The third session on the second day of the final Test between Australia and India was lost to rain at The Gabba on Saturday. The eagerness of the hosts to get back on the field was visible with skipper Tim Paine constantly speaking to the match officials, but it wasn’t to be as a wet outfield saw the umpires call for an early end to the day’s proceedings.
At stumps, India’s score read 62/2 and the visitors still trail by 307 runs with eight wickets in the bag. Cheteshwar Pujara (8) and Ajinkya Rahane (2) will need to start afresh on Sunday and with Nathan Lyon sending the dangerous-looking Rohit Sharma (44) back to the hut before the tea break, the hosts definitely hold a slight edge.
The second session saw India score 62 runs, but they lost both the openers with Shubman Gill (7) being sent back first by Pat Cummins. The ball hit that corridor of uncertainty outside the off-stump and Gill had no answers as he edged it to Steve Smith at second slip.
While Rohit looked like he had the game covered, he was dismissed against the run of play by Lyon as the off-spinner lured him to dance down the track and the opener did just that. Unfortunately, he didn’t reach the pitch of the ball and his attempted hit found Mitchell Starc at long-on.
Earlier, the Indian bowlers toiled hard to dismiss Australia for 369 in their first innings. Shardul Thakur, T Natarajan, and Washington Sundar picked nine of the ten wickets while Mohammed Siraj finished with one wicket.
Unfortunately, the Aussie tail once again troubled the Indians as they added 56 runs for the last three wickets. While Starc was unbeaten on 20, Lyon used the long handle to good effect to hit a 22-ball 24.
Josh Hazlewood too tried his luck to manage 11 with two boundaries. Marnus Labuschagne top-scored for Australia as his fifth Test ton on opening day.
Brief Scores: Australia 369 (Labuschagne 108; Natarajan 3/78); India 62/2 (Rohit 44; Lyon 1/10).
