India vs Australia: Washington Sundar and Shardul Thakur hit fifties to rescue India; Australia ahead by 54 runs
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Washington Sundar and Shardul Thakur during the Gabba test
India rode on fifties from lower order batsmen, Shardul Thakur and Washington Sundar to cut Australia’s first-innings lead to just 33 runs on Day 3 of the fourth and final Test in Brisbane. At one point, India were on 186/6 and were staring down the barrel of handing the hosts a huge lead. However, debutant Sundar and one-Test old Thakur showed grit and spirit to take India to a safer score.
For Australia, it was disappointment after being in a terrific position but with two more days to play, they would still fancy their chances of winning the series. The ominous thing however, is that there is rain forecast for the next two days and the match might as well end in a draw. If that happens, India will retain the Border-Gavaskar trophy on account of being the winners the last time around.
Sundar-Thakur frustrate Australia; Hazlewood picks 5
Resuming on their overnight score of 62/2, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane began cautiously and looked to be going well before Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc removed the duo. Mayank Agarwal and Rishabh Pant then got good starts as well before losing their wickets cheaply by going for audacious shots. Just as it looked like Australia were putting India under huge pressure, Washington Sundar and Shardul Thakur weathered it.
The duo played classily and batted like batsmen to notch up fifties and trim the Aussie lead a great deal. By the time India were dismissed, the lead was just 33 runs. The Australian openers David Warner and Marcus Harris then came out to bat for 6 overs and got to 21/0.
Scores
Australia – 1st innings
| Batsman | Mode of Dismissal | Runs | Balls |
| David Warner | c Rohit b Siraj | 1 | 4 |
| Marcus Harris | c Sundar b Thakur | 5 | 23 |
| Marnus Labuschagne | c Pant b Natarajan | 108 | 204 |
| Steve Smith | c Rohit b Sundar | 36 | 77 |
| Matthew Wade | c Thakur b Natarajan | 45 | 87 |
| Cameron Green | b Sundar | 47 | 107 |
| Tim Paine | c Rohit b Thakur | 50 | 104 |
| Pat Cummins | lbw b Thakur | 2 | 8 |
| Mitchell Starc | not out | 20 | 35 |
| Nathan Lyon | b Sundar | 24 | 22 |
| Josh Hazlewood | b Natarajan | 11 | 27 |
Total – 369 all-out in 115.2 overs
| Bowler | Overs | Runs | Wickets |
| Mohammed Siraj | 28 | 77 | 1 |
| T Natarajan | 24.2 | 72 | 3 |
| Shardul Thakur | 24 | 94 | 3 |
| Navdeep Saini | 7.5 | 21 | 0 |
| Washington Sundar | 31 | 89 | 3 |
| Rohit Sharma | 0.1 | 1 | 0 |
India – 1st innings
| Batsman | Mode of Dismissal | Runs | Balls |
| Rohit Sharma | c Starc b Lyon | 44 | 74 |
| Shubman Gill | c Smith b Cummins | 7 | 15 |
| Cheteshwar Pujara | c Paine b Hazlewood | 25 | 94 |
| Ajinkya Rahane | c Wade b Starc | 37 | 93 |
| Mayank Agarwal | c Smith b Hazlewood | 38 | 75 |
| Rishabh Pant | c Green b Hazlewood | 23 | 29 |
| Washington Sundar | c Green b Starc | 62 | 144 |
| Shardul Thakur | b Cummins | 67 | 115 |
| Navdeep Saini | c Smith b Hazlewood | 5 | 14 |
| Mohammed Siraj | b Hazlewood | 13 | 10 |
| T Natarajan | not out | 1 | 9 |
Total – 336 all-out in 111.4 overs
| Bowler | Overs | Runs | Wickets |
| Mitchell Starc | 23 | 88 | 2 |
| Josh Hazlewood | 24.4 | 57 | 5 |
| Pat Cummins | 27 | 94 | 2 |
| Cameron Green | 8 | 20 | 0 |
| Nathan Lyon | 28 | 65 | 1 |
| Marnus Labuschagne | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Australia – 2nd innings
| Batsman | Mode of Dismissal | Runs | Balls |
| Marcus Harris | not out | 1 | 14 |
| David Warner | not out | 20 | 22 |
Total – 21/0 in 6 overs
| Bowler | Overs | Runs | Wickets |
| Mohammed Siraj | 2 | 12 | 0 |
| T Natarajan | 3 | 6 | 0 |
| Washington Sundar | 1 | 3 | 0 |
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Nevin Clinton
(2399 Articles Published)