India 252 for 9 (Rahul 84, Jadeja 77, Cummins 4-80, Starc 3-83) trail. australia Runs at 445 x 193
It was Akash who moved India past the follow-on mark when he cut Cummins over the leaping gully fielder. Two balls later he cleared his front leg and attempted a wide six-over long-on. It was the final scoring scene of the day, with the referee sending the players off the pitch due to poor light after another throw.
It was another stop-start day at the Gabba, but not as good as Day 3, with Australia’s depleted attack taking more time out of the game if it helped stave off fatigue. Only 57.5 overs were possible during the day.
In the end, Australia screwed up the case from the beginning. Cummins got his first ball of the day behind Rahul in the corridor and sent it straight to Steven Smith at second slip. Smith is one of the best slip fielders in the world. He later demonstrated this. But this time the ball simply bounced off the back of his hand.
Cummins soon struck, removing Rohit Sharma with a fine one-two. First, he pushed the short ball up his ribcage, disallowing any pulling motion. He then moved the ball all the way outside the stump. Rohit did not get forward enough to play this ball safely and ended up trying to drive it towards the keeper as his front shoulder was too open.
India were 74 for 4 at this stage and the over was just 23.3. But the arrival of Jadeja calmed them down and he settled into an innings where his control rate hovered in the mid-90s. Hazlewood was instrumental in getting Jadeja off the field soon after bowling one over, and stopped the ball from bouncing as awkwardly as it did when it was a new ball. I made sure he did the best he could under his circumstances.
His cartwheels against the fast bowlers gave a clear idea of ​​that. Numerous check drives down the ground with a vertical bat and full face, plenty of bounce off his legs but very few through covers with an angled bat. He also bowled heavily for Lyon, making him a frequent foe at home, but Jadeja’s way of fielding bat and pad close together made him a lbw candidate at Indian pitches, but he was much less of a problem on this bouncy Gabba surface. . He also pulled off a shot he’s not known for, the sweep, picking up two fours and three singles.
India started to chip away at the deficit as Rahul looked increasingly solid at the other end and got rid of several wonderful off-side drives. Smith then brilliantly made up for his earlier mistake as he stepped to his right in anticipation of Rahul forming a backcut from Lyon and dived to his right to grab the thick edge with one hand. Jadeja and Rahul made 67.
To avoid any follow-up, we have rounded up 105 Indian multi-talented people who are still needed. The selection of Jadeja and Nitish Kumar Reddy led to a lack of depth in India’s bowling and may have contributed to their conceding of 445. But now we have the batting to try and save this Test match. Reddy continued his impressive form in the series and this time he was asked to bat normally and show his defensive prowess rather than counter-attacking. The seventh-wicket pair were batted out for 53, with Cummins hitting the ball almost past 60 before his Sunrisers Hyderabad teammate Reddy edged it inside his stumps.
India now needed 55 with three wickets remaining and soon needed 33 with one wicket remaining as a smoldering Starc and Cummins removed Mohammed Siraj and Jadeja, the latter attempting a strike. It cleverly protruded from the inside. Australia are almost there, but as Bumrah and Akash Deep proved, they are not there yet.
Karthik Krishnaswamy is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo.
