- Live updates from day three of the third Test at the MCG
- Join the conversation: via email or tweet @JPHowcroft
26th over: India 48-5 (Agarwal 28, Pant 1) Plenty of chat from Tim Paine to Rishabh Pant during this Lyon over. Expect to see plenty of stories about it on social media in a matter of seconds. Something about encouraging the big-hitter to join the Hobart Hurricanes, babysitting, and other examples of banter. “Liquid gold,” according to James Brayshaw. It almost has the desired effect too. Pant blocks five Lyon deliveries but launching at the last, squirting a mistimed drive into the offside.
25th over: India 47-5 (Agarwal 28, Pant 0) Hazlewood has eased into his work after a disappointing start, and a measure of his confidence is a couple of well-directed short balls that Agarwal does well to survive. He evades the first then wears the second on his gloves, prompting a visit from the physio.
@jphowcroft can you explain the bannerman discussion please? Have tuned in late...
24th over: India 47-5 (Agarwal 28, Pant 0) Lyon remains wicketless but he has been the partner bowler for both Cummins and Hazlewood, building pressure, keeping India on their toes with a spell of very clever off-spin.
Matt Page is the happiest man in Australia, if not the world right now! #ResultPitch
23rd over: India 44-5 (Agarwal 25, Pant 0) This match continues to career into absurd territory. Meanwhile here are two opinions without judgement:
This isn't commentating by Shane Warne on Fox, it's cheerleading @JPHowcroft. Mike Hussey is talking to him like he's a child.
Cummins is replaced by Hazlewood and the change works almost immediately. Just short of a good length outside off stump - typical Hazlewood areas - and Rohit can’t resist an ambitious cut shot despite the ball cramping him up. The outcome is a healthy edge that Shaun Marsh clutches to his chest at first slip. What a day.
WICKET: Sharma is out for 5.
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22nd over: India 44-4 (Agarwal 25, Rohit 5) Lyon has now perhaps overtaken Cummins as Australia’s greatest threat. He’s flighting the ball menacingly into the footmarks outside Rohit’s off stump and provoking a series of uncomfortable inside edges and LBW appeals.
Bannerman-watch update from Ian Forth: “Agarwal is behind on the Bannerman Duckworth-Lewis. When India get to 50, his par BD-L is 34.”
21st over: India 43-4 (Agarwal 25, Rohit 4) A rare boundary for India, Agarwal using soft hands to guide Cummins to third-man off a thick outside edge. Seven overs or half an hour remaining in this ridiculous day.
20th over: India 37-4 (Agarwal 19, Rohit 4) Lyon has performed the wingman role for Cummins and once again he keeps India on their toes with a teasing over.
19th over: India 35-4 (Agarwal 18, Rohit 3) Cummins continues to charge in, mixing up his lengths, the short balls keeping India’s batsmen on the crease, the fuller ones targeting the pads. Agarwal survives a loud LBW call, which is good news for fans of Bannerman-watch.
Agarwal unseating Bannerman is what the curators need here - it’s also what cricket needs.
18th over: India 34-4 (Agarwal 18, Rohit 2) Panic is spreading like a fever around the Indian team. You wouldn’t think they had a 326 run lead. The latest display of mayhem is a near run out, Agarwal making his ground following Rohit’s anxious call but he would have perished with a direct hit.
On the first two days of this Test, a wicket fell once every 25 overs. Today, one had fallen once every 24 minutes. #AUSvIND
33,447 at MCG today and in this Cummins spell they've been louder than at any other stage of the match #AusvInd
17th over: India 33-4 (Agarwal 18, Rohit 1) Terrific entertainment. After the attrition of days one and two day three has delivered in spades.
Even when Kohli gets out for a duck, he improves India's chances of winning @JPHowcroft
16.2 over: India 33-4 (Agarwal 18, Rohit 1) No hat-trick for Cummins, but he wasn’t far off! Again it’s an ordinary delivery on an Indian batsman’s hip but this time Rohit middles it beyond the dive of Harris at leg gully. Something weird has gripped the MCG in the last few minutes.
A metre from a Pat Cummins hat-trick. #AUSvINDpic.twitter.com/9gQb5D3Qwm
@JPHowcroft This is like when you play a video game, figure out that one move that works, and then keep doing it. #AUSvIND
WHAAAAAAAATTTTTTT!!!??? Cummins is on a hat-trick! Dross ball, leaking down the leg-side, but Rahane plays an awkward sort-of-pull that results in a glove behind the wicket that Paine gobbles up with ease. The MCG is bouncing. It’s not game on though, is it?
16th over: India 32-3 (Agarwal 18, Rahane 1) This flurry of wickets may not matter a great deal in the context of the match, but they are just reward for Pat Cummins who has bowled superbly all series, especially in the first innings here where he toiled largely in vain.
Nobody who has dismissed Virat Kohli 4+ times in Test cricket has done so with a better strike rate (44.5) or average (15.25) than Pat Cummins. #AUSvIND
WHAT IS GOING ON!!? Cummins has Kohli for a duck, in exactly the same fashion as he dismissed Pujara. This is bizarre. India’s two premier batsmen perishing in the same over, both flicking harmless deliveries straight to the unconventionally placed fielder behind square on the leg side. Barmy.
WICKET: Kohli is out for a duck!
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Silly old Cummins taking wickets here, giving India more time to bowl Australia out and win the Test. Come on, Pat. Think! #AUSvIND
The comeback continues! Cummins again, this time sending down a rare fuller delivery that Pujara shovels to the waiting Harris at shortish backward square leg.
OUT. @patcummins gets a second, and Pujara goes for ... a duck!#AUSvINDpic.twitter.com/xkzNMNaWJR
14th over: India 28-1 (Agarwal 15, Pujara 0) Lyon is bowling well but with no reward, coming close to inducing a bat-pad chance from Agarwal and also pinning him on the back foot LBW. Excellent maiden over.
Olly’s back with some chirp. “I don’t mean to dominate proceedings but I can’t sleep so am following the action. I wanted to ask whether the Aussie authorities are able to deter the local seagulls because of the proliferation of ducks?”. Shots fired.
13th over: India 28-1 (Agarwal 15, Pujara 0) “It remains an abiding mystery that Australia can be in the most parlous state either side of an Ashes down under and England in supreme form, but, for the six weeks of the Ashes Aussie bowlers who have been unfit or unselectable for five or ten years hit unprecedented veins of form (Harris, Cummins, Johnson) while world class Poms (Pietersen, Trott, Trescothick, Vaughan, Flintoff, Thorpe, Jones, Gough, Stokes, Swann, Prior etc etc) find novel and/or ridiculous methods to render themselves useless.” Ian Forth responding to Olly’s earlier Ashes missive with some mental disintegration.
All four of Vihari's Test dismissals against pace have come to deliveries pitching short of a good length. #AUSvINDpic.twitter.com/MBIw3HvPiT
Cummins adopts a short-ball approach to Vihari and eventually it pays dividends, the Indian opener failing to deal with a far from unplayable delivery with the ball kissing the shoulder of the bat and looping to Khawaja in the gully.
WICKET: Vihari is out for 13.
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12th over: India 28-0 (Vihari 13, Agarwal 15) Ooh, Agarwal gets away with one, scooping an ugly slog just over short midwicket despite aiming to send the ball wristily through the covers. Lyon Australia’s most dangerous bowler so far.
11th over: India 26-0 (Vihari 12, Agarwal 14) The MCG has done a remarkable job of ridding the arena of seagulls (especially compared to AAMI Park over the road which is infested by the blighters on a nightly basis) but one interrupts proceedings during Pat Cummins’ first over of the innings. Yeah, we’ve reached that point in the match where avian activity is more interesting than the cricket. India lead by 318 with ten second wickets in hand.
10th over: India 24-0 (Vihari 11, Agarwal 13) Another unremarkable Hazlewood over sees the score advance by one run. 17 overs left today, 80 minutes remaining in which to bowl them.
Olly, an England fan, is licking his lips at Australia’s travails at the MCG. “While a lot of us are off work for a few days can we launch some kind of collective effort to invent a time machine so that we can go back (or is it forward) and play the Ashes now rather than last year. India are top, top class but playing this bunch of ordinary Aussies I think we would avoid a whitewash.” I do enjoy how splendidly English the optimism is - avoiding a whitewash being the summit of ambition.
9th over: India 23-0 (Vihari 10, Agarwal 13) Lyon’s promising opening over did not go unnoticed by Agarwal who welcomes the Australian spinner’s second effort by lofting a drive over mid-on for four. The field is immediately shuffled to a more defensive formation and Agarwal dead bats the remainder of the over.
8th over: India 19-0 (Vihari 10, Agarwal 9) Hazlewood has tightened his line from outside off to stump-to-stump. It’s a much more productive approach, especially with the odd one keeping low and forcing nervous defensive jabs.
Virat Kohli doffing his hat to Jasprit Bumrah in recognition of the quick’s superb 6/33. #AUSvINDpic.twitter.com/jPckFyp0NY
7th over: India 19-0 (Vihari 10, Agarwal 9) Lyon is invited to find out how stiff his bowling action is following his workload of previous days, and he responds superbly, finding prodigious bounce and no little turn, befuddling both openers in a promising over.
Just 4% of the deliveries Mitchell Starc has bowled in this Test match would have hit or clipped the stumps. That is the lowest figure he's ever recorded in a Test. #AUSvIND
6th over: India 18-0 (Vihari 9, Agarwal 9) Just the single from a routine Hazlewood over.
“Jonathan,” yes, Paul Blundell? “A) Could we just drop Alyssa Healy and Meg Lanning in the top order and see how we go? B) Why is everyone suddenly obsessed by Maxwell? Do we just want another Shaun Marsh to hate?”.
5th over: India 17-0 (Vihari 8, Agarwal 9) Starc does hit his straps at least once this over, testing Agarwal with a tidy bouncer. Around that the news isn’t so good. Vihari nudging three off his hip, Agarwal four off his pads.
Most Test wickets in debut year
45 - Jasprit Bumrah (2018)
42 - Terry Alderman (1981) & Curtly Ambrose (1988)#AusvInd#AusvsInd
4th over: India 10-0 (Vihari 5, Agarwal 5) No alarms yet for India with both openers looking confident at the crease and Australia struggling to put the ball in the right areas consistently. This is a dispiriting little session for the Aussie quicks.
The 292-run lead that India hold at Melbourne is the third highest they've ever held at the halfway mark of Tests in SENA countries. #AUSvIND
3rd over: India 8-0 (Vihari 4, Agarwal 4) Starc shifts around the wicket and is immediately more threatening angling the ball into Vihari’s body. Maiden over.
Australia's collective batting averages in this series:
Nos.1-5: 24.44
Nos.6-10: 25.52#AUSvIND
2nd over: India 8-0 (Vihari 4, Agarwal 4) Hazlewood’s radar is also skewiff in his opening over and he also goes for four, this one much a more pleasing effort with Agarwal striding to meet the pitch of the ball and calmly stroking an elegant boundary through extra cover.
@JPHowcroft ABC Grandstand played Loser by Beck in the lead in to the Australian second innings. Coincidence?
1st over: India 4-0 (Vihari 4, Agarwal 0) Starc begins over the wicket to the right-handed Vihari, never troubling the batsman and conceding four with a late chopped cut that scuttles through gully. Meanwhile, Starc’s wife Alyssa Healy has just ended her WBBL knock for Sydney Sixers unbeaten on 112.
Ian Forth has logged on. “Do not tempt me with your Favourite Collins theme rabbit holes, Jonathan. Instead, permit me to observe that for Mitch Marsh today it has been a case Jadeja vu.”
Two days in the field in searing heat, just two sessions off today, and Australia’s overworked attack are back out in the middle of the MCG bowling to a 292 run deficit. Yuk.
Jeez. Australia's bowlers haven't even had a full day off. Be interesting to watch the speed gun now. #AUSvIND
Just the light roller for India during the innings break, real-time trolling from Kohli.
What an outstanding bowling effort from India and a really special effort from Jasprit Bumrah. He has been the best bowler on display across both sides by some distance and has put India in a really dominating position #AusvIndpic.twitter.com/sP3A05b4Ti
A very very very very bad day at the office for Australia.
Kohli has opted NOT TO ENFORCE THE FOLLOW ON and India will have another bat, already leading by 292 runs.
Well, that didn’t last long. From around the wicket Bumrah fires one full and into Hazlewood’s pads, the ball ricochet’s onto the stumps with enough momentum to dislodge a solitary bail. Superb performance from India and Jasprit Bumrah in particular.
Bumrah’s on the honour’s board. Full, straight, fast, angling in from wide of the crease and sending down a ball that’s too good for Nathan Lyon. The attempted flick to leg is inadequate, the pad is thundered into and Ian Gould’s finger raises without hesitation. THE END IS NIGH!
65th over: Australia 147-8 (Starc 7, Lyon 0) Jadeja, as is his penchant, is whipping through his spell, and in this over he suffocates Mitchell Starc with a speedy maiden, the final delivery of which comes perilously close to skimming the outside edge. Jadeja is the bowling equivalent of an infant tapping you on the shoulder asking “are we nearly there yet?” on a long car journey.
This might be a bit better if Glenn Maxwell was wearing his whites and baggy green on the MCG instead of Toyota commercials during the ad breaks.
64th over: Australia 147-8 (Starc 7, Lyon 0) Beautiful from Bumrah. Awful from Australia. Will Kohli enforce the follow on?
India have bowled better than Australia. According to CricViz's Wicket Probability Model, India's deliveries would have - on average - taken a wicket every 50 deliveries, whilst Australia's would have taken a wicket every 63. #AUSvIND
Bumrah has four! After Starc nudges a single Paine fishes at one just short of a good length outside off stump and tickles an edge through to Pant. With the ball dying on him the keeper made no mistake with a very low diving catch.
63rd over: Australia 146-7 (Paine 22, Starc 6) A single by Starc followed by five dot balls from Paine as Jadeja begins play after Tea.
@JPHowcroft I only got through 5 min of Jimmy yesterday, but after today's Aust batting performance I could probably manage an hour..
Please keep me company, either on Twitter - @JPHowcroft- or by email - jonathan.howcroft.freelance@theguardian.com.
Don’t make me post ten hours of Jimmy Barnes screaming again, because I will. Here’s the source of that remixed absurdity, in case you were wondering.
This over-by-over could be over early.
33 more overs are scheduled in the day, which means we’ll be tipping beyond 5.30pm again but may not need to go all the way to 6pm. Showers are forecast for days four and five, so there may be some hope yet of Australia salvaging an unlikely draw.
Well, this has escalated quickly, hasn’t it? Two days of laborious Test cricket have given way to a match rattling along at a fair clip.
India’s brains trust appear to have got their selection and strategy spot on, judging the potential of this surface to perfection and exposing Australia’s frailties with bat in hand.
This is usually good advice, but especially so for Australian fans given the circumstances at the MCG.
Stop what you're doing NOW and watch Alyssa Healy put on an absolute clinic at Hurstville!
Live: https://t.co/Rkx7vNMSdu#WBBL04pic.twitter.com/742BVli6n9
Thank you very much Adam, my favourite Mr Collins since Ripper, the 14-time NWA Hawaii Tag Team Championship wrestler.
62nd over: Australia 145-7 (Paine 22, Starc 5) It is all happening between overs with the Indian fans filing down into the old Bay 13 where the Australians have been chanting at Kohli for a while now. Nothing wrong with any of this, of course, but the police are watching on closely. Starc gets off the mark with a four through the cordon, edging Shami with a drive played well away from his body the ball after an lbw shout is turned down. “Kohli’s a wanker” now rings out in both the Southern and Northern Stands, as has been the custom at the ‘G since the days of Richard Hadlee. Again, nothing wrong with that. India don’t rush through the over to get another in from Jadeja, so that’s tea with Australia still 298 runs behind and in major strife.
That’s also my cue to hand the OBO baton to JP Howcroft. Please do keep him company over the next couple of hours as Australia try to avoid the follow-on. Bye for now!
62nd over: Australia 138-7 (Paine 20, Starc 0) The wicket brings the Indian crowd to life, just as the locals were growing in voice. Jadeja goes close to making it two in two overs, beating Paine’s edge by no more than a centimetre. The visitors should get another two overs in before tea. Australia still need 106 further runs to avoid following on.
Losing a review doesn’t bother Shami in the slightest, beating Cummins three balls later with a good’un that crashes into off-stump after moving in but not as much as the Australian expected. That’s reward for an excellent over of reverse swing.
61st over: Australia 138-7 (Paine 20)
IS PAINE LBW? India have sent it upstairs to find out after the on-field official said no. It looked high. NOT OUT! The Shami delivery was going over the top of leg stump. Helluva ball, mind, coming back a mile at the captain. That’s proper reverse swing.
60th over: Australia 137-6 (Paine 19, Cummins 17) Jadeja has lost a little a bit of bite compared to his early overs after lunch, Cummins nailing a cover drive to the rope from the first ball of this new set. It’s the shot of the session, that’s for sure. Lovely. He’s sturdy in defence for the rest. As the below video demonstrates, he’s been a very busy boy over the last couple of days. Impressive stuff, this.
Some popping numbers on distance covered by the Australian bowlers
A big thank you to @CricketAus for providing the numbers for use on the touch screen with @copes9#AUSvINDpic.twitter.com/bTUqHoXJT6
59th over: Australia 133-6 (Paine 19, Cummins 13) Nice shot, Cummins controlling a drive through cover off Ishant. To finish, he takes another to point with Paine running hard down to the danger end. These two have added 30 in 92 balls together. The groundsman runs out between overs to thump a bit of turf down in the run up. $9671.40 is the fine for running on the ground if you are a patron, the scoreboard reminds us during this brief delay. Beneath us, it sounds like the Aussie fans are giving a bit of stick to the Bharat Army who are sitting behind the football goals at the city end. In response, they are going with the old favourite: “SCOREBOARD!” Good stuff.
58th over: Australia 130-6 (Paine 19, Cummins 10) Cummins clips one early in the Jadeja over and Paine does the business for the rest. No inch given, and so on.
Since the Ashes there has been just one Australian century, compared to eight opposition tons.
That's 8.5 Tests with just one centurion (Khawaja in UAE). #AUSvIND@FoxCricket
57th over: Australia 129-6 (Paine 19, Cummins 9) Ishant to Paine with half an hour remaining in the session. The attack leader is getting plenty of reverse swing back to the home captain before sending one away, which Paine misses off the back foot. Ishant is the man most likely at the moment with this old ball.
56th over: Australia 129-6 (Paine 19, Cummins 9) Jadeja again changing ends, back to where he started down now again striding in from the Great Southern Stand. He gives some air to Cummins to decides to open up the arms and drive, albeit from the outside half of the bat, but it is through a gap and safely through backward point for four.
55th over: Australia 123-6 (Paine 18, Cummins 5) Ishant back on from the Members’ end, after a one over spell before drinks that looked fairly threatening. He’s getting the old ball moving around from the get-go here, hooping away from Paine then back into his pads. He’s off strike with one behind square, Cummins leaving the bumper to finish.
“At least Tim Paine and Pat Cummins are showing some application,” emails Greg Kent “Where are the batsmen? Oh that’s right. Back in the shed. Paine kept for every ball over two days, Cummins bowled 30 overs and got the figures, then they are back out batting within two hours. How about some spine batsmen?”
54th over: Australia 122-6 (Paine 17, Cummins 5) Vihari vs Paine is turning into a nice little stoush, the part-timer looking quite a bit better than that so far today. Cripes, a run out chance to finish, the captain taking on Pujara’s arm at mid-off. There is no direct hit and he probably would have been safe with the big dive. But still!
53rd over: Australia 121-6 (Paine 16, Cummins 5) Another maiden, Jadeja belatedly finding his range after switching ends. Cummins is defending with soft hands with men around the bat but the crafty spinner gets around the inside edge with a straight one, prompting an lbw appeal, which is turned down. Yeah, it’s going down leg.
A quick shout out to OBO regular Cressida McDermott who is watching on from the MCC on her first trip to the ‘G. After falling in love with the game via the WBBL on the telly over the last few years, she is now playing the sport for the first time at a local club. Hi!
52nd over: Australia 121-6 (Paine 16, Cummins 5) Vihari doing his bit here, landing his offies nicely at Paine who plays with respect. A couple don’t get far off the ground but he’s well enough forward to handle them easily enough. Two maidens for him.
51st over: Australia 121-6 (Paine 16, Cummins 5) Jadeja is spun around to the MCC end, which, as Brad Hodge notes on Macquarie Radio, is unusual for a spinner at this grand old ground. Unusually, he gives the Australians four chances to score, thrice clipping into the legside and Cummins driving nicely for three out through cover.
50th over: Australia 114-6 (Paine 12, Cummins 2) Vihari on for Jadeja for his first burst of the match and it nearly brings a wicket first ball after drinks! That’s a bad drop, Pant putting Cummins down when the edge outside goes to his right of his gloves but with more than enough time to adjust.
Feel so sorry for Australia's bowlers. If you slog for two days straight, your batsmen should at least give you a day off. Pat Cummins was padded up as nightwatchman, then batting by lunch.
49th over: Australia 114-6 (Paine 12, Cummins 2) Ishant is back from the MCC end, which is a good move with Shami not quite on the mark. He’s asking Paine the right questions straight away, leading to a false stroke where he can’t quite get his bat out of the way in time. The result is a fortunate boundary through the cordon. Drinks are out on the field, marking the half way mark of the Test Match. Accoring to WinViz, the home side have a 1% chance of winning it, India at 74% and the draw 25% (due to the rain forecast tomorrow, I’m sure).
48th over: Australia 110-6 (Paine 8, Cummins 2) Jadeja gets a go at Cummins and finds his inside edge straight away but it isn’t through the air. Paine also turns the strike over with one to mid-on. Nice, calm batting to stop the collapse - for now.
Just a thought: Glenn Maxwell goes alright. #AUSvINDpic.twitter.com/f92Cxmly9A
47th over: Australia 108-6 (Paine 7, Cummins 1) Shami to Paine, who isn’t quite on the money yet in this spell. The Aussie captain is able to get under a bumper that’s too short and watch one fly down the legside before pushing a half-volley to cover for one. Cummins then keeps the strike with a flick to fine leg. That’ll help the nerves.
46th over: Australia 106-6 (Paine 6, Cummins 0) Jadeja is the OBOers nightmare, through these overs so quickly. I’ll just say this much: he’s straight; Paine solid. Until the final ball, when the captain tucks a single to keep the strike. Gone in 60 seconds.
M Marsh facing Jadeja in Tests:
Balls 66
Runs 5
Wkts 3
Avg 1.66
SR 7.57
45th over: Australia 105-6 (Paine 5, Cummins 0) Whack. Paine cops his standard blow when batting, this time to the shoulder ducking into a Shami short one. There are runs on offer through the legside for the skipper either side of it though. If you were to pick two players capable of dragging this innings into the final hour today, it is this pair.
44th over: Australia 102-6 (Paine 2, Cummins 0) Cummins does what he must, defending the three balls left in the Jadeja over.
With every minute, Pujara's innings looks more valuable......
That’s spun a long way out of the rough, Marsh trying to hit Jadeja through midwicket but managing to edge into the hands of Rahane at slip. As Mel Jones says on radio SEN that he could have got to the ball on the full, the replay confirming as much.
OUT. Mitch Marsh the latest to go.
Australia sink further to 6/102 #AUSvINDpic.twitter.com/VtZj7dbIxW
43rd over: Australia 101-5 (M Marsh 9, Paine 1) Shami misses the mark down the legside a couple of times here, looking for that inswinger yorker. Marsh is more settled after that boundary, his defensive prods now confident pushes to mid-on and mid-off. I’m not going to say anything effusive, though, having mozzed this bloke on the OBO so many times over the years.
“13.3 Harris lost his head,” quips Rasa Ravi. “36.4 Australia lost its Head.” Boom, tish!
42nd over: Australia 101-5 (M Marsh 9, Paine 1) Paine is in defence throughout to Jadeja, who is nagging away at that middle-stump line in pursuit of some more of that sweet, sweet variable bounce.
41st over: Australia 101-5 (M Marsh 9, Paine 1) DJ Shami is on from the MCC end to replace Bumrah. And it doesn’t take long for him to get his fielders up for an lbw shout, Marsh unable to get his bat on an inswinger, but it is going down leg. He responds wonderfully though, launching into a punishing pull shot that hammers into the advertising boards. That’s the Marsh we remember from 12 months ago.
40th over: Australia 97-5 (Marsh 5, Paine 1) Better from Marsh, waiting on the straighter Jadeja ball and clipping three to midwicket. To Paine, he nearly gets under the bat with another that keeps low. India aren’t far away here.
39th over: Australia 94-5 (Marsh 2, Paine 1) Paine off the mark first ball of the new Bumrah over, pushing past point. Marsh is getting forward whenever he can with the quick now getting plenty of movement on demand back towards him; this is a brilliant spell. He’s nearly caught in the deep from the final ball, the all-rounder having a pop at the short ball when it comes but not getting much of it. The top edge nearly makes it to Shami at fine leg. Imagine how the MCG would have reacted had it carried?
38th over: Australia 92-5 (Marsh 1, Paine 0) Marsh tries to add to the single he picked up to get off the mark in the Bumrah over to get off the mark but can’t beat the diving man at cover - I think it’s Kohli in there, nice work. Jadeja builds the pressure so well in these situations, pushing through his maiden in about 75 seconds.
“What is the weather forecast for the next couple of days?” asks John Goldstein. Not great, as it happens. There’s meant to be a lot of rain tomorrow. But if they collapse properly here India should still have enough time to get their 20 wickets. The follow-on mark is still 152 runs away.
37th over: Australia 92-5 (Marsh 1, Paine 0) The captain is once again in far too early, solidly defending the last couple of balls of the successful Bumrah over. The Indian quick has 3/30from 13 overs and could easily finish with six or seven. Watching Head’s dismissal again, he was actually trying to put that past midwicket. Not at all flattering.
BOWLED.
Bumrah gets his third #AUSvINDpic.twitter.com/9WqhUyOIT4
Oh dear! Head picks the wrong ball to try and flay through cover, Bumrah’s full-lengthed delivery slipping through the gate and smashing the middle stump. Wonderful bowling; dreadful batting. It’s an awful replay for the South Australian to watch as he departs.
36th over: Australia 91-4 (Head 20, Marsh 0) This is incredibly hard graft against Jadeja, the left-handed Head keeping out a couple of balls that spun sharply towards his stumps without a lot of bounce. He’s getting the blade down just in time. “You have to play him like a medium pacer,” says Damien Fleming on SEN, ala Derek Underwood.
With 182 runs, Travis Head is Australia's leading run-scorer in this series. He's been excellent against the spinners, scoring 63 runs off them without being dismissed. His battle with Jadeja could be key. #AUSvIND
35th over: Australia 91-4 (Head 20, Marsh 0) Big shout for lbw! Marsh misses a ball that comes back at him before crashing into his front pad but Umpire Gould has it going down leg. No review. Sure enough, the yorker comes next, the all-rounder keeping it out. Earlier in the over, Head pushed another single to cover - he’s looking alright.
34th over: Australia 90-4 (Head 19, Marsh 0) Head starts the session well, pushing confidently to cover for one. Marsh begins his day with a series of forward defensive pushes, getting a big stride in with me around the bat on both sides of the wicket. I know we all got excited about the Perth deck ahead of time, but it is remarkable that Jadeja didn’t play there. Oh, I mean, he had a sore shoulder. Right. I forgot.
The players are back on the field. The reason I know that is because Great Southern Land is playing over the speaker, the tired walk-on song for the Australian team for at least the last 15 years. Anyway, I’ll argue more about that another day. For now, it is Travis Head (18) and the new man Mitch Marsh. Jadeja has the ball in his hand. PLAY!
Moments. I wrote last night that due to a combination of the dead pitch and everything else that has hapened in 2018, the probability of a big MCG moment is fairly slim this week. The crowd know it and they deserve better. Like, say, this. At the break on the big screen they just showed Kim Hughes’ brave and masterful Boxing Day ton from 1981.
Yas Rana, one of the clever kids at Wisden HQ, has matched Nicholas and Bumrah.
The Bumrah wicket is even better with Mark Nicholas' commentary... pic.twitter.com/S7bRsS9blH
“Both were brilliant,” writes David Franklin (a Fulbright scholar, if you don’t mind). “Harmison edges it for me given that Clarke got his bat down to it but got beaten by the leg-break, but Bumrah and this whole India team are so good to watch.”
Too right they are. This was Harmy. And as James Newton notes, a super bit of calling from Mark Nicholas too: “One of the great balls! Given the moment, given the batsman and the given the match, that is a staggering gamble that’s paid off for Harmison!”
What a bowler! Jasprit Bumrah, a joy to watch. The previous delivery that he sent down at Shaun Marsh was 140kph, the wicket ball was 111kph. It was picture-perfect, dipping like a curve ball, too good for Marsh. There is doubt rocks will be thrown at the older of the brothers for not making it to lunch but not many are keeping that out.
Good afternoon to you all from the MCG. It has been suggested (by me, to be fair) that Bumrah’s beauty deserves to be ranked alongside Harmison’s to Clarke in the 2005 Ashes. Are you with me? Email or twitter will be the best ways for us to chat. Go!
OUT. What a beauty of a slower ball from Bumrah! #AUSvINDpic.twitter.com/9vLf2TgqVc
What a session for India. They batted through two days so well, showing nothing but patience. Now they’ve all but brought Australia undone in the space of a session. Both openers gone to shots they didn’t need to play and didn’t execute properly. The blue-chip wicket of Khawaja in fairly innocuous circumstances. And finally a brilliant piece of bowling, a true masterstroke from Bumrah, to dismiss Shaun Marsh on the break.
His brother Mitchell will face the music after lunch, and here’s hoping he gets a better reception from the Australian crowd than he did as a bowler. There’s frustration with selectors, understandably, but it’s not the player’s fault. Travis Head will resume as well. Two relatively young state captains who will need to do the job for their country.
33rd over: Australia 89-4 (Head 18) Gone, and that’s lunch. Final over of the session, final ball of the over, and that is an extraordinary piece of bowling. Bumrah knows that Marsh just wants to survive. He knows the batsman will be expecting a short ball, or a length ball moving away, or a fierce yorker. So he does something else. Bowls a slower ball. Rolls it out of his fingers. And as he does so often in T20 cricket, Bumrah nails the yorker. But the pace fools Marsh, as he comes across the ball trying to defend. And the ball dips with the lack of pace, arrowing down from its fuller length, getting underneath any possible shot and colliding with the batsman down on his ankle. Gone. Plumb. And Travis Head says don’t bother referring.
32nd over: Australia 89-3 (S Marsh 19, Head 18) Shaun Marsh drives a single from Jadeja.
“I’ve enjoyed following your cricket comments and blog,” writes Bryan Sketchley, “but given your ceaseless use of imperial measurements in your commentary I was curious as to how old you might be. A quick search shows a handsome young man, no more than 35. Thirty five!”
31st over: Australia 88-3 (S Marsh 18, Head 18) Maiden from Bumrah with lunch approaching. Head mostly defends, aside from missing a cut shot and having a drive stopped at cover.
30th over: Australia 88-3 (S Marsh 18, Head 18) Marsh edges Jadeja wide of slip for two, and that’s all from the over. Santosh Venkataraman writes from the United States. “I am fairly new to cricket and learning the game but seems like there are so many variables moreso in Test cricket that make winning and losing these matches maybe not really determinant of the better team?
“Australia are in real trouble now, but if we are being honest, how this pitch is functioning and India winning the toss would be the key factors should India win. It reminds me of the second Test for India at Lord’s this year in which conditions resulted in an innings defeat.
29th over: Australia 86-3 (S Marsh 16, Head 18) There’s the Head slash-cut again. Got him out twice in Perth, but they don’t have a third man for him this time. So he gets four from Bumrah, after driving a couple through cover.
28th over: Australia 80-3 (S Marsh 16, Head 12) They’ve moved the off-side bat-pad to a short midwicket for Marsh. So, still four catches, but with a leg-side bias. None of them are called into action through Jadeja’s quick over.
27th over: Australia 78-3 (S Marsh 15, Head 11) Ishant to bowl, Head jams the ball through midwicket for a couple. More convincing off the back foot, forcing through cover, and it was probably going for four but Jadeja went flying after it to pull it back in! That was tremendous. I’m not sure who was at cover, but they were turning and rather plodding after the ball. Then into the frame comes Jadeja, twice as fast, burning past from his position at point I think, and diving to save the ball. Now he’s going to bowl the next over.
Lee Henderson is sending me another meditation on painting, after his efforts yesterday.
26th over: Australia 72-3 (S Marsh 14, Head 6) Travis head is producing the scares in this over. Lunges at Jadeja, drags his foot out of the crease, but just gets a toe back in time as the umpires check the replay for a stumping. Next ball, almost gloves one into his pad and away to leg slip, but the appeal is refused. Head goes onto his back foot and cuts a single. He’s talked up as a good player of spin but this is hard work this morning.
25th over: Australia 71-3 (S Marsh 14, Head 5) Edged for four! Ishant bowls that tempting line outside off, back of a length and decking away, and Marsh is sucked in. Big outside edge through the cordon gap at a catchable height. Then Marsh stabs a ball through square leg that was airy for a while, but evaded the field.
24th over: Australia 63-3 (S Marsh 7, Head 4) Missed chance? Jadeja bombs one through Head and through Pant, which makes it sound very anatomical, but it was a ball that burst through and ran to the boundary. The umpire rules runs rather than byes which means that Head got a tiny outside edge on that, low past the keeper. Through his legs even? A fortunate way to get off the mark, to understate things.
23rd over: Australia 59-3 (S Marsh 7, Head 0) Another couple of runs for Marsh, flicking Shami off his pads. If he gets 10 he’ll get 50, is the wisdom. Still not looking his fluent best, but it can click on in an instant.
“Evening Geoff,” says Simon, to mix things up. Or perhaps it reflects his mood, the endless evening of the soul. “They should play a test in Canberra (is it the Manuka Oval?) instead of one of the soulless enormo-bowls. Atmosphere and attendance guaranteed. Tickets might be in demand!”
22nd over: Australia 57-3 (S Marsh 5, Head 0) It would be a classic piece of trolling if Shaun and Mitchell Marsh combined for a match-winning or match-saving partnership, though. Shaun takes his score on to 5 by flicking Jadeja to deep midwicket for three. Head is nearly lbw sweeping, which is apparently his mode against spin. Doesn’t hit many with that shot.
21st over: Australia 54-3 (S Marsh 2, Head 0) Suddenly the Indians are alive. They’re chattering and loud and enthusiastic, cheering each delivery. Shami produces a nasty short ball that has Head ducking. A couple of fifties in this series, after an important one in Dubai in October. He’s shown quite a bit so far, and must do so again today. Already this looks like a match in which Australia will have to battle for the draw rather than contemplate an unlikely win like the one they enjoyed against Pakistan a couple of years ago. It was a very similar position, but a couple of guys called Smith and Warner made centuries.
20th over: Australia 53-3 (S Marsh 1, Head 0) Jadeja bowled that over with men around the bat, four of them in fact in a star formation. Slip, leg slip, bat pad either side of the wicket. Khawaja had stabbed a single past slip on the bounce. Marsh had got off the mark with an on-drive. Khawaja nailed a reverse sweep for four, down through third man, which no doubt had the Members chuntering, but when he played the traditional forward defensive from the penultimate ball of the over, it brought his dismissal.
Travis Head comes out and defends the final ball.
It’s Agarwal again! Runs and now catches. Khawaja lunges forward to defend, he gets a thick inside edge and it’s straight to the bat-pad on the leg side! It went briskly, after striking high on the blade, but went straight into the hands. Khawaja had looked good so far, that’s a huge loss for the home side.
19th over: Australia 47-2 (Khawaja 16, S Marsh 0) Khawaja creams one, full and straight and out of the middle with a flick to deep square leg. That came the ball after he took on a short ball from Shami and pulled a couple of runs. Then there’s a near run-out as Marsh hesitated at the non-striker’s end. Khawaja was always running after he dropped the ball towards cover, but Marsh stuttered for some reason. Probably would have made it even had the throw hit.
18th over: Australia 40-2 (Khawaja 9, S Marsh 0) Interesting call to get Jadeja on this early, a left-arm spinner turning the ball in towards the left-handed batsmen. But perhaps no choice given the opening spells to the quicks. And Jadeja looks good immediately, drawing an inside edge from Marsh that pops up on the off side and lands safely, then another ball that keeps low.
He does get through an over in about 70 seconds, from my experience. Thankfully the drinks break follows this one.
17th over: Australia 40-2 (Khawaja 9, S Marsh 0) Mohammed Shami is on, and now the ball is keeping low. One tunnels under Khawaja outside his off stump. When you’ve got that risk against balls you can’t do anything about, it’s even more imperative not to give your wicket away like both openers arguably did. Pujara and Kohli gave the example of how to do that, happy to wait for runs as long as they had to. Again the Australian tendency to force the pace has brought trouble, and again it has to be the two senior men at the crease if Australia is to recover.
“Good morning,” writes Amod Paranjape. “Jadeja is playing. I find it quite amusing for online commentators when he bowls. Ha Ha Ha Ha. Have a good time.”
16th over: Australia 40-2 (Khawaja 9, S Marsh 0) Bumrah continues, and Marsh leaves a ball perilously close to his off stump. The angle across the lefty just took it away enough. Marsh defends, ducks... gosh he looks vulnerable early in his innings. Then he can nail a cover drive and suddenly be in complete command. Survives a maiden.
The Seventh Horcrux has emailed in, having apparently not been destroyed as was reported. “Good morning, Geoff. It’s 4:31 in the morning here and I’m gearing up to watch the Test, expected ‘dull’ affair and all. Elsewhere, Pakistan have set South Africa a target of 149. With three days remaining. And New Zealand have a second innings lead of 344 against Sri Lanka. In the first session of Day Three. I’ll take this contest over both.”
15th over: Australia 40-2 (Khawaja 9, S Marsh 0) Khawaja drives four! Pitched up by Ishant just outside off, and that is Khawaja’s wholemeal sliced and margarine. Through the covers for four. Last ball of the over he tries again, but that ball was far wider, and it was a real diagonal fling from Khawaja. That shot looked uncontrolled. The other four balls of the over he’d left, so you wonder if that was a forced moment of impatience.
14th over: Australia 36-2 (Khawaja 5, S Marsh 0) Bumrah, with his lean and his stop and his trot and his fling, gets the wicket. The short-ball attack has worked. He spooked Harris into that dismissal. And he nearly nabs Shaun Marsh first ball, smashing into the pads in front of middle, but off the inside edge. Probably pitched outside leg too, with the right-armer bowling over the wicket to a left-hander. Still. Bumrah looks dangerous, Nannes was right.
Harris holes out! Pretty weak attempt at the pull shot. Bumrah has sconed him a couple of times in the series, and this time as Bumrah drops short Harris goes for the flap. Looked awkward, feet weren’t moving well, he hauled at it rather than pulling it. A chiropractor’s dream. A ball or two earlier, Bumrah had moved Ishant around a bit at fine leg. The ball takes a big top edge and lands right in Ishant’s cupped hands. Poor dismissal.
13th over: Australia 32-1 (Harris 18, Khawaja 5) Ishant tries the short stuff, following the example from Starc and Cummins who got some results when they bashed the ball in short on this pitch. Khawaja is happy to let it sail through at this stage, where he’s often very keen to get the pull shot out. Flicks another two runs square of the wicket when Ishant pitches up.
12th over: Australia 30-1 (Harris 18, Khawaja 3) Harris is doing a good job of keeping things moving this morning, and doesn’t change after Finch’s wicket. He knows this ground better than anyone, having played a lot for Victoria here over the last three years. He glides a couple of runs from Bumrah, drops another single out to point, just making sure the board keeps moving and doesn’t create pressure of its own. Khawaja fends off a shorter ball for a single.
11th over: Australia 26-1 (Harris 15, Khawaja 2) Usman Khawaja to the crease, and he’s quickly off the mark with a glance that goes quite square and earns him two runs. Aaron Finch though... there’s going to pressure on his place now, if there wasn’t before. Needs a score in the second innings, if we get that far.
Exactly the kind of dismissal that Finch was in danger of on this slow surface! Caught at short midwicket. Very short. Only a few yards back from the batsman really. Finch comes across the line at Ishant, clips it away firmly enough, and the debutant batsman Agarwal tumbles away to his left and claims the catch. They check the no-ball as ever, but this time Ishant has almost an entire foot behind the line. He should frame that and put it on his wall. Set it as the wallpaper on his phone. It earns him a wicket. Smart field placement from Kohli too. Finch tends to get out in front of his pad and play hard at the ball, and that was an innocuous push that normally would have just rolled down towards mid-on for a dot ball, but it’s been turned into a wicket.
10th over: Australia 24-0 (Harris 15, Finch 8) Harris harvests a couple of twos late in Bumrah’s over.
9th over: Australia 20-0 (Harris 11, Finch 8) The Finch Experiment continues: he leaves, blocks, leaves, then finally can’t help but have a big drive at Ishant. Nails it, despite the length being a bit short for the shot, and gets four through cover.
8th over: Australia 16-0 (Harris 11, Finch 4) Bumrah from the other end. Fellow fast bowler Dirk Nannes is giving him a big rev-up on ABC Grandstand, saying that he’ll be the key bowler on this pitch today, especially if it misbehaves a little more. He draws a few defensive shots from Harris, but strays wide once and is put away by Harris on the late cut.
7th over: Australia 12-0 (Harris 7, Finch 4) Ishant Sharma with the ball, and he starts with a no-ball. Because of course he does. Harris works a run square from that ball, then the two openers trade singles into the off side. Quiet start.
The players at the G are getting ready...
And as for the banned players stuff, this is exactly my point of view. Cannot believe that they chose to start landing this stuff on Boxing Day, and once more draw all the attention to themselves.
Quietly furious that with a great test series hanging in the balance, with Tim Paine putting his stamp on the captaincy, and some character back into Aussie cricket, Cricket Australia choose now for their Smith and Bancroft media blitz. They understand nothing. #AUDvIND
As for all the Smith and Bancroft hoo-hah over the last couple of days: there are plenty of people rubbishing this headline without having read the article, but if you’ve got access to this paper then it’s well worth a read. Perceptive stuff.
Warner retains a silent dignity https://t.co/qhwLDye7qu
The coliseum is ready for another day’s action. Not sure about the likely audience for today though. Last time India toured, the second-day Melbourne crowd was over 50,000. Yesterday it was officially 36,000. Which is still a lot in smaller grounds, but in the MCG those kind of numbers disappear. The visible seating bowl wasn’t empty, but was poorly filled, and most of the people in attendance were sheltering from the heat in the stadium bars. There are always explanations tendered: weather, holidays, whatever it is, but those have always applied. So there must be a partial factor that the national team has less drawing power than it has at times in the past.
There aren’t many better sights in the world @MCG#AUSvINDpic.twitter.com/CPE0cEpwNk
Might be big-stadium syndrome but the crowd numbers look sad. Officially 36,000 but it's as sparse out there as a teenage beard. #AusvInd
As ever, take a perambulation through the wilds of cricket’s ponderings with me throughout the day – address me a missive on the new-fangled Twitter thingo, or use Her Majesty’s sturdy old electronic mail.
One. Two. Three. Here we go. Today Australia will bat to stay in the series on day three at Melbourne. That’s the short of it. The long is that batting to stay in the series should be possible, on a pitch that’s been pretty slow and pretty conducive to digging in for a long occupation. India batted through two days on it and only lost seven wickets, but they found it hard to score any faster than a crawl, given that nearly six sessions only yielded 443 runs.
That was enough to convince Kohli to declare though, and his bowlers had six overs at Australia on the second evening. No wickets, though Marcus Harris was hit in the helmet for the second match running, and there were any number of false shots from both openers.
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