Melbourne meltdown!

Rohit Sharma’s India crumble to 155 all out after being comfortably placed at 121-3; go down by 184 runs to brilliant Australia

Through the admirable Yashasvi Jaiswal and a chastened Rishabh Pant, India appeared to have unlocked the door to safety on the final day of the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Then, against the run of play, the ebullient wicketkeeper-batter threw his wicket away for the second time in the fourth Test, holing out to long-on to throw Australia a lifeline. Pat Cummins and his team grabbed it with both hands, storming through the Indian lower order to complete a memorable 184-run victory that gave them a 2-1 lead with one match to play on a dramatic Monday evening.

Forgettable batting display

In the end, only 77 deliveries remained between India and an honourable draw when last man Mohammed Siraj was trapped in front by the persevering Nathan Lyon. That brought India’s second innings to a juddering halt at 155 with Jaiswal and Pant the only two batters to touch double-digits in another feeble, forgettable collective batting display.

Also Read: "In all fairness I think...": Know Rohit Sharma's view on Jaiswal's dismissal

Jasprit Bumrah had taken just four deliveries in his first over of the morning to breach Lyon’s defences and send Australia packing for 234, setting India a target of 340 in a potential 92 overs. It was the wonderful pacer’s fifth wicket of the innings, his third five-fer in the last four Tests, and 30th of the series.

On a slow surface where the bounce was a little iffy, to score at 3.7 an over was a tall order. India had only a draw to aim for, and they got off to a good enough start with skipper Rohit Sharma knuckling down to address the situation and Jaiswal carrying on from the first innings, when he was run out for 82.

KL Rahul goes for a duck

For an hour and a quarter, with Rohit playing his best knock of the series even though it only brought him nine runs, India kept Australia’s bowlers at bay when the captain’s first false stroke led to his dismissal. The skipper was undone by late movement from his counterpart Cummins and caught off the leading edge at gully before the Player of the Match consigned the in-form KL Rahul to a fifth-ball duck in the same over.

Virat Kohli’s problems outside off persisted as he perished to Mitchell Starc to a poor stroke at the stroke of lunch, which India took at 33 for three. It was then that the fightback began, left-handers Jaiswal and Pant negotiating the bowling with scarcely an alarm. For two hours between lunch and tea, they were immovable. There were occasional shows of aggression, especially from Jaiswal who played powerfully off the backfoot behind point, but watchfulness was the mantra until, in the fifth over after tea, Pant tried to take on Travis Head’s part-time off-spin and was caught at wide long-on.

That set off a sensational collapse on a surface that was bound to test new batters. Having plugged away without reward for two and a half hours, Australia regathered focus and barreled through the second half of the innings, picking up the last seven wickets in just 124 deliveries. Jaiswal fell in the 80s for the second time in the game, caught behind off Cummins, whose three wickets were matched by Melbourne hero Scott Boland.

India must now win the final Test in Sydney next week if they harbour hopes of extending their hold on the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Brief scores
Australia 474 & 234 (N Lyon 41; J Bumrah 5-57, M Siraj 3-70) beat India 369 & 155 (Y Jaiswal 84, R Pant 30; P Cummins 3-28, S Boland 3-39, N Lyon 2-37) by 184 runs

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