Australia v India: Test 3, Day Five – Live! | Sport

48o more: India 129-3 (Pujara 22, Pant 18) From Lyon to Pant, and Pujara would love to get the southpaw off a strike I think. Pant hits a bad shot, a forced off-side drive that misses when the ball goes over the edge. It didn’t spin as much as the others, so it almost cut it off. Pujara has a word, perhaps saying play to leg. So Pant does exactly that: he swings back to get two runs through the midwicket, then moves forward to jump four runs over the mid-on, then advances to influence six more for a long time! Pant really does – how long is this approach sustainable? Lots of races for Australia to play. On the sixth ball of the over, Pant goes back to the off side, going through the cover and a bit airy there too, for another run.

84 overs remain and 277 runs the deficit.

47th final: India 116-3 (Pujara 22, Pant 5) Hazlewood to Pujara, and El Che does what El Che does best: he exists. Immovable. You have to play each ball from the top bar to the goalkeeper.

46th final: India 116-3 (Pujara 22, Pant 5) Lyon will be bowling all day. Pujara goes back and cuts the ravine pawn well, who has to run towards the ball and thus gives them time for a quick single. Pant sees the next four balls.

Meghan Purvis sends an email. Thank you for the link to the Bharat Sundaresan article; it was an insight into something that many of us have seen but not directly experienced. I admire Siraj’s courage, but am so put off by her need. To lean on the stereotype of Americans doing everything about themselves, but justified in this case, I think, we just illustrated to the world what happens when you appease racism; it is a gallows in the heart of your country ”.

45o more: India 115-3 (Pujara 21, Pant 5) Hazlewood replaces Cummins, and the Australians are playing very well today. Hazlewood himself had a great stop midway a few overs ago. This time Green dives into the ravine to save another calf from Pant, then Wade, who is in cover, dives in to catch a ball with one hand on the rebound. His efforts keep Pant on strike the entire time, which his bowler would love. A lady.

44th over: India 115-3 (Pujara 21, Pant 5) Lyon sends a maiden to Pujara, many loops, many spins, turning him towards the pad, and thinks about checking out a lbw that is not out that hits very wide of the stumps when Pujara is not playing a shot. No review. The projection says it could have cut the outside of the stump. It would be a brave referee to raise your finger for one of those. But Lyon is taking a serious turn.

43rd over: India 115-3 (Pujara 21, Pant 5) Cummins to Pant, but not for long that the batter cuts a run to square his leg. Pujara produces another straight drive and wins in the middle to collect three. The deficit is 292.

42nd final: India 111-3 (Pujara 18, Pant 4) Lyon to Pant, which forces him to square on the outside. He wants to run, but hits Cummins directly and they send him back. He’s playing a lot defensively against Lyon, coming back to defend off the pitch. Playing very straight. Eventually he goes for a cutoff shot from the last ball and does it just behind the spot, making time for a strong run.

41st final: India 110-3 (Pujara 18, Pant 3) Cummins throws at Pujara, who gets a head start on his falling rig. Some close calls already. Pujara sees the maiden, leaving some off the stump, as is her preference. Another one down, only 91 to go.

40th final: India 110-3 (Pujara 18, Pant 3) Lyon to Pant, the southpaw, and you miss a catch behind the stumps. Pant pushes the front foot hard, the ball spins and takes a thick edge. He flies fast towards Paine and hits the outside of his left glove before he has time to react, bouncing down instead of Smith on the slide. Pant very carefully blocks a maiden playing from the fold.

39th final: India 110-3 (Pujara 18, Pant 3) Cummins to Pant, who tries again, but this time Green’s nosedive in the ravine denies him a run. Block a couple, dodge a goalie, then take the short ball, bad. He does a little mid-shot shot, he just places the bat there, grabs the toe, and flies like a bird with a single wing to the square leg. The man of the deep can’t get far enough from the boundary in time to catch it. It turns out a lucky career.

Trail of India by 297.

38th final: India 109-3 (Pujara 18, Pant 2) He will push using his feet a lot against Lyon. He goes down the court a couple of times to defend, then Lyon starts whizzing the ball faster and Pujara backs up a couple of times, before shuffling forward to kick a couple off the stump. Lyon already seems like a real handful, every ball of that was in Pujara with men on his back.

37th final: India 109-3 (Pujara 18, Pant 2) Charming from Cheteshwar Pujara! Take a step towards Cummins and lightly tap the straight path to the ground for four. Passing the bowler. That is an opportunity. He slides a run to the kick point, then Pant runs the ball to the third man for his first two runs. India’s deficit is less than 300.

36o more: India 102-3 (Pujara 13, Pant 0) The lap started well for India, with Pujara advancing a couple of times to Lyon and driving it through the midwicket for three. That raised the ton of equipment. Then Rahane falls. And in an interesting move, Rishabh Pant has been promoted in the order. Perhaps India wants to contain Vihari as a more defensive option. They may want to give him a better chance of getting into the game later on since he has few runs. Perhaps Pant’s pain relievers will wear off and it’s best to use it earlier in the day. Anyway, here it is. An attacking player. Look at this space.

The early gate falls! All the hopes of India overnight collapse along with him, as the deputy captain says. Nathan ‘Nathan’ Lyon in his first for the day, always with the idea that the spinner should take wickets on day five, and after a no-wicket match thus far, he finally has 395 career casualties. Pretty straightforward, he throws a very looping jump, Rahane doesn’t time his defensive forward press, he’s too early and needs a thick inside edge that goes straight to the short leg, traveling fast but Wade holds it.

35th plus: India 99-2 (Pujara 10, Rahane 4) Cummins to start the day, with a very lateral field for Pujara. Midwicket, square front leg, short leg, ravine leg, long leg. Yeesh. Also a slip and a ravine looking for catches on the outside side. Bid blocks, blocks and then one stays low! Already. You try to dodge a short ball and it won’t get up. It hits the protection of his forearm, and also a little of his arm, and it deflects. That’s not what a hitter wants to see third ball of the day. The fifth ball is thrown through the square leg, the fielders gasp in the hope it can go to hand.

If you’re looking for a recap of Day 4 in a little more detail than usual, Adam Collins and I have you covered with our daily dose of Final Word.

The correspondence is open. My email and Twitter are in the sidebar as usual, write to me if you want to share your thoughts for the day, on cricket or otherwise.

The other context surrounding this match, and one of the most discouraging, is the abuse that some members of the crowd inflict on some of the Indian players. This was reported on both day two and day three, and the very junior player Mohammed Siraj stopped the match to get the attention of the referees and officials. For a player in his second game it was a remarkable show of strength to do that, and it’s desperately sad that he had to. Unsurprisingly, some people in Australia are already translating and undermining him that they would rather believe he made up the situation.

For anyone who wants to minimize it, or anyone who wants to understand it better, the best I can do is point you to an extraordinary article written overnight by my cricket colleague Bharat Sundaresan, who moved to Australia a couple of years ago. does to report on the game here.

Give it a read.