India inch closer to win, leave Australia at 138/5
Melbourne, Dec 29 : India closed in on a big win by reducing Australia to 138 for five at tea on day four of the third Test here on Saturday. India have set the hosts an improbable target of 399 after declaring their second innings at 106 for eight at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
At the break, Travis Head (29 not out) and Tim Paine (1 not out) were the unbeaten batsmen, with Australia 261 adrift of the target.
Post lunch, Usman Khawaja (33) and Shaun Marsh (44) came out playing attacking shots and the scoring rate peaked at its highest for the duration of this Test.
The duo added 30 runs for the third wicket as India went on the backfoot a bit, and were waiting for breakthrough to come along.
It did as Mohammed Shami (1-32) trapped Khawaja lbw in the 21st over, but the batsman went for DRS review. It stayed in India's favour as he was too far back in his crease and was out plumb.
Shaun Marsh though continued to play his aggressive strokes and added 51 runs with brother Mitchell Marsh (10), as Australia crossed 100 in the 37th over.
Looking good for a tall score, Shaun Marsh was unlucky to be given out lbw against Jasprit Bumrah (2-22) in the 33rd over. He went for DRS review as well and the ball was shown clipping the stumps only marginally, thus out on umpire's call.
Mitchell Marsh looked to attack Ravindra Jadeja (2-63) but it didn't work as Australia lost a third wicket in this session. He mishit the ball straight to Virat Kohli at extra cover in a bid to clear the ropes.
Earlier, Australia were placed at 44-2 at lunch after India declared at 106-8 in their second innings with Pat Cummins taking career-best figures of 6-27.
Needing to bat five and a half sessions to save the match, Australia didn't get off to the best start as Aaron Finch (3) edged Bumrah to second slip in the second over.
Mayank Agarwal couldn't latch on to a tough chance at short leg off Khawaja three balls later otherwise it would have been an even poorer start.
The batsman then added 27 runs for the second wicket with Marcus Harris (13). The duo checked their shot selection, even as India wasted a review against Khawaja in Jadeja's first over.
The spinner struck in the 10th over though as a bat-pad chance got stuck under Agarwal's arm at short leg and Harris had to walk back, causing further trouble for Australia.
Earlier, India had batted 52 minutes and extended their second innings from overnight 54-5 even as threat of rain loomed large.
Play started on time though and India were batting with a plan to reach the 400-lead mark as quickly as possible.
Mayank Agarwal (42) opened up with a couple sixes off Nathan Lyon (0-40) and made intentions clear, but was bowled off Cummins before he could get a second half-century in his maiden Test.
Rishabh Pant (33) and Ravindra Jadeja (5) threw their bats around to add 17 runs. They didn't waste time in farming strike, with Cummins missing out on his five-wicket haul when Tim Paine dropped Pant early in the session.
He returned to pick up his sixth wicket when Jadeja gloved a catch to gully, beating his previous best of 6-79 against South Africa back in 2011.
India declared with Pant's dismissal in the 38th over.
The visitors had scored 443-7 decl. in the first innings thanks to Cheteshwar Pujara's 17th Test hundred. Jasprit Bumrah then picked career-best figures of 6-33 as Australia were bowled out for 151 runs in reply on day three, conceding a 292-run lead.
The four-match series is level at 1-1 after India won the first Test in Adelaide by 31 runs and Australia claimed the second Test in Perth by 146 runs.
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'Godman' Kharat held in 8th sexual exploitation case; court denies police remand, sends him to jail
Nashik (PTI): Police took custody of self-proclaimed godman-cum-astrologer Ashok Kharat in an eighth case related to sexual exploitation of women and produced him before a Nashik district court which sent him to jail till May 12 after rejecting the plea for his police remand on Thursday.
On April 29, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Nashik police in north Maharashtra filed a request application in the court demanding Kharat's custody in the eighth case.
After the court granted them the necessary permission, the SIT took custody of Kharat, who was in jail in connection with the seventh case of sexual exploitation registered against him.
The 'godman', named in a dozen FIRs related to rape and financial fraud, was produced before Chief Judicial Magistrate B N Ichpurani in the eighth case through video conferencing due to security reasons.
The eighth case related to Kharat allegedly sexually exploiting a woman who had approached him in search of solutions to her family problems, according to police.
During the hearing, the prosecution demanded police custody of the accused in the latest case.
However, the defence strongly opposed the demand and argued that the SIT was giving same reasons for police custody every time and there was no strong reason for accepting their plea.
The court accepted the argument put forth by the defence and remanded Kharat to judicial custody till May 12 in the eighth case.
The SIT will produce Kharat in the court on Friday again and seek his police custody in the ninth case. As the self-styled godman has been granted judicial custody in the eighth case, he will be sent to Nashik Road Central Jail and the SIT will take his custody from there.
Meanwhile, Kharat's judicial custody in the fourth case ended on Thursday. On April 18, the accused was remanded to judicial custody till April 30 in the fourth case of sexual exploitation of women.
In a related development, the SIT conducted a search at Kharat's office in the 'Canada Corner' area of Nashik city on Wednesday. A 'panchnama' (record of search and seizure proceedings) was conducted and the office was locked and sealed again.
Kharat, a well-heeled man with political connections, was arrested for the first time on March 18 after a woman alleged he had repeatedly raped her for three years.
He is accused of sexually exploiting several women by claiming to have divine powers and knowledge of black magic, and also committing large-scale financial fraud.
The SIT is conducting a probe into 12 cases of sexual exploitation and financial fraud registered against the astrologer in Nashik and Ahilyanagar districts.
