India 358 per 9 (Reddy 105*, Washington 50, Boland 3-57, Cummins 3-86) trails. australia 474 x 116 runs
By the time the players left the field for the second time (rain took an early lead), Australia’s advantage had been reduced to 116. This was much less than what was seen on the cards when India had 221 for 7 before lunch. They will still be hoping for a triple-digit lead but they could now face a race against time to get a win on a veritable stadium that is showing no serious signs of deterioration.
Ravindra Jadeja played a largely defensive innings before being beaten by some excellent bowling from Lyon, who slipped once to trap him lbw. It was Lyon’s fourth wicket of the series, but he could still play a significant role, although he produced one bounce later to eliminate Washington. When Jadeja fell, India were still 253 runs adrift with Washington joining Reddy for the first target of the follow-on, but there was little chance of Cummins enforcing it.
Reddy showed a positive attitude when he arrived and quickly overtook Jadeja’s score despite a 35-ball headstart from his partner. Soon after Lyon removed Jadeja, Reddy skipped over to the off-spinner and sent him straight for a six. His half-century came off a fierce back-foot drive off Mitchell Starc and, as in previous series, his skills shone as one who will rank higher as his career progresses.
Washington enjoyed a moment of good fortune under somewhat unusual circumstances. When he tried to turn Starc through the leg side in his first over with the second new ball, the ball flew towards second slip, caught by Stephen Smith behind his bat. Surprised that it came in his direction and he couldn’t stop it from diving to his right.
There was a moment of concern for Australia later when Starc caught his back midway through an over. However, he appeared unscathed despite finishing the day wicketless in 25 overs and continued to bowl at good pace as his workload quickly increased ahead of the final Test in Sydney.
Mitchell Marsh was used for spells either side of the extended tea break, but his 120kph medium speed did the job of breaking up the scoring early in the final session, but he was unconvincing.
The eighth-wicket pair showed little sign of being separated until Lyon bounced against Washington and took the shoulder of the bat to Smith. At that point Reddy was on 97 and some of the most exciting minutes of the day were about to unfold.
