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Shardul Thakur picked two while Mohammed Siraj scalped a wicket but Australia extended their lead to 276 runs on the back of Steve Smith's quickfire fifty in the second session of day four of the fourth Test at The Gabba on Monday.
Siraj dropped two catches in the second session but the visitors made a comeback after Shardul picked two wickets before Siraj and rain forced an early tea break. At the tea break, Australia's score read 243/7 with Pat Cummins (unbeaten on 2) and Mitchell Starc (unbeaten on 1) at the crease. While the session saw Australia score 94 runs from 25.1 overs, the visitors picked three important wickets. Starting the session with the game evenly poised, Steve Smith and Cameron Green played contrasting knocks. Smith looked brutal and went for anything that was in his slot. The right-handed batsman hit a quickfire half-century as Australia's lead went over 200, bringing up the fifty-run partnership between Smith and Green. However, Siraj made up for the dropped catch and picked an important wicket Smith. Paine and Green then stitched a brief 31-run partnership before Shardul removed the all-rounder in the 61st over. Meanwhile, Paine kept ticking the scoreboard and took a calculative risk in order to score quick runs. Shardul dismissed Paine as Rishabh Pant takes a sharp catch to reduce Australia at 242/7. In the first, Mohammed Siraj struck two in one over while debutants Shardul Thakur and Washington Sundar picked a wicket each as Australia faltered after a good start. Australia was ahead in the game with the lead of over 120 runs with 10 wickets in the bag after a couple of expensive overs from the visitors but a flurry of wickets after the first hour of play saw the hosts on the backfoot. Resuming day four at 21/0, Marcus Harris and David Warner added 68 runs to the overnight score before Shardul Thakur sent Harris back. In the next over, Washington Sundar trapped Warner in front of the stumps to reduce Australia at 91/2. Runs kept coming at a rapid pace and the departure of Aussie openers didn't have any impact on the scoring rate. However, Mohammed Siraj struck two wickets in the first over of the new spell dismissing both Marnus Labuschagne and Matthew Wade. While Labuschagne scored a brisk 25 off 22 balls, Wade departed without troubling the scoreboard. On day three, Washington Sundar and Shardul Thakur showed grit and determination to keep India in the game before Australia bundled out India for 336 in the first innings courtesy of a five-wicket haul by Josh Hazlewood. Brief Scores: Australia 369 and 243/7 (David Warner 48, Steven Smith 55; Mohammed Siraj 3-42) vs India 336 (Shardul Thakur 67, Washinton Sundar 62; Josh Hazlewood 5-57). (ANI)
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