Australia beat India by 184 runs in fourth Test
Melbourne (PTI): Australia beat India by 184 runs in the fourth Test to take a 2-1 lead in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Chasing a 340-run target, India were bowled out for 155 in 79.1 overs on day five.
Yashasvi Jaiswal (84 off 208) fought a lone battle for the visitors with his second half century of the game. Jaiswal and Rishabh Pant (30 off 104) batted out the entire second session to take India to 112/3 but the latter's fall opened the doors for the home team.
Australia skipper Pat Cummins was the standout bowler, striking thrice in a relentless display of fast bowling. Resuming the day at 228 for nine, Australia were bowled out for 234.
India's star pacer Jasprit Bumrah (5/57) expectedly led the show with a five-wicket haul.
Brief scores: Australia 474 & 234 all out in 83.4 overs (Marnus Labuschagne 70, Pat Cummins 41, Nathan Lyon 41; Jasprit Bumrah 5/57, Mohammed Siraj 3/66)
India 369 & 155 all out in 79.1 overs (Yashasvi Jaiswal 84; Pat Cummins 3/28, Scott Boland 3/39).
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If Bumrah is not fit then a score of around 200 also might not be enough: Gavaskar
Sydney, Jan 4: Batting great Sunil Gavaskar feels India will struggle to defend even 200 in case premier pacer Jasprit Bumrah is unable to bowl at full throttle on the third day of the fifth and final Test against Australia here on Sunday.
Bumrah had left the field for scans during the second day's post-lunch session after bowling just one over, having experienced some discomfort. However, he returned to the dressing room after undergoing precautionary scans for an unspecified niggle.
India pacer Prasidh Krishna said his skipper had suffered back spasm.
The medical team was monitoring him as India ended the day 145 runs in front with four second innings wickets left on a SCG track which is aiding the bowlers.
"Look, if India scores 40 more runs or they put 185 on the board then they have a great chance but it all depends on Jasprit Bumrah's fitness. If Jasprit Bumrah is fit then 145-150 might be enough. But if Bumrah is not fit then a score of around 200 also might not be enough," said Gavaskar on Star Sports on Saturday.
Gavaskar also said maintaining secrecy around Bumrah's status is not going to help the Australians, who have so far struggled to counter the threat posed by the Indian pace spearhead.
"One thing that I liked was when he came back after the scan, obviously it took a lot of time because the hospital is a bit far, but he looked in good shape and his body language was such that there was no indication of the Australian team and it is very important to maintain the secrecy.
"Because, tactically you do not want to announce whether Bumrah will be available for bowling or not, and even if he is not available and this news goes across the opposition dressing room because till now Australian batsmen haven't found out a way to counter him, they don’t know whether they should attack, defend, or whether they should play on front-foot.
"So to execute this plan it is important to maintain secrecy, so Bumrah and the Indian team management managed it quite well," Gavaskar said.
The pacer has already taken 32 wickets in the series, and had figures of 2/33 in 10 overs before leaving the field, having removed Marnus Labuschagne in the morning session and Usman Khawaja on the last ball of the first evening.
