India finally found a way to get Steve Smith out early – get lucky – and after the pacers did the damage with the new ball, the spinners did what they do best to bowl Australia out for 137 in their second innings on day three of the fourth Test match in Dharamsala.
Fourth Test, Day 3 India innings report and score
After taking a first innings lead of 32, India had to come hard at the Australia batsmen, considering they would be the ones to bat in the final innings of this Test match.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Umesh Yadav did just that, with the pace bowlers picking up the wickets of David Warner, Matt Renshaw and Smith, with some accurate and hostile bowling.
Warner (6, 5b, 1x4), again, looked nervous in the middle and, again, was dropped at third slip by Karun Nair, just like in the first innings, but this time, India did not have to pay too much for that miss, with Umesh Yadav getting the outside edge of the left-hander with a brilliant delivery.
Smith came in and flicked his first ball for a boundary and the signs pointed to another hundred from the Australia captain, who already had three of those in this series. That feeling only grew when Smith creamed Bhuvneshwar for consecutive boundaries off the first two balls of the eighth over, but the pace bowler would have the last laugh.
With the adrenaline pumping from the first two boundaries, Smith (17, 15b, 3x4) tried to pull a short ball outside off-stump from Bhuvneshwar, and all he could manage was get a bottom edge, which uprooted the off-stump.
India were cock-a-hoop with that dismissal, and the celebrations continued when Matt Renshaw (8, 33b, 2x4) edged one through to Wriddhiman Saha off Umesh Yadav, who had set the batsman up perfectly with a corker of a short ball.
Australia needed a partnership desperately, and with Shaun Marsh not coming out to bat due to a back injury, they got it through Peter Handscomb and Glenn Maxwell, who took the play-my-natural-game approach.
Maxwell impressed in Ranchi by curbing his attacking instincts, but in this stay, the right-hander took the attack to the bowlers, particularly Kuldeep Yadav, who dismissed him in the first innings, and only got the five overs in the second innings.
Handscomb (18, 46b, 3x4) was his usual solid self and with Maxwell playing the aggressor, he was more than happy to stay strong at the other end, while bringing out a couple of fantastic drives every now and then.
It looked certain that the two would see Australia through to Tea, but with four minutes remaining for the break, Ashwin, bowling much quicker and looking to extract the bounce that Nathan Lyon produced, got one to take off, hit Handscomb's outside edge and fly towards Ajinkya Rahane at first slip, with the India skipper taking a quite fantastic catch, reacting quicker than a cat and hanging on brilliantly.
Next over, and Marsh (1, 6b), bad back and all, was picked up by Ravindra Jadeja, with Cheteshwar Pujara taking a catch at short leg – another delivery that saw the batsman done by the extra bounce.
Maxwell was the key for Australia and the big wicket for India, because he has the capability to score quickly, and with the pitch showing signs of being really difficult for the batsmen, every run was going to be crucial.
Thankfully for India, Ashwin found the ball that got the umpire raising his finger for an lbw, with Maxwell's (45, 60b, 6x4, 1x6) decision not to play a shot costing him dear.
With just four wickets remaining, and the lead still well off 100, Australia went into survival mode. Matthew Wade and Pat Cummins batted like they were trying to save a Test match and this was the final session of play on day five, instead of three, and while they did that reasonably well – the 15-run partnership lasted 15 overs and one ball – it was only a matter of time before the wicket came.
Jadeja was the man to find it, bowling the carrot delivery – flighted, inviting the drive from Cummins (12, 49b, 1x4), with the ball gripping and turning in time to take the outside edge through to Rahane. In his next over, Jadeja had his third, as Steven O'Keefe (0, 4b) defended one straight to Pujara at silly point.
Umesh Yadav then had his third wicket of the day, picking up Nathan Lyon, who gave some catching practice to Murali Vijay at second slip.
The lead was still 10 runs short of a hundred, so Australia needed to get some runs from somewhere. It was time for Wade (25, 90b, 2x4, 1x6) to go into T20 mode, and he did that by spanking Ashwin, brought on for the two left-handers, for a six over extra cover.
Nine runs from the Ashwin over took the lead to 99, and then it got worse for the off-spinner when he dropped an absolute sitter at first slip off Umesh. A boundary followed and the lead was over a 100.
Ashwin, though, would make up for that miss by taking the final wicket, a couple of balls after a catch had been ruled not clean, by striking Josh Hazlewood (0, 9b) in front.
India needed to see off six overs before stumps, and the openers – KL Rahul and Murali Vijay – did that, while also reducing the target down to 87 runs.
Scores:
First innings: Australia: 300 all out in 88.3 overs.
India: 332 all out in 118.1 overs.
First innings lead: India, 32 runs.
Second innings: Australia: 137 all out in 53.5 overs.
Target: 106 runs.
India: 19/0 in 6 overs, need 87 more runs to win.
Bowling: Second innings: India: Bhuvneshwar Kumar 7-1-27-1; Umesh Yadav 10-3-29-3; Kuldeep Yadav 5-0-23-0; Ravindra Jadeja 18-7-24-3; R Ashwin 13.5-4-29-3.
Australia: Pat Cummins 3-1-14-0; Josh Hazlewood 2-0-5-0; Steve O'Keefe 1-1-0-0.
Fall of wickets: Second innings: Australia: 10/1, David Warner (3.1 overs); 31/2, Steve Smith (8.3 overs); 31/3, Matt Renshaw (9.2 overs); 87/4, Peter Handscomb (24.3 overs); 92/5, Shaun Marsh (25.3 overs); 106/6, Glenn Maxwell (32.3 overs); 121/7, Pat Cummins (47.4 overs); 121/8, Steve O'Keefe (49.2 overs); 122/9, Nathan Lyon (50.3 overs); 137/10, Josh Hazlewood (53.5 overs).
