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37th over: India 155-7 (Washington 12, Siraj 3) Nicked away for four! Webster goes Supermanning across to his right at gully but can’t get hold of the ball as it finds the slip gap perfectly. Washington profits, Cummins deals with the frustration. End of the over, Siraj calls for a sharp run as Washington plays down into the ground, and they make the dash to manage the strike, Webster again coming in to gather and throw and miss as Siraj dives in.
The lead is 159. Every run an event at this point. Get that to 180 and they’re in the hunt.
36th over: India 150-7 (Washington 7, Siraj 3) Stats-wise, Scott Boland has taken a huge proportion of his wickets in the first 12 balls of a spell. So it’s a minor miracle for Siraj to steer two runs between slip and gully, then skew a ball to slip on the bounce. Washington slipped when turning for a third run, and looked like he may have twisted his ankle a bit. Seems ok now. Boland beats the edge fifth ball, then Siraj winds up for a huge drive and misses! But has survived the over.
The lead is 154.
35th over: India 148-7 (Washington 7, Siraj 1) Mohammed Siraj at No9 is not a comforting prospect for India. So presumably Bumrah will bat last, if he must, to make sure that warm-up is next to his bowling warm-up? The Indian camp said he had back spasms, which might be manageable. Siraj gets a run first ball though, to fine leg, and Washington has a big square drive to end the over but misses out. Siraj on strike in Boland’s second over. Not good for India.
The lead is 152.
WICKET! Jadeja c Carey b Cummins 13, India 147-7
Width from Cummins, and thrashed by Jadeja for four! There’s the strokeplay that he so often puts away in Tests. A lavish cut shot. So Cummins responds with lavish movement back into the lefty, beating him by a fraction. Top bowling. And the next ball, makes up that margin – slightly fuller, scrambled seam moving inward, and it takes the thick defensive edge.
34th over: India 143-6 (Jadeja 9, Washington 7) Ooh, nick! Boland first ball, as is his wont. But Washington gets it to ground in front of Webster in the cordon, no small feat when Webster’s arms are so long he could basically tap the batter on the shoulder from there. The next five balls, survived, and that’s a feat: Boland’s first 12 balls are historically his most dangerous.
33rd over: India 143-6 (Jadeja 9, Washington 7) Cummins starts off, and Jadeja pinches a single immediately. Washington pinches a bit of luck! Parries a ball in the air towards square leg, and Konstas might have got that if he’d dived forward. Instead he stays back expecting it to carry. Washington gets the next ball past Konstas for a run.
The lead is 147.
The Jane McGrath banner is rolled up and marched off the field. The flag-bearers wait by the boundary line near the respective team representatives. For India, just Washington Sundar, waiting for Ravindra Jadeja to join him. They have the job of putting together however many runs they can scrap out on this pitch. Thirty metres around the boundary, the Aussie XI masses and runs onto the field once the umpires step over the rope.
Various formalities happen on the field with a singer I can’t immediately identify, some banners being marched around by volunteers, and now the pink carpet walk takes place with the Australian team and the Indian team walking down to present their signed caps to Glenn McGrath. These will be auctioned later. The India ones might fetch much higher bids if they can pull off a win here.
It is Pink Day in Sydney! Glorious sunshine, too, in blessed contrast to a couple of these days over the years. The crowd has fulfilled the brief, pink outfits from wall to wall in the Members and Ladies stands. We haven’t filled up all the bays yet across the sweep of the Brewongle, Churchill, Trumper, O’Reilly, and Bradman stands, but they’re on the way.
Massive lines down at the tram this morning outside Central station. Sunday morning. Game in the balance. People are turning out.
Drop us a line, if you like, to let us know where or how or in what temper you’re closing out the series: our emails are open. Address in the sidebar.
It was a sugar-high day yesterday, so all I could really do after play was try to sum up a bit of what happened.
Preamble
Geoff Lemon
Alright, folks. Game on, and game almost over, if things continue at the pace they have. We saw 26 wickets fall in the first two days: a combination of a pitch doing enough, some fast bowlers using it well, and a lot of batting that doesn’t know how to handle it. The unforced error count has been high for both sides. On debut, Beau Webster’s 105 deliveries is the longest innings anyone has produced. Nathan Lyon and Ravindra Jadeja have delivered nine overs between them, and that’s the only spin out of 156 overs bowled.
So now we’ve got India 145 ahead, with Jadeja and Washington to resume, three fast bowlers who could raffle No11 between them to follow, and then an Australian chase of whatever those five batters can add. So yes, maybe the current pair resume and bat all day, but it’s more likely to be over quickly.
Today is also Jane McGrath Day at the SCG for the McGrath Foundation to raise money for breast cancer care, so the ground will be the usual wash of pink. Shall we commence?
