Key events
65th over: India 132-6 (Jaiswal 76, Sundar 2) Boland draws three dots from Jaiswal, the last a seriously big swish. With the loss of three quick wickets, Jasiwal has lost his cool. Konstas has been chirping and grinning at silly mid-off and it almost seems as through Jaiswal is aiming these big shots at him. Boland beats him on the fifth and retrieves a hard-hit drive on the last to preserve the maiden.
64th over: India 128-6 (Jaiswal 73, Sundar 2) Dropped?! No, new batter Washington Sundar has driven it into Sam Konstas’s leg. Lyon has his hands on his stubbly bonce in exasperation. That was close! Konstas is standing very close too. Too close to catch those chances perhaps? Sundar drives for two from the last. MCG is humming now!
WICKET! Nitish c Smith b Lyon 1 (India 130-6)
Nathan Lyon STRIKES! It floated and fizzed, gripped and shot straight on. A little edge from Nitish and Steve Smith sprawled to his left to take a brilliant catch. Australia are officially on a tear. One more wicket and they’re into the Indian tailenders.
WICKET! Jadeja c Carey b Boland 2 (India 127-5)
Scott Boland strikes! The first ball of his spell was wide but the second ball was lethal. It sprang off the pitch and went straight for Jadeja’s throat. The new batter flinched and fended and it kissed the edge and flew to Carey. Another breakthrough for Australia!
63rd over: India 130-6 (Jaiswal 76, Nitish 1) Wonderful bowling by Boland and excellent captaincy by Pat Cummins to soften up the Indians with spin before prickling them with pace. Nitish Kumar Reddy, India’s centurion in the first innings, is the new batter. He will sell his wicket dearly. Have Australia devised a plan for him in the last 36 hours?
63rd over: India 126-4 (Jaiswal 73, Jadeja 2) The stage is set for last gasp heroics. Enter Scott Boland, the man who tore England asunder with 6 for 7 on debut at this ground in 2021. Jaiswal cuts him for a single straight up.
62nd over: India 126-4 (Jaiswal 73, Jadeja 2) India need 214 runs to win. Not that they’re trying to. A draw here would keep the clamps on at 1-1 and Sydney’s fickle meteorology might take care of the rest. Lyon wheels into his 14th over, probing and pushing. Australia has a ring of close-in fielders crowding Jadeja. It pressures a maiden.
61st over: India 126-4 (Jaiswal 73, Jadeja 2) Head waddles into his fifth over. He starts it with 1-10 and bristling with brio after claiming his 14th Test wicket. He averages a respectable 31 with the ball and has a best of 4-10. What Australia would give for a four-for today. Instead, Jaiswal take Head for a couple of singles each.
60th over: India 121-4 (Jaiswal 69, Jadeja 0) Ravindra Jadeja is the new batter, a formidable cricketer with bat and ball. Nathan Lyon has 0-32 but his tail is up after that Pant dismissal. Four dots before Jaiswal gets a single driving to long on.
WICKET! Pant c Marsh b Head 30 (India 120-4)
A long hop from Head, a big but loose shot from Pant, a great tumbling catch by Marsh on the boundary! That wicket came from nowhere but it could open the floodgates. Rishabh Pant, an aggressor by nature, had been toiling hard for his 30 from 104 balls. But a rush of blood to the head has given this Test the twist it needed. Game on!
59th over: India 120-3 (Jaiswal 69, Pant 30) Head continues and Jaiswal works a single. India are grinding out the draw they want here.
58th over: India 120-3 (Jaiswal 69, Pant 30) Konstas cops one but stops one at silly mid-off. Grab a catch there and his national hero status is enhanced by another 20,000 followers. Five dots and a single from this Lyon over.
57th over: India 119-3 (Jaiswal 68, Pant 30) Australia are three overs behind so Head will continue in a bid to catch up. Over rates cost Australia a qualification in the first World Test Championship final so Pat Cummins isn’t leaving anything to chance. Three singles from the over. With Head bowling, Sam Konstas is under the lid at silly mid-off.
56th over: India 116-3 (Jaiswal 66, Pant 29) Australia are rattling through the overs as Lyon goes for a single from Jaiswal before Pant is beaten by two fizzers at the end. Noice Gary!
55th over: India 115-3 (Jaiswal 65, Pant 29) A gentle start to what could be a torrid session as Head is worked for three singles and three dots. Where’s Captain Pat?
A bit of news from Cricket Australia as players return to the MCG…
Jhye Richardson has been released from the Australian men’s squad to be available for the Perth Scorchers’ BBL match against the Adelaide Strikers on Tuesday. Richardson will then return to the squad for the fifth Test match against India in Sydney.
A historic day at the MCG. We have officially created a new attendance record for Test cricket in Australia… and bested Bradman into the bargain.
Today, I’m reliably told, is Monday. Hard to believe we have another Test beginning on Friday, given the weariness on the faces and within the bones of the players right now. What have Sydney’s weather gods got in store? Showers forecast for Test-eve Thursday with a 75% chance of storms on day four, rising to 95% with lightning on day five.
What’s the opposite of a rain dance? I’m gonna get Raygun onto it.
54th over: India 112-3 (Jaiswal 63, Pant 28) Oh god, now it’s me wincing in pain. Marnus Labuschagne has been thrown the ball. He starts with three short balls down leg side, none of which Rishabh can be bothered playing at. This is absurd. Three more “bouncers” follow, none faster than 125kph. Could be the worst over I’ve seen since Rod Marsh was given a bowl in his final Test. That’s tea. Put a slug of Jamesons in mine.
53rd over: India 112-3 (Jaiswal 63, Pant 28) Starc is visibly wincing after every delivery with that rib niggle. I believe fast bowlers call it the “grunter muscle”. To whom would Australia turn if he can’t play in Sydney? Rishabh Pant prods the wound by working a wider ball fine to the boundary for four.
52nd over: India 107-3 (Jaiswal 63, Pant 23) Pant cuts Lyon to point for a run but that’s it for this over. Not sure which team is under more pressure here. India or Australia?
51st over: India 106-3 (Jaiswal 63, Pant 22) Starc enters his 13th over. If he’s bowling through pain he’s doing a good job of it, albeit still grabbing at his side and grimacing. He started this over with 1-17. seven maidens into the bargain. Jaiswal isn’t tempted by the first three but now rises to his toes to drive wide of mid-on for two runs. Sam Konstas could be in doubt for the fifth Test with a sprained wrist or lockjaw if he keeps signing autographs and grinning for selfies on the boundary. Was it England’s Derek Pringle forced out of an Ashes tour after injuring himself writing a letter home?
Geoff Lemon
50th over: India 104-3 (Jaiswal 61, Pant 22) Lyon continues, the singles continue. I’m not going to continue, Angus is coming in. Enjoy.
49th over: India 102-3 (Jaiswal 60, Pant 21) Travis Head to have a bowl, Australia at the stage of turning to more exotic options. A couple of singles, then Pant pulls away and dead ball is called. Eventually a third run is taken.
48th over: India 99-3 (Jaiswal 59, Pant 19) A couple of singles from Lyon. So the cagey approach continues, they haven’t shut up shop completely but they’re not moving quickly at this stage. There are 44 overs left and 241 to win.
47th over: India 97-3 (Jaiswal 58, Pant 18) Last time India toured, Pujara played Pujara and Pant played Pant. Now, Pant is playing Pujara, wearing a Cummins bouncer on the shoulder to avoid any risk of getting his gloves involved. Cummins trying to provoke something from such a dangerous player. Pant stays calm, sways away from another one. No run from the over.
46th over: India 97-3 (Jaiswal 58, Pant 18) Lyon to Jaiswal, who cuts a run. Pant defends with the straightest bat, but finally relents from the sixth ball and takes a run through point.
45th over: India 95-3 (Jaiswal 57, Pant 17) Ok, I’m puzzled by this Pant approach. Boland comes on and Pant plays the same way as he did against Cummins, on the front foot blocking everything. Surely it’s possible to at least turn over strike and keep the Australians working? Even if the win itself is too distant to contemplate? Or is he biding his time for some predetermined point?
44th over: India 95-3 (Jaiswal 57, Pant 17) It’s Jaiswal doing the scoring, not Pant. Another two to deep cover. Has a heavy swing at another and misses. Pant comes down and tells him to relax. It doesn’t work, Jaiswal plays a similar shot two balls later, this one skidding on straight from Lyon and nearly taking an edge.
43rd over: India 93-3 (Jaiswal 55, Pant 17) Cummins, but now that Jaiswal has the cut shot going, he’ll play it. One run. Pant, on the other hand, has apparently decided that Cummins is the one to be kept out, and is still offering a dead bat to everything. He’s 17 off 53 balls by the end of the over.
42nd over: India 92-3 (Jaiswal 54, Pant 17) Off spin, long on, single. A tale as old as time. That’s for Jaiswal, before Pant cuts three runs to cover. Jaiswal repeats his earlier bit.
50 overs left, 248 to get.
41st over: India 87-3 (Jaiswal 52, Pant 14) Cummins after the break, unpleasant short ball that has Pant swaying back, but it’s an overstep. One more to the total. The only one from the over. Pant keeps reaching outside off to knock balls on the head.
Half century! Jaiswal 50 from 128 balls
40th over: India 86-3 (Jaiswal 52, Pant 14) Still very little Pant-like stuff, just drives Lyon to long on for one despite the effort of the bowling leaping across. Jaiswal has just done the same, then having got back on strike, steps back and shovels a shot through midwicket and it will go for four. Not walloped, just placed, to reach fifty for the second time in the match. Follows up with a sweep for two. He battled through the tough stuff early and now he has up to 40 more overs before a new ball comes along. Can he do something special this afternoon?
Drinks. India need 254 from 52.
39th over: India 78-3 (Jaiswal 45, Pant 13) Cummins to Jaiswal, who is strolling again and being beaten again. I’d love to see his play and miss stats today. Keeps out a yorker, smacks a wider ball behind point, but they have a sweeper back now, one run
“Why are players allowed to fiddle with the bails?” asks Kenrick Riley. “Swapping around etc for supposed good luck. I thought they were strictly the umpire’s domain? If I’d done that in backyard cricket I probably would have gone without lunch or had runs added to the other team.”
That’s a fair question. In the same way that the ball belongs to the fielding team, the umpires are the ones who tip the bails at a break or rebuild the stumps after they’re knocked down. Players touching them could raise questions of propriety. I think if I were umpiring I’d be warning off anybody who came near them.
38th over: India 77-3 (Jaiswal 44, Pant 13) Good ball from Lyon, turn away from the edge of Pant’s bat. Two left-handers for the off spinner to aim at. He gets respectfully treated by the Indian keeper, who is an uncharacteristic 13 from 36 balls. Beaten by the sixth ball as it slides on past the bat.
37th over: India 77-3 (Jaiswal 44, Pant 13) Cummins is back. Jaiswal takes one to point, Pant flicks to midwicket. Haven’t seen much of Konstas in the field today but he chases back and slides, two runs. A sprinted single to mid off, that’s sharp. Then Jaiswal drives attractively for two, past the other set of stumps, straight as you can get without the playing equipment interfering.
36th over: India 71-3 (Jaiswal 41, Pant 10) Lyon comes on. This could be interesting. Pant knocks a run, and yep, Jaiswal goes after him immediately, smashing a sweep shot for four. One more to mid off. They need 269 in 56 overs.
Andrew Jagels emailing. “Why can’t the Women’s Ashes be competed on a Test series basis rather than multi format? Surely the women are good enough athletes to cope with the format.”
The Women’s Ashes series will follow these India Tests as far as the Australian summer goes, so that’s timely. The short answer is money. It costs much more to stage a Test than to stage single-day matches, and the boards don’t want to pay for that more than once. On top of that, none of the boards have stumped up for domestic long-form cricket, so there’s the old dilemma of asking those players to perform at Test level internationally in a format in which they can’t develop their skills anywhere else. That would be exacerbated across a multiple Test series.
If boards would actually fund and promoted the project properly, things could be different.
35th over: India 65-3 (Jaiswal 36, Pant 9) A sniff ball from Starc, Jaiswal drops the gloves and lets it go by. Then misses, punching, back foot. Starc has another smile and a word. Scrambled seam decked that one away. A straighter bouncer sees him go under it. No run from the over.
34th over: India 65-3 (Jaiswal 36, Pant 9) A stutter in the running, Jaiswal sets off from the non-striker’s end, Pant sends him back. Boland from the southern end of the ground. Two slips and a gully for him, with a backward point. Cover is open. Deep backward square and long leg for the pull, the heave, the scoop.
None of that, Pant takes a single towards cover. Make that a double with an over throw. Make mine a triple, with another overthrow! Somehow that last ball evaded three players at cover when the throw came from backward square. Jaiswal works a run to midwicket. And it’s a no ball.
It’s fascinating. India are miles and miles behind, 275 to win, but the enthusiasm of the crowd with each run makes it feel like something is happening. It must make Australia feel like there’s some pressure. Even just a little. The atmosphere has changed.
33rd over: India 60-3 (Jaiswal 35, Pant 6) On the rise. Jaiswal leans back and whacks Starc through cover, gets three. Pant nearly plays on from the inside edge. A bit of chatter between Starc and Jaiswal at the non-striker’s end. Pant’s down, ducking a bouncer. Oh, they’ve got a short third slip now, wearing a helmet. Plus a fourth slip and a point. Pant drives to mid on and gets a run when Cummins doesn’t grab it cleanly on the dive.
32nd over: India 56-3 (Jaiswal 32, Pant 5) A little calm resumes with a couple of singles from Boland’s over. Just the 284 more to get in 60 overs. Don’t think about this like an ODI, because it ain’t one.
31st over: India 54-3 (Jaiswal 31, Pant 4) Looks like they are going to have a dash, then. Probably just with this pair, and then reconsider if a wicket falls. It’s Jaiswal cutting Starc this time, leaning back to go through backward point again. Then it’s Starc cutting Jaiswal in half! Back into him, back pad in front of middle, and Umpire Wilson gives it not out. Australia of course review, and that is the biggest umpire’s call result I’ve ever seen. It must be 49% of the ball hitting the leg stump vertically, and 49% of it hitting the leg bail horizontally. That would have had the leg stump impaling the wicketkeeper spinning back. But it’s an orange zone everywhere, so it’s not out, and Umpire Wilson’s perfect record in this match continues.
30th over: India 50-3 (Jaiswal 27, Pant 4) Goes again, Jaiswal! Boland again, cut shot again, four again. Then a single, before Pant gets moving in Pant fashion, down on one knee and dragging a cross-bat crash through midwicket. Four more. Have they decided at lunch to have a crack after all, or is this organic? They need 290 to win.
29th over: India 41-3 (Jaiswal 22, Pant 0) No run from Starc’s over to Pant, though Pant does think about it a couple of times playing to the leg side, and chases a wide ball outside off.
28th over: India 41-3 (Jaiswal 22, Pant 0) Jaiswal comes to life! Sees width from Boland and cuts it through the gully gap for four: fair enough, the shot was on. Enjoying that, he goes again next ball, this time up and over. Probably over about third slip, finer, but gets plenty on it. Back to back boundaries, as a sparkly balloon blows onto the ground.
27th over: India 33-3 (Jaiswal 14, Pant 0) We got one ball of this over before the lunch break, when Kohli had his swing, so we’ll finish the last five to Pant. Wonder how he’ll approach this? Hard to imagine him just blocking, but he doesn’t always play with all-out attack, contrary to the perception. I would imagine him looking at a situation like this as a chance to make a good score, and by doing that bat long enough to help his team. Can’t see him blocking all day. But we’ll see. He blocks the first bit.
“Greetings Geoff from a cold and dank London, was thinking of going to bed but now thinking of pulling an all nighter! Thanks for the commentary, it gives more colour than the TV output.”
I hope you’ve stayed with us, Johnson. Maybe a little nap during lunch. Set five alarms, one can be slept through.
More emails. “Just imagine how much better Cummins would be if he still had Justin Langer as coach.”
Stop it, Ross McGillivray.
Scott Oliver sent this just before Rohit got out. “Great session, this. Really high quality stuff from the Aussie quicks (and nuff swing). Given the WTC situation, might this be a day for Rohit to roll the dice and slide Rishabh Pant up to No.3, start throwing punches? If you don’t buy a ticket…”
Well, Pant will be walking in after lunch. But even he’s not getting 300 in two sessions. I do think India need to keep scoring to keep Australia on their toes. But Kohli’s technique was nowhere on that drive, and just before lunch wasn’t the time.
Lunch – India 33 for 3, trail by 306 runs
The chase is gone, not that it was ever there. They need to bat two sessions to draw. I keep thinking about that Kohli dismissal. It just felt like the shot of a player who’s gone. Why would he do that? After an hour of defending? That intense mental focus he once had does not appear to be working anymore.
Anyway. Plenty of batting left in India’s team, but plenty of batting for them to do.
WICKET! Kohli c Khawaja b Starc 5, India 33-3
Oh no. Goodness me, what was that. Just before lunch, wide from Starc, and after all of that defending, Kohli hurls an angled bat at it, wanting to lace it through cover, and edges to first slip.
26th over: India 33-2 (Jaiswal 14, Kohli 5) Nathan Lyon to have a go. Jaiswal on strike. SMith at slip, Head at short leg. Backward point, forward point, cover, long off, mid on, midwicket, deep backward square leg. Jaiswal shuffles out and drives to long off for one. Field swaps for the right-hander. Kohli wrists one through midwicket.
25th over: India 31-2 (Jaiswal 13, Kohli 4) Starc bounding up to Kohli, bowls a few straight at the stumps but they’re blocked back. Leaves a couple outside the line of off stump. Again no sign of trying to score. Lunch is coming up in six minutes.
24th over: India 31-2 (Jaiswal 13, Kohli 4) Oh no! A bye!
We had an unblemished record, but Carey keeping up to the stumps has ruined it. Marsh bowls down Kohli’s leg side and Carey can’t get across. Drop him. Both of them. It’s an outrage.
23rd over: India 30-2 (Jaiswal 13, Kohli 4) Starc comes back, but Jaiswal looks much more able to handle him this time around. Defends straight, leaves wide, gets on his toes to smother a shorter one. No attempt to score. So it looks like India have put away any thought of chasing these runs.
22nd over: India 30-2 (Jaiswal 13, Kohli 4) Marsh to Kohli, who picks up two more runs to the same area of the ground, off the pads.
21st over: India 28-2 (Jaiswal 13, Kohli 2) Huge cheer for Kohli’s first run. Off the pads behind square, after Jaiswal added one past mid on. Cummins the bowler. Oh, the bonanza continues, Kohli getting another one square of the wicket.
20th over: India 25-2 (Jaiswal 12, Kohli 0) Mitchell Marsh time! That’s unexpected. The heavy strides thunder in, angled across the lefty, decent length that keeps Jaiswal honest. Carey up to the stumps to keep Jaiswal at home. The Australians like a pair of stern parents. No score from the over.
19th over: India 25-2 (Jaiswal 12, Kohli 0) Cummins to Kohli, goes very full to begin with, and India’s battling champion blocks out the first two. Make that three, all in at the stumps. Outside the off stump is his current weakness, so perhaps Cummins is making sure he has to think twice. Deep backward square goes out, bumper field? No, length ball and climbing! Outside off stump but coming in off the scrambled seam, and Kohli plays it almost off the bat handle rather than blade. Nasty.
