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5th over: Australia 15-0 (Konstas 3, Khawaja 10) A delay while Konstas gets some strapping on his forearm and takes a couple of painkillers. Not sure what happened there. He hasn’t been hit, as far as I can see. Called for the physio immediately after the catch fell short. Can you strain a forearm muscle from slogging too hard?
Bumrah keeps working over Khawaja. I don’t know how he hasn’t nicked one of these first three deliveries. They’ve all done too much, in the end. The third one is fuller than the others, and still deviates so far it misses willow. Last ball of the over, though, Khawaja can glance for four.
4th over: Australia 11-0 (Konstas 3, Khawaja 6) Still unconvincing, Khawaja. Misses a pull shot, edges to gully on the bounce, before flicking two runs square. Deep is bowling from the Shane Warne Stand end of the ground, the old Southern Stand. Khawaja drops a single. Konstas edged in front of gully. Jaiswal again. A very low ball, that one, but he hesitates and hangs back for half a second. Perhaps if he’d gone forward immediately he might have got fingers under it, but would have been tough.
“Liked your piece on Reddy.” Cheers, Colum Fordham. “Together with Australia’s Sam Konstas, he has added a breath of fresh air to test cricket. All raw talent and nerveless aggression. Shame in a way that he capitulated early to Lyon but still. India have a faint whiff of a chance to draw the match if they dig in but it won’t be plain sailing.
At least Reddy’s wonderful innings has given India some hope. Will be fascinating to see Konstas’ reaction now. I’m sure there will be fireworks one way or another.”
3rd over: Australia 8-0 (Konstas 3, Khawaja 3) Bumrah’s turn to beat Khawaja outside the off stump, but again there’s no edge. Indian bowlers need one early. If Australia pass 200 in this innings then the game is all but gone. Good ball from Bumrah! Rearing at Khawaja, just past the shoulder of the bat as he pulls the bat inside the line. Khawaja chats to himself about it as he walks away. Then he’s dropped! Oh, that was straight to him. Jaiswal at a leg gully, almost, had to be expecting a catch in that position. Glanced off the pads, low and fast and flat, but straight into the hands at about knee level, and Jaiswal just lets it burst through. Huge moment.
2nd over: Australia 7-0 (Konstas 3, Khawaja 2) Akash Deep with the new ball, not Siraj. If there’s any swing, now is the time. He has Khawaja hopping as ever, trying to play balls on a length. Gets one to fine leg. Deep bowls a goody to Konstas, that slams the seam and decks away, just past the edge. Then outswing but Konstas carves with the movement to deep backward for two, before being beaten again by a ball too short to take his edge.
1st over: Australia 4-0 (Konstas 1, Khawaja 1) The Double Ks come to the middle, Konstas on strike to Bumrah… and there are boos as he takes a single first ball! Little pull shot. Khawaja glances his first run. Bumrah not quite on the spot yet, sore shoulders from carrying the side, all that. Bowls wide of the off stump and has a word to himself as Konstas stares back at him, then bowls leg stump and deflects off the pads for two. Pace down in the low 130s. Let’s give him an over or two to warm up. There’s the first Konstas shot! Charges, swats, misses with an almost horizontal bat, and the ball bounces over his stumps.
John Starbuck, our most maritime-coded correspondent, writes in. “‘Morning, Geoff. Oh how I miss Richie saying ‘Morning everyone’. I’m currently drinking golden rum to help me sleep later (he says) and carrying on with re-reading Jasper Fforde’s The Woman Who Died a Lot, which I recommend, even though the dominant sport is not cricket, but croquet. More power to your typing fingers as I’m set to enjoy the OBO, so long as the rain holds off. What’s the weather forecast for the MCG?”
I once confused some very pleasant Icelanders who thought I was talking about croquet. Weather is set fair, cool on the walk in this morning, but on the way to the mid 20s and no rain for the rest of the Test.
End of the second innings, Australia lead by 105 runs
So the Indian pair added 11 this morning, trimming the deficit usefully. Now everything rides on their efforts with the ball. Will Australia fall victim to the third-innings wobble, as they did in Brisbane? Will they seize control of this match? Sam Konstas is going to bat in a few minutes. Strap in, either way.
WICKET! Reddy c Starc b Lyon 114, India 369-10
Never mind, the point of contention is soon resolved. Team play from Reddy, he could have just batted for the nice red ink ton, but he keeps taking on Lyon and hits him down the ground again. This time elevated but not enough distance, and Starc at long off has the buckets out. Lyon gets three instead of Cummins getting four.
Photograph: Martin Keep/AFP/Getty Images
119th over: India 369-9 (Reddy 114, Siraj 4) Cheers as Siraj blocks the first ball. Not many in yet this morning with the early start, though the MCC area is well stocked. Siraj is able to squirt away a run fourth ball, then Reddy adds another.
Then a big to-do from the last ball. Siraj jams down on a yorker outside off stump. It squeezes up from the edge to slip. Umpire’s review checks the bump ball, and the Bangladeshi third umpire Sharfuddoula rules it not out! Cummins is astonished, the Australians had already started wandering towards the fence when they saw the replay. Cummins is making the T sign for a review to the standing umpires, over and over again, while Joel Wilson tells him that he can’t review a review.
I have to agree with Cummins there. There’s a chance that the ball is touching bat and ground at the same time as it arrives, I guess. That might be the umpire’s thinking. But it comes up off the ground and then subsequently off the bat, I would say. Touches the bat last on its way to slip. Anyway. Not out.
118th over: India 367-9 (Reddy 113, Siraj 3) Single first ball! Happy to let Siraj face the spin of Lyon. Interesting. Siraj might need to look for a run here rather than block out five balls. And he does so! A little prod behind point, nicely done. Reddy sweeps a couple of runs square. Then charges Lyon and smites four! That’s the stuff. When you may not have many opportunities to face, got to take the ones you get, and the young century-maker has been happy taking on Lyon all series. Down the ground this time. But can’t find the run from the sixth ball to keep strike. Cummins with a full over to Siraj could be the codicil.
117th over: India 359-9 (Reddy 106, Siraj 2) Cummins to bowl, Reddy to resume on a century, the onlookers cheer… and he plays a forward defence. Nice. Blocks out a couple and then decides to take the single fourth ball of the over, not fifth or sixth. So he’s decided to trust Siraj from the outset. Not so much that they take a possible run when Siraj blocks a ball into the midwicket gap. He spars at the sixth, down the line of the stumps, and it goes by the edge.
Players are coming onto the field. Some Indian squad members are still taking high catches as the umpires walk out. That’s dedication. Now they’re on the move.
Drop me an email, the address is in the sidebar. Or the bit up the top on your phone.
The special part of yesterday was Reddy’s innings, one that he couldn’t have assembled without the partnership support from Washington Sundar. So that’s what I wrote about at stumps.
Preamble
Geoff Lemon
Day 4, and the match is still is alive. I love that for us. December 28th may be known forevermore as Nitish Kumar Reddy Day. That’s unlikely, but it wouldn’t be outrageous if it happened. It was one hell of an innings from the young player to assemble his first century in Tests and to do so from No 8 in the order. India still trail by a lot, 116 runs, but they have a path towards at least scrapping this out for a draw, or if they happen to bowl well in the third innings then they could be in the frame for a win.
So the scores are: Australia 474, India 358-9. Of course, the advantage is still very much with Australia, and all they have to do is bat decently in the third innings to put a win out of reach for India, and shoot for one themselves.
First, though, they need to finish off Reddy. He reached 105 not out by the time bad light and rain ended play early on Day 3. He’s still there, and he’ll have strike. But he only has Mohammed Siraj for company. So this could all be over in a couple of minutes, or he might farm the strike for a while and whittle down that deficit still further.
Let’s see.
