Melbourne: Jasprit Bumrah left the hosts in a daze with a dream spell but the courageous Australian lower order steered the side to a commanding 333-run lead on Sunday, setting up the Boxing Day Test for an intriguing last-day finish.
Australia finished the fourth day at 228 for nine, leaving India skipper Rohit Sharma a bit irritated as the home team was in a spot at 156 for 8 at one stage.
Australia’s number 8, 10 and 11 batters saw off nearly 35 overs and it could prove decisive if India doesn’t bat exceedingly well on a track which has remained true in all four days.
Bumrah (4/53 in 17 overs) was an artist at work in the first two sessions and found his ally in Mohammed Siraj (3/66 in 22 overs) as momentum suddenly swung in India’s favour.
Bumrah was unplayable for the better part of the second innings and completed 200 Test wickets on the day at an incredible average of 19.56.
But as luck would have it, he couldn’t complete his five-for as he overstepped when he had Nathan Lyon caught in the slips by KL Rahul. Insult to the injury was the last-ball boundary hit by Lyon.
With immaculate length, awkward bounce and late movement, Bumrah had the Australian line-up in complete tangle but India let slip the advantageous position in the final session.
Pat Cummins (41 off 90 balls), Lyon (41 batting, 54 balls) and Scott Boland (10 batting, 65 balls) beefed up the second innings total, leaving a jittery Indian top-order with a mountain to climb on the final day.
A victory isn’t impossible but for it to happen India would need something freakish from Rishabh Pant and at least a couple of senior batters need to shrug off the rust.
The pitch has no demons but Indian batters need to clear the cobwebs in their minds.
Marnus Labuschagne played his grittiest knock of the series with a 70 but Yashasvi Jaiswal’s three dropped catches could cost India dear despite another day of heavylifting by the peerless Bumrah.
Labuschagne fought doggedly but could have been dismissed for 47 if Jaiswal held onto a regulation catch in third slip off Akash Deep.
For the first time since the Perth Test, Bumrah had meaningful support from the other end as Australia lost three wickets in a space of 10 deliveries.
The pacer’s effort helped India regain a good bit of control despite conceding a 105-run first innings lead even after Nitish Reddy’s brilliant 114.
Steve Smith (13) edged while trying to drive Siraj while Bumrah had Travis Head (1) who flicked uppishly to man-of-the-moment Nitish Reddy at square leg.
Bumrah had ended Shaun Marsh’s Test career during the 2018-19 series, and this time his younger brother Mitchell Marsh (0) had no answers to the star Indian pacer’s probing questions.
A short ball between chest and chin with a hint of away movement got the Aussie power-hitter.
Going around the wicket, Bumrah used the width of the crease to find the angle to breach the defence of Alex Carey.
It all started in the first session when Bumrah’s perfect nip-backer sent debutant Sam Konstas (8) packing before Siraj jettisoned Usman Khawaja with a peach of delivery.
The Indian bowlers came out with renewed vigour in the second innings and the decision to give the new ball to Akash was a prudent one.
He didn’t bowl too many release deliveries even as Bumrah kept beating the bat of both the openers with monotonic regularity.
Konstas, who did live up to the hype during the first innings, played an edgy pull but then Bumrah bowled a delivery that pitched a shade back of length and jagged back enough to cut him into half.
Hardly animated after taking wickets, Bumrah was seen egging the crowd to get behind the team as Konstas was booed off the ground by a sizeable Indian crowd that chanted Virat Kohli’s name.
Labuschagne and Khawaja (21 off 65 balls) did not look comfortable despite both having scored fifties in the previous innings. The way Siraj was able to set up Khawaja is what Test cricket is all about.
The pacer bowled four deliveries which were angling out with speeds varying between 139 to 142 clicks, all pitched on the six to eight metre length.
Having set the left-hander up with a series of away going deliveries, Siraj pitched the next one on an identical length but instead of going away with the angle, it straightened enough to go through Khawaja’s defence.
The joy was palpable for Siraj, who has been booed since his Adelaide bust-up while giving Head a rude send-off. The Indian fans cheered him with shouts of “DSP, DSP”.
He was well within his rights to ask the partisan Australian fans to keep quiet and he did that in style with a memorable delivery.
