. Misses. Boland doesn’t.
WICKET! Siraj c Khawaja b Boland 4, India 156-9
Boland has five! And a chance for ten in the match if he gets the next one. He won’t get many more helpful pitches than this, but he’s been relentless. Bowls one ball off-line down the leg side, then immediately corrects to just outside off stump, having Siraj nick to first slip in time-honoured fashion. Taken low, hands on the ground, but the replay is clean and clear.
39th over: India 156-8 (Siraj 4, Bumrah 0) The two overnight batters with credentials are gone cheaply, and it’s down to the genuine tail to have a whack and hope for some luck. Bumrah batting ahead of Prasidh Krishna. Bumrah blocks the first ball, then opens his front foot and baseballs at the next one, but that’s steeeeerrrrike one. End of the over.
The lead is 160.
WICKET! Washington b Cummins 12, India 156-8
Skewed away again by Siraj first ball of the Cummins over, little fumble in the gully from Webster allows them to sprint the single, as his throw goes over the bowler’s head. Nasty bounce that squares up Washington, the fend lands in front of gully from the glove. So they have Webster at third slip and Labuschagne at gully now for Washington, wanting to ramp up pressure. He hasn’t played an attacking shot yet, so why not?
But there’s no need for slips in the end, as Cummins comes around the wicket, angles in, seams in, and takes out middle and off stumps. And Bumrah is coming out to bat!
38th over: India 155-7 (Washington 12, Siraj 3) Boland produces another ripper that nearly bowls Washington. Seaming in to the left hander, just bouncing over. No score from the six balls. Who would have thought that the only runs scored from Boland in three overs this morning would be by Siraj?
“Hiya Geoff and Rob,” writes Paul Moody. “Shame it’s almost over, been enthralling even though no live TV here for me. Cricket is not a sport for Brasil, but they are missing out. Hope it’s an exciting finish. Much appreciated your humour laced commentaries.”
Don’t say that to Roberta Moretti! The Brazil women’s team has gone from strength to strength the last decade, mostly under her stewardship. She recently handed over the captaincy but is still involved.
37th over: India 155-7 (Washington 12, Siraj 3) Nicked away for four! Webster goes Supermanning across to his right at gully but can’t get hold of the ball as it finds the slip gap perfectly. Washington profits, Cummins deals with the frustration. End of the over, Siraj calls for a sharp run as Washington plays down into the ground, and they make the dash to manage the strike, Webster again coming in to gather and throw and miss as Siraj dives in.
The lead is 159. Every run an event at this point. Get that to 180 and they’re in the hunt.
36th over: India 150-7 (Washington 7, Siraj 3) Stats-wise, Scott Boland has taken a huge proportion of his wickets in the first 12 balls of a spell. So it’s a minor miracle for Siraj to steer two runs between slip and gully, then skew a ball to slip on the bounce. Washington slipped when turning for a third run, and looked like he may have twisted his ankle a bit. Seems ok now. Boland beats the edge fifth ball, then Siraj winds up for a huge drive and misses! But has survived the over.
The lead is 154.
35th over: India 148-7 (Washington 7, Siraj 1) Mohammed Siraj at No9 is not a comforting prospect for India. So presumably Bumrah will bat last, if he must, to make sure that warm-up is next to his bowling warm-up? The Indian camp said he had back spasms, which might be manageable. Siraj gets a run first ball though, to fine leg, and Washington has a big square drive to end the over but misses out. Siraj on strike in Boland’s second over. Not good for India.
The lead is 152.
WICKET! Jadeja c Carey b Cummins 13, India 147-7
Width from Cummins, and thrashed by Jadeja for four! There’s the strokeplay that he so often puts away in Tests. A lavish cut shot. So Cummins responds with lavish movement back into the lefty, beating him by a fraction. Top bowling. And the next ball, makes up that margin – slightly fuller, scrambled seam moving inward, and it takes the thick defensive edge.
34th over: India 143-6 (Jadeja 9, Washington 7) Ooh, nick! Boland first ball, as is his wont. But Washington gets it to ground in front of Webster in the cordon, no small feat when Webster’s arms are so long he could basically tap the batter on the shoulder from there. The next five balls, survived, and that’s a feat: Boland’s first 12 balls are historically his most dangerous.
33rd over: India 143-6 (Jadeja 9, Washington 7) Cummins starts off, and Jadeja pinches a single immediately. Washington pinches a bit of luck! Parries a ball in the air towards square leg, and Konstas might have got that if he’d dived forward. Instead he stays back expecting it to carry. Washington gets the next ball past Konstas for a run.
The lead is 147.
The Jane McGrath banner is rolled up and marched off the field. The flag-bearers wait by the boundary line near the respective team representatives. For India, just Washington Sundar, waiting for Ravindra Jadeja to join him. They have the job of putting together however many runs they can scrap out on this pitch. Thirty metres around the boundary, the Aussie XI masses and runs onto the field once the umpires step over the rope.
Various formalities happen on the field with a singer I can’t immediately identify, some banners being marched around by volunteers, and now the pink carpet walk takes place with the Australian team and the Indian team walking down to present their signed caps to Glenn McGrath. These will be auctioned later. The India ones might fetch much higher bids if they can pull off a win here.
It is Pink Day in Sydney! Glorious sunshine, too, in blessed contrast to a couple of these days over the years. The crowd has fulfilled the brief, pink outfits from wall to wall in the Members and Ladies stands. We haven’t filled up all the bays yet across the sweep of the Brewongle, Churchill, Trumper, O’Reilly, and Bradman stands, but they’re on the way.
Massive lines down at the tram this morning outside Central station. Sunday morning. Game in the balance. People are turning out.
Drop us a line, if you like, to let us know where or how or in what temper you’re closing out the series: our emails are open. Address in the sidebar.
It was a sugar-high day yesterday, so all I could really do after play was try to sum up a bit of what happened.
Preamble
Geoff Lemon
Alright, folks. Game on, and game almost over, if things continue at the pace they have. We saw 26 wickets fall in the first two days: a combination of a pitch doing enough, some fast bowlers using it well, and a lot of batting that doesn’t know how to handle it. The unforced error count has been high for both sides. On debut, Beau Webster’s 105 deliveries is the longest innings anyone has produced. Nathan Lyon and Ravindra Jadeja have delivered nine overs between them, and that’s the only spin out of 156 overs bowled.
So now we’ve got India 145 ahead, with Jadeja and Washington to resume, three fast bowlers who could raffle No11 between them to follow, and then an Australian chase of whatever those five batters can add. So yes, maybe the current pair resume and bat all day, but it’s more likely to be over quickly.
Today is also Jane McGrath Day at the SCG for the McGrath Foundation to raise money for breast cancer care, so the ground will be the usual wash of pink. Shall we commence?
