IND v AUS, 3rd Test, Day 4 Review: After Pujara and Saha, Jadeja piles the agony on Australia

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India. (Photo Source: BCCI)

The 4th day was expected to be the decisive day for both the teams not only in the match but also in the series. Going by the current scenario, India has definitely put themselves in firm control with the brilliant partnership between Cheteshwar Pujara and Wriddhiman Saha. There are two results possible if this pair continues batting for another half a session.

Beginning the day on 360/6, Cheteshwar Pujara started off with a fluent drive off Pat Cummins. Wriddhiman Saha got a reprieve early on when the original LBW decision by the onfield umpire was overturned as the ball was missing the stumps. Much like yesterday, the duo played with a cautious approach but both batsmen stepped down the track on a consistent basis to manoeuvre the ball around the park.

The duo kept on frustrating the Australian bowlers with their superlative batsmanship. Saha looked in complete control and just before reaching his 5th Test fifty, the Bengal lad danced down the track and deposited Nathan Lyon for a huge six over the midwicket boundary. The gutsy lad reached his half-century in 98 deliveries.

Meanwhile, Pujara kept on building the agony on the Aussie bowlers with his resilient batting. The Saurashtra lad completed his 150 in the 148th over. Just at the stroke of lunch, Pujara was saved by the review as the onfield umpire Ian Gould ruled it in favour of the Australian team. Replays suggested that Lyon’s delivery would have missed the stumps by a big margin.

India eventually went to lunch on 435/6, trailing Australia by just 16 runs. The duo will definitely look to pile on the runs and bat Australia out of the game.

India continued from where they left in the 1st session and went to tea without the loss of a single wicket. It was an exceptional batting display by Pujara and Saha who has remained unbeaten for the last 3 sessions.

Saha began with a beautiful cover drive off Pat Cummins in the opening over of the 2nd session and Pujara followed it up with a handsome drive of Hazlewood in the very next over. The duo looked in complete control and kept on frustrating the Australian bowlers with their resilient effort.

Pujara has now faced the most number of balls (505) in an innings by an Indian batsman going past the legendary Rahul Dravid (495). It was Saha who was the more attacking partner as the duo went past the Australian score in the 166th over. It has been a monumental effort by Saha and Puji which has virtually batted the Australians out of the match.

As India went to tea Saha was just one short of his 3rd Test century while Pujara was 9 short of his 3rd double century. With an overall lead of 52 runs, India would definitely look to add some quick runs in the final session to pile the agony on the Australians.

What an exceptional final session it turned out to be for the home team as they bagged two Australian wickets after getting a massive lead of over 150 runs. The session began with Saha on 99 and Pujara on 191. Saha reached his century in the very first ball of the final session tucking Nathan Lyon towards the leg side for a single.

Pujara also completed his 3rd double century soon after. It was a monumental effort from the Saurashtra lad and he also faced the most number of balls by an Indian batsman in Test cricket. His marathon innings of 202 came off 525 deliveries. He was eventually dismissed by Nathan Lyon.

Ravindra Jadeja walked out in the middle and played some lusty blows to stretch India’s 1st innings lead. He was relentless against the spinners and smashed his way to his 6th half-century in quick time. The sword celebrations were out there yet again as Kohli declared in the final delivery of the same over.

With 7 overs remaining in the day, Australian openers David Warner and Matt Renshaw walked out in the middle. As expected Kohli began with his two spinners. While Ravichandran Ashwin was deposited for a couple of boundaries in the opening over, Jadeja was very accurate to start off.

He eventually got his 1st breakthrough in the 6th over when he castled David Warner with a jaffa of a delivery. The ball pitched in the rough and turned sharply to take the middle and leg. He added one more to his tally in the very next over when he castled night watchman Nathan Lyon with a similar sort of a delivery. The ball pitched on middle and leg and turned just enough to take the top of off stump.

With the score at 23/2, Australia will surely be on the backfoot come the final day and India will be pumped up to register an exceptional victory.

Brief Scores

Australia 1st innings- 451 all-out in 137.3 overs (Steve Smith 178*, Glenn Maxwell 104, Ravindra Jadeja 5/124, Umesh Yadav 3/106)

India 1st innings 603/9- dec in 210 overs (Cheteshwar Pujara 202, Wriddhiman Saha 117, Murali Vijay 82, KL Rahul 67, Ravindra Jadeja 54, Pat Cummins 4/89)

Australia 2nd innings- 23/2 in 7.2 overs (David Warner 14, Matt Renshaw 7*, Ravindra Jadeja 2/6)

Australia trail by 129 runs

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