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With stakes blowing the roof away, Pat Cummins played the captain's role and rattled the Indian top order to put Australia in a position of comfort on the final day of the fourth Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy on Monday.
At the stroke of Lunch, India managed to put 33/3 on the board, 307 runs away from a win, with Yashasvi Jaiswal unbeaten with a score of 14(83). It didn't take much time for India to take the first steps towards chasing down the imposing 340-run total. In the beginning minutes of Day 5, Bumrah cleaned up Nathan Lyon (41) by nipping it back into the right-handed batter. As fans occupied the seats at the MCG, hoping to expect a T20 brand of cricket in Test colours, India decided to take a different route. When a swashbuckling performance was expected from India skipper Rohit Sharma's bat, the seasoned opener decided to walk on a defensive path. With the threat of new ball looming all over the Indian side, Rohit and Yashasvi Jaiswal decided to tread with caution to negate the potential early damage. Rohit's back and front foot defence remained impeccable, while Jaiswal's miss and hit story against Mitchell Starc continued at the other end. Before the drink's break, India looked well in control and showed signs of charging at the Australian bowlers as the ball relatively got old. But a small break took away the Indian skipper's concentration. In the battle of captains, it was Cummins who drew the first blood. Rohit, who showed resolve to leave deliveries wide off stump, gave away a thick edge to Mitchell Marsh at gully while trying to flick away Cummins. Rohit's resistance ended with a score of 9(40). Cummins ran rampant in front of an electric atmosphere at the iconic MCG. Just four balls later in the same over, Cummins sent in-form KL Rahul packing towards the dressing room. Rahul's return trip to the Indian dugout was confirmed the moment he got caught up in two minds. He couldn't decide whether to leave or play as the ball continued to shape in from outside off. Rahul eventually played it and edged it straight to Alex Carey, marking the end of Cummins' double-wicket maiden over. Indian stalwart Virat Kohli, with a look of determination, stepped his foot at the crease with Australia looking to settle things quickly. He tried to sway away the temptation to drive away the ball, but eventually, it got the better of it. A pitched-up delivery from around the wicket by Mitchell Starc did the trick. A delivery that Kohli would have left on any other day attracted him enough to go for a drive. The sound of edge echoed in the stadium, and Starc took off in celebration along with the entire MCG the moment Usman Khawaja completed the catch. Australia caught the big fish for a cheap score of 5(29) as umpires decided to bring an end to the first session. Australia stand seven wickets away from a win, while India need 307 runs to secure a victory. (ANI)
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