Bowled over

Gaurav Kanthwal

Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, March 27

After fighting tooth and nail for three days, India have finally gained a definitive upper hand in the fourth and final Test of the series. The hosts need just 87 runs more, with all wickets intact, to win the match and the series. 

On the face of it, it appears to be a simple task. However, the gritty Australians aren’t going to give up without putting up a dogged fight. Besides, the spiteful wicket that’s helping both pacers and spinners will aid the visitors as they make a last ditch effort tomorrow morning to save the Test and the series.

Yet, the target, which was originally 106, is too small to force any more twists in the tale. But again, India have fallen for a smaller total than they need to get for the series-clinching win — in 1987 against England in Chennai, they were bowled out for just 83 runs.

Chasing 106, after bundling out Australia for just 137 runs in their second innings, India got off to a good start. Openers Murali Vijay (6) and KL Rahul (13), who needed to play six overs before stumps, survived the tricky phase, and put on 19 runs on the board. 

The turnaround 

From having conceded the advantage to Australia on Day 2 — the hosts were in trouble at 248/6 after bowling out the visitors for 300 in the first innings — India did remarkably well to get themselves into a match-winning position. Two factors led to his turnaround —one, India managed to grab a crucial lead of 32 runs which was looking quite improbable; two, the hosts managed to dismiss Australian skipper Steve Smith cheaply for a change.

Ravindra Jadeja (63; 4x4, 6x4) and Wriddhiman Saha (31) shared a 96-run partnership for the seventh wicket that left the Australians frustrated. 

Bowlers put up a show 

The Indian bowlers came out firing on all cylinders in the second innings. Umesh Yadav (3/39) stung David Warner (6) with a fuller delivery that pitched on the off-stump and swung away to leave the batsman in two minds. Warner offered a faint edge and Saha gladly accepted it. Australia were still 22 runs behind when Warner departed. Just like in the first innings, Smith started aggressively, smashing Bhuvneshwar Kumar for two consecutive fours. The skipper, however, deflected the next delivery on to his stumps, giving India a massive opportunity to tighten their grip on the game. 

With Smith gone — the biggest obstacle in India’s path to victory — the bowlers had their tails up and Australia kept sinking deeper into trouble. Glenn Maxwell’s 45 was at best a fire-fighting exercise and ultimately it turned out to be the highest score for his side. After the pacers creamed off the Australian top-order, the spinners joined the party to leave Australia gasping for breath. Jadeja (3/24) and Ravichandran Ashwin (3/29) bowled a fuller length, aimed at the cracks to extract awkward bounce. Just as Smith had been exceptional in the slip cordon for Australia, his counterpart Ajinkya Rahane also held sharp catches at first slip to dismiss Peter Handscomb and Pat Cummins.

At the end of the eventful day, Australia sounded quite pessimistic about their chance in the game. 

“You can hear a pin drop in the dressing room. Very disappointing day, there’s always a chance until the final ball is bowled but it’s a hard day today. The boys are pretty down and they’ll give it a good crack in the morning, but I’d say it’s a tough ask,” said Graeme Hick, Australia’s batting coach.