Oz suffer ‘brain fade’ on Jadeja’s day
The visitors collapse for 137 in the second innings, India need 87 runs to win series
DHARAMSALA: Ravindra Jadeja’s sensational all-round performance where he smashed 63 and took three wickets for 24 put India on course for a series win against Australia and regain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy on Day 3 of the fourth and final Test at the HPCA stadium on Monday.
At stumps, India were 19 without loss, needing another 87 runs for victory with KL Rahul on 13 and Murali Vijay on 6.
Jadeja became only the second Indian after Kapil Dev to score over 500 runs and take 50 wickets in a Test season. His fifty, combined with his 96-run partnership with Wriddhiman Saha for the seventh wicket, boosted his confidence as India set out to bowl Australia out cheaply.
Jadeja’s all-round show almost did not materialise. The left-hander was given out by umpire Marais Erasmus on the first ball on Monday. Jadeja reviewed it and replays showed no edge. After he survived, Australia endured a frustrating period after the umpires informed Steve Smith that the ball-tracking was not available in the DRS due to a power issue at the venue. With DRS only partially available, Australia hesistated to take a review and Jadeja benefited, surviving two close leg-before shouts off Josh Hazlewood on 29 and 33.
After overcoming the testing first hour, Jadeja played with a mixture of caution and aggression. Saha, on the other hand, went past 1000 runs while Jadeja brought up his seventh fifty. The partnership helped India erase the deficit but Cummins snapped the stand when Jadeja dragged a wide delivery back onto the stumps. Saha (31) was undone by a pacy bouncer and the rest of the tail did not wag. Nathan Lyon bagged his ninth five-wicket haul when he had Kuldeep Yadav caught at deep mid-wicket as India were all out for 332.
Armed with a small but vital lead of 32, both Umesh Yadav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar exploited the cracks on a pitch to their advantage. David Warner’s (6) poor series ended when he edged an awayswinger. Steve Smith (17) struck a couple of boundaries but he dragged a short ball from Bhuvneshwar Kumar back on to the stumps. Matt Renshaw’s poor match ended as he edged a short ball from Umesh to depart for 8.
Glenn Maxwell and Peter Handscomb steadied the innings with a 56-run partnership before Ravichandran Ashwin snapped up Handscomb for 18 with Ajinkya Rahane taking a sharp catch at slip. Australia lost Shaun Marsh (1), who was reportedly suffering from back spams, just before the tea break. All hopes for Australia ended when Maxwell padded up an offbreak from Ashwin to depart for 45.