AUS vs IND, 4th Test, Day 3: Nitish Reddy's maiden hundred and Washington Sundar's fifty take India beyond 350 at the stumps. India trail by 116 runs at the stumps.
Brief Score: IND 358/9 (Nitish Kumar Reddy 105*, Yashasvi Jaiswal 82, Scott Boland 3/57) trail AUS 474 ( Steve Smith 140, Marnus Labuschagne 72, Jasprit Bumrah 4/99) by 116 runs.
On a day when the Boxing Day Test at the MCG witnessed a record-breaking Day 3 crowd of 83,073, India’s Nitish Kumar Reddy stole the spotlight with his maiden Test century. His 127-run partnership was instrumental in slowly bringing the visitors back into the contest, even as Australia maintained a 116-run lead with two days remaining in the fourth Test of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) series.
Talking Point - Rishabh Pant’s dismissals and approach demand reevaluation
Rishabh Pant has had a tough outing in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series so far. Despite a couple of highly successful Test tours to Australia, where he scored 624 runs at an average of 62.4—including a career-defining knock at Brisbane in 2021—Pant has managed only 124 runs in six innings this time around.
It is indeed a disappointing return for a batter of Pant’s caliber, especially since he hasn’t looked out of form. Instead, he has often found ways to get himself out. Today’s dismissal was a classic example, as he attempted a ramp shot with India struggling at 221/5.
Batting at No. 5, Pant is expected to solidify India’s innings, but that hasn’t been the case so far. In the upcoming innings, the keeper-batter needs to rethink his strategy and play according to the match situation.
Read More: AUS vs IND, 4th Test, Day 2: India in troubled waters at 164-5, still trail Australia by 310 runs
Visitors add 80 runs in first session, losing Pant and Jadeja
India, trailing by 310 runs with just five wickets in hand, began the day cautiously as the Australia pacers repeatedly beat the edges of both Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja. Despite their tentative start, the pair managed to add 25 runs in the first nine overs of the day. However, Pant, against the run of play, attempted an ill-advised scoop shot off Scott Boland, top-edging the ball to the fielder at third man.
This was an absolute gift of a wicket given the circumstances. A few overs later, Nathan Lyon, who had been troubling Ravindra Jadeja throughout, trapped the left-hander plumb in front to claim Australia’s seventh wicket. India were reduced to 221/7, still needing 54 more runs to avoid the follow-on. However, Washington Sundar, along with Nitish Kumar, steadied the ship as they went to lunch unscathed at 244/7.
Sundar-Nitish duo navigate wicketless session
Both batters faced little trouble as the pitch remained good for batting, allowing the young duo to score runs with ease once they settled in. Australia progressively set defensive fields, enabling the batters to rotate the strike comfortably. Washington Sundar had a slice of luck just after the second new ball was taken. A delivery down the leg side from Starc caught his outside edge and ricocheted to second slip, where Steve Smith dropped a tough chance.
Apart from that, the pair added 82 runs in just 24 overs during a rain-interrupted session, which saw Nitish Kumar bring up his maiden Test half-century and the duo reaching their 100-run partnership.
Nitish Reddy’s maiden century headlines curtailed third session
After a significant delay in play, Australia came up with a better strategy, drying up the runs. In the first hour of play, India could add just 22 runs in 14 overs, and this pressure led to Washington Sundar losing his wicket right after reaching his fourth Test half-century.
With Nitish stranded on 99, Jasprit Bumrah also lost his wicket. Amidst the mounting pressure, Nitish Reddy became the third youngest India batter to score a Test century in Australia.
Read More: AUS vs IND, 4th Test, Day 1: Australia 311-6 as top 4 come to the party; Bumrah takes 3 wickets
Statistical Highlights from AUS vs IND, Fourth Test, Day Three
Ravindra Jadeja got dismissed by Nathan Lyon for the seventh time in Tests. The left-hander has scored 208 runs in the format while facing the Aussie off-spinner.
Rishabh Pant has no fifty-plus score in BGT 2024-25 so far. This is only the second time in his career that he hasn't managed to get at least a single fifty-plus score in a Test series in SENA nations. The only other instance was against New Zealand in 2019-20.
Nitish Kumar Reddy achieved the milestone of 1,000 FC runs (1063) in his unbeaten knock of 105.
Nitish registered his first fifty-plus score in Tests. He is just the second India batter to celebrate a Test half century at the MCG batting at 8 or lower.
Later, Nitish became the first India player to score a Test hundred batting at 8-11 in Australia.
Nitish is the third-youngest player to score a Test century for India in Australia.
Nathan Lyon is the third joint-highest Test wicket taker (as of now) at the MCG.
The partnership of 127 runs between Nitish and Sundar is the third century partnership for the eighth wicket or lower for India against Australia in Australia in Tests.
This is the second-highest eighth-wicket partnership for India in Australia.
Washington Sundar is the third India player to make a fifty-plus score in Tests, batting at 9-11 in Australia. Harbhajan Singh has done it twice while Kiran More did it once.
What’s Next
Thanks to a 127-run partnership for the eighth wicket between Sundar and Nitish, the Test match is intriguingly poised heading into Day 4. India will look to add as many runs as possible and then bowl Australia out cheaply in the second innings to make things exciting. On the other hand, Australia will aim to bat India out of the contest by scoring big on Day 4.
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