Jasprit Bumrah is having a sensational run in Australia, firmly establishing himself as India’s best bowler in the ongoing Test series. The India vice-captain has been in sublime form, playing a pivotal role in India’s fightback Down Under. Starting off the series with an incredible 8-wicket haul, Jasprit Bumrah‘s relentless performances have continued, taking 4 wickets in the pink-ball Test in Adelaide and following up with a remarkable nine-wicket haul at the Gabba.
Jasprit Bumrah became the first bowler in the history of the sport to pick 200 wickets at an average under 20 as his massive influence was felt on yet another day of cricket in the Border Gavaskar Trophy. Mohammed Siraj overturned his first-innings wastefulness by finding his rhythm quickly and keeping it up to snare three wickets.
For Australia, Marnus Labuschagne rode his massive share of luck to score his second fifty of the Test to keep his team afloat on a see-saw day of cricket. Beyond the impact of this trio, Australia pushed their lead to 333 through a stubborn final-wicket stand between Nathan Lyon (41* off 54) and Scott Boland (10* off 65).
Day 4 : Morning Session : India’s new-ball potency especially Jasprit Bumrah keeps Australia on their toes
India added 11 runs to their overnight tally of 358/9 before Nitish Reddy holed out against Nathan Lyon. This came right after a contentious third umpire’s call for a catch in the slips against Mohammed Siraj that peeved Pat Cummins. Siraj brought his bat down to fend off a yorker length ball from the Australian captain and watched it sail off the outside edge to Steve Smith at second slip.
The umpires weren’t sure if the ball carried on the full and sent the decision upstairs. Though it didn’t seem like there was conclusive evidence, the third umpire reckoned that the ball had bounced after hitting the edge of the bat and ruled it not out. Cummins was not pleased with the decision and wanted to review the call, only to be told there was no such option. It didn’t matter though as Australia picked the last wicket before India could add another run.
Jasprit Bumrah then won the second round of his face-off against the young and adventurous Sam Konstas, cleaning him with a nip-backer from length and egged the crowd on in celebration, like the 19-year-old did in the first innings.
He tormented an out-of-sorts Usman Khawaja, beating the outside edge of his bat for fun and yet the opener survived that first spell. Jasprit Bumrah nearly pulled off a set up for him by getting the ball to move inwards after repeatedly getting them to deviate away. Yashasvi Jaiswal was stationed at leg gully for it but didn’t hold on to the flick that Khawaja played towards him.
Akash Deep bowled a tight spell from the other end, squaring up Marnus Labuschagne multiple times but couldn’t induce an outside edge to carry behind. India were top-class with the new ball without corresponding results to show for – they induced 41.6% false shots in the first 10 overs but only picked one wicket in this period. Jasprit Bumrah took a six-over break before returning from the other end. He squared up Labuschagne a few more times, and even beat him on the drive but none led to the outcome that he and India desired.
Siraj shrugged off his ineffectiveness from the first innings and breached Khawaja’s defence to knock back his off-stump and put him out of his misery. Smith then joined the party of playing-and-missing but he too enjoyed the rub of the green like his batting partner Labuschagne, as the pair dragged Australia to Lunch break without further damage.
Marnus Labuschagne miraculously survived India’s probing new-ball potency to drag the hosts to 53/2 at Lunch on Day 4 at the MCG in the company of Steve Smith. This was after Australia secured a first-innings lead of 105 runs.
Earlier, Nitish Kumar Reddy’s maiden century narrowed Australia’s first-innings advantage to 105. India’s new-ball bowling, with Jasprit Bumrah well supported by Mohammed Siraj and Akash Deep, made life extremely tough for the top order and the home side progressed at barely two-and-a-half runs an over. But at 80 for 2 – a lead of 185 – more comfortable territory was looming for Australia, only for the picture to change dramatically.
Day 4 : Post Lunch Session : Australia push lead to 240 despite Jasprit Bumrah magic
A superlative effort from Jasprit Bumrah – a common occurrence in Tests these days – in the first hour of the afternoon session rattled Australia briefly at the MCG. He picked his 200th Test wicket – and two more – but Marnus Labuschagne scored his second fifty of the fixture to take his team’s lead to 240 at Tea.
Since conceding a first-innings lead of 105 runs, Indian quicks were on top of their game in the morning period. Jasprit Bumrah started the rout with the wicket of his first-innings nemesis Sam Konstas – and celebrated by egging the crowd on like the 19-year-old did before.
The pair of Labuschagne and Usman Khawaja rode their luck for a long time as plays and misses, and squaring up happened frequently without the dividends for India. Khawaja was eventually dismissed by Mohammed Siraj who shrugged off his first-innings lethargy and found his rhythm quickly. He and Akash Deep complemented India’s MVP with the ball to keep the hosts on their toes.
Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah then combined to pick three wickets in the space of 10 deliveries early in the second session. Steve Smith nicked Siraj behind to Rishabh Pant while Travis Head suffered a rare double failure against India as he flicked a Jasprit Bumrah delivery to Nitish Reddy at mid-wicket.
Steven Smith’s wicket sparked a collapse of 4 for 11 in three overs in the first part of the afternoon session which included Jasprit Bumrah’s 200th Test wicket as he removed Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh and Alex Carey in an electric passage of play.
This was Jasprit Bumrah’s 200th wicket in the format, getting there with an average under 20 – an achievement matched by no bowler in this format. In the same over, Mitchell Marsh’s horror run in Tests continued as he edged to Pant. Jasprit Bumrah then got the ball to seam in from good length to breach Alex Carey’s bat-pad gap and leave Australia languishing on 91/6.
However, at 99 for 6 came a potentially defining moment when Labuschagne, on 46, was dropped in the gully by Yashasvi Jaiswal when he looked to glide the luckless Deep to third. Jaiswal, who had early shelled Usman Khawaja at leg gully, had a day to forget in the field as he also gave Cummins a life in the final over before tea when he missed a low chance at silly point.
Labuschagne, who watched helplessly new batting partners come and go, enjoyed another slice of luck as Yashasvi Jaiswal put down a sitter at third slip off Deep’s bowling. Labuschagne went on to score his second fifty of the fixture as Australia pushed their lead past 200. Jaiswal’s bad day on the field got even worse when he failed to get his palms under a tough chance at silly point to give Pat Cummins a reprieve. The Aussie captain and Labuschagne took the sting out of India’s momentum in the session to head into the break at 135/6.
Day 4 : Afternoon session : Pat Cummins , Nathan Lyon and Scott Boland frustrates lifeless Indian bowling to take lead to 333
When Bumrah seamed one back sharply at Alex Carey, the game was threatening to be turned on its head barely 24 hours after India looked likely to concede a lead over 200. Then came Labuschagne’s reprieve and Australia breathed again.
Scoring was never free but Labuschagne constructed one of the most important innings of his career although at times could only smile when another delivery would whistle past his edge. Overs such as one from Deep that went for nine – with a boundary apiece to Labuschagne and Cummins – were like small momentum shifts.
Just when India were on the rise, Pat Cummins arrived to dim their enthusiasm by putting on a stand with Labuschagne, who made the most of his near-misses and two dropped catches – both by Yashasvi Jaiswal. They put on 57 vital runs to push Australia’s lead before Siraj and India found themselves on the right side of an ‘umpire’s call’ for an LBW appeal against Labuschagne.
With Labuschagne dismissed, Rohit Sharma kept bringing Jasprit Bumrah back for short spells to try and wrap up the lower order but that didn’t quite transpire as he would have liked.
When the pair survived Jasprit Bumrah’s first spell after tea that felt like a good result for Australia, but Siraj produced a superb delivery to earn an lbw against Labuschagne that was upheld on umpire’s call. Mitchell Starc fell to a misunderstanding with Cummins and a brilliant piece of work from Rishabh Pant who removed a glove to collect Reddy’s throw from the deep and produced a direct hit at the non-striker’s end. Cummins then edged Jadeja to slip having produced his highest runs tally in a Test.
Mitchell Starc fell to a sharp run out by Pant, and Cummins nicked Jadeja to Rohit at first slip to fall for 41 but the last-wicket alliance remained undefeated. From 173 for 9, Lyon and Boland frustrated India to push the lead comfortably past 300. Together, the duo has now batted for 25 overs combined across the two innings in this fixture.
While India couldn’t end Australia’s innings by stumps, the hosts too chose not to do it themselves through a declaration as batting appeared to be getting easier on the surface. The contributions by the lower order have made Australia favourites, although nothing feels certain in this crazy game of cricket to unfold on last day at MCG.
Road Ahead on Day 5 for India and Australia
Who will be the happier side on Day 4 would be tough to decide. Is it Australia who recovered from 91/6 to go past 200? Or is it India who are still in this contest even after conceding a 105-run lead.
The day started with India adding 10 runs to their overnight total before being bowled out. Bumrah then had his revenge when he cleaned up Konstas with an absolute jaffa. Siraj stepped up today and bowled a superb spell either side of lunch where he accounted for Khawaja and Smith. Bumrah then returned and broke Australia’s backbone with figures of 3-1-4-3. At that stage it seemed India had the upper hand but a couple of dropped catches by Jaiswal allowed Labuschagne and Cummins to stitch a partnership.
Siraj once again provided the important breakthrough as he trapped Labuschagne LBW after he had notched up his second 70 in the game. Starc soon followed and even then it looked India were slightly ahead as the lead was just 261. But the last two wickets have added 72 runs and stretched the lead to 333. India tried everything to break the final wicket partnership but they couldn’t get past Lyon and Boland’s resistance. Bumrah had Lyon caught at slip in the final over of the day but he had overstepped.
In one of the most absorbing days of Test cricket you could wish to see, another remarkable performance from Jasprit Bumrah blew the game wide open. But, Marnus Labuschagne and Pat Cummins played their second vital innings of the match before the last-wicket pair of Nathan Lyon and Scott Boland extended Australia’s lead to 333, and potentially out of India’s reach.
Having kept themselves in the match for so much of the day, India were frustrated by Lyon and Boland who eked out a precious 55 runs and couldn’t be separated before stumps on day four. Lyon should have become Jasprit Bumrah’s fifth wicket in the final over of the day when he edged to third slip, where KL Rahul somehow held the ball between his legs, but an exhausted Bumrah had overstepped. Lyon ended up taking 14 off the over to close the day with his joint second-highest Test score.
Will Australia continue batting tomorrow Or will they leave India a target of 334 in 96 overs Day 5 promises to be a cracker for sure. Whatever India’s final target, it will no doubt spark memories of events at the Gabba in 2021, particularly with the nature of how the lower order kept them in the contest on day three.
As on that occasion, they will again have to defy history: no team has ever chased a higher fourth-innings total for a win at the MCG, with the highest being England’s 332 for 7 which they achieved in 1928. A crowd of 299,329 has watched the match across the first four days, the highest-ever attendance for a Boxing Day Test.