Brisbane: Australia were 154 for three at tea in their first innings in the fourth and final Test against India here Friday. Marnus Labuschagne (73 batting) was holding the Aussies together after being dropped twice. Giving him company was Matthew Wade (27 batting). The only wicket to fall during the lunch to tea session was that of Steve Smith (36). He was dismissed by debutant Washington Sundar who had the batsman caught by Rohit Sharma.
There were more worries for the depleted Indian bowling unit as pacer Navdeep Saini walked off the ground after complaining of pain in the groin. BCCI said that the support staff is looking into his fitness.
Earlier the Indian bowlers removed openers David Warner (1) and Marcus Harris before Australia reached 65 for two at lunch. With a cumulative experience of three Test matches and ‘10 balls’ that Shardul Thakur bowled on his debut in 2018, India did well. However, Steve Smith (30 batting) and Marnus Labuschagne (19 batting) were once again looking ominous on a bouncy and batting track.
However, Mohammed Siraj (8-4-18-1) and Shardul Thakur (7-3-27-1) did well to get rid of the openers in the first hour of play where honours were shared.
That Australia forced a half-fit Warner (1) to play was evident when he had no apparent footwork while trying to drive an angular delivery from Siraj which was brilliantly snapped by an agile Rohit Sharma diving to his right. Thakur, whose debut against West Indies ended in a nightmare after bowling only 10 deliveries, achieved success, bowling the 11th one in Test arena. It was a gentle outswing – an in-swing for left-handed Harris (5), who instinctively clipped it straight to debutant Washington Sundar at square-leg.
However, Smith and Labuschagne, two of Australia’s best batsmen, then took control of the proceedings with a 48-run partnership.
For India, Thangarasu Natarajan’s (6-1-8-0) fairytale story just got better as he became India’s 300th Test cricketer and looked reasonably decent with the new ball without being exceptional as he is with the white ball.
Earlier India had to go into the game without Jasprit Bumrah and Ravichandran Ashwin. Both were ruled out of the game as they had not recovered from the injuries they sustained during the third Test against Australia.
Tamil Nadu rookies – fast bowler T Natarajan and off-spinner Washington Sundar were handed debuts with Shardul Thakur playing his second Test match and Mayank Agarwal replacing Hanuma Vihari in the middle-order.
Teams
Australia: David Warner, Marcus Harris, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Matthew Wade, Cameron Green, Tim Paine (captain & wk), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon and Josh Hazlewood
India: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (captain), Mayank Agarwal, Rishabh Pant (wk), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Navdeep Saini, Mohammed Siraj, T Natarajan.
