On day three of the fourth Test against Australia, 21-year-old Nitish Kumar Reddy led a valiant comeback and scored his first Test century, revealing a new batting star for India. A far cry from the hazardous situation of 221-7 earlier in the day, India reached 358-9 at stumps on Saturday at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, 116 runs behind Australia’s first-innings total of 474.
In just his fourth Test match, Nitish Kumar Reddy batted at number eight and put up a vital 127-run partnership with Washington Sundar, who put up a tough 50. They came within two runs of matching the eighth-wicket mark achieved by Harbhajan Singh and Sachin Tendulkar in Sydney in 2008 against Australia.
Sundar, an all-rounder who mostly bowls spin, survived a quick chance off Mitchell Starc after being dropped in the slips by a diving Steve Smith. But before losing to Nathan Lyon (2-88) at 348-8, Sundar played a determined knock, facing 162 deliveries and hitting just one boundary.
Nitish Kumar Reddy’s Knock One To Remember
Nitish Kumar Reddy’s innings combined style and patience. He lost Jasprit Bumrah to Pat Cummins (3-86) for a duck on 97, but he steadied himself to finish with a graceful on-drive to the boundary to reach his hundred. The crowd, including his father, erupted in thunderous applause when he reached his milestone, which came off 171 balls and featured 10 fours and one six.
India started the day on 164-5, but after losing Rishabh Pant (28) and Ravindra Jadeja (17), they were slogging to 244-7 by lunchtime. But in the post-lunch session, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Sundar successfully counterattacked, scoring 82 runs without losing. Play was eventually stopped by rain and poor lighting, leaving Reddy undefeated at 105.
In a difficult series for India’s lower order, which has frequently been put to the test by Australia’s unrelenting bowling attack spearheaded by Cummins and Scott Boland, his knock has been the highlight performance (3-57). Steve Smith’s 34th Test century—a magnificent 140 that put him in joint-seventh place on the all-time record of Test hundreds—was the cornerstone of Australia’s 474.
After a rain-affected draw in Brisbane, the five-match series is level 1-1 and will culminate in an exciting decider in Sydney on January 3.
Alos Read : https://goworldwide.co.in/virat-kohli-and-yashasvi-jaiswal-threw-it-away/