Fighting back through debutant Washington Sundar and Shardul Thakur, India scored 336 in their first innings to cut Australia’s lead to just 33 on day three of the series-deciding fourth Test here on Sunday.
Washington (62) and Thakur (67) added 123 runs for the seventh wicket after India lost four wickets.
In the six overs that Australia had to negotiate before stumps, the hosts scored 21 in their second innings with openers David Warner (20) and Marcus Harris (1) hardly looking troubled by the Indian bowlers
Australia’s overall lead stands at 54 runs.
Resuming at 62 for two, Indian skipper Ajinkya Rahane (37) was watchful till he went for a flashy drive off Mitchell Starc and ended up getting caught in the slip cordon.
Before his dismissal, Cheteshwar Pujara (25) fell to a peach of a delivery off Josh Hazlewood in the opening session.
In the second session, India lost Mayank Agarwal (38) and young Rishabh Pant (23) and innings seemed to be falling apart but Washington and Thakur resisted the Australian attack with aplomb.
Thakur’s combative knock ended when Pat Cummins went through his gates while Washington was dismissed by Starc in the final session.
Brief Scores:
Australia 1st innings: 369 and 21 for no loss in 6 overs.
India 1st innings: 336 all out in 111.4 overs. (S Thakur 67, W Sundar 62, R Sharma 44; J Hazlewood 5/57, M Starc 2/88).
