AUSvsIND: India defy odds, draw the third Test- Records broken
India dished out a resounding performance on Day 5 to draw the SCG Test. In the morning session, Rishabh Pant and Cheteshwar Pujara brought back India in the hunt after skipper Ajinkya Rahane departed while chasing 407. Although the Australians bounced back, they couldn't clean up India's lower middle-order eventually. The four-match series remains leveled at 1-1, with one Test (Brisbane) to go.
Australia managed 338 in the first innings with contributions from Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith. In reply, India were bowled out for 244. Later on, Australia declared at 312/6 after India allowed the game to slip. Just when India lost the grip, Pant and Pujara brought them back with a 148-run stand. In the end, Ashwin and Vihari hung around, stealing a vital draw.
India batted over 100 overs in the fourth innings, while chasing 407. This is only the fourth time since 1990 that India have been able to do this (1992, 1997, 2002). The last time when India batted 100+ overs in the fourth innings was in the 2002 Lord's Test (Ajit Agarkar and Ashish Nehra added 63 runs for the 10th wicket on Day 5).
Pujara firmly stood his ground in the final innings before departing for 77. Although he couldn't record a ton, his resistance drew praise. He became the 11th Indian to complete 6,000 Test runs. He reached the landmark in his 134th innings, the sixth-fastest Indian to do so after Sunil Gavaskar (117), Virat Kohli (119), Sachin Tendulkar (120), Virender Sehwag (123), and Rahul Dravid (125).
Pujara and Pant put up a 148-run stand before the latter got dismissed. This has become the highest fourth-wicket partnership for India in the fourth innings of a Test. Notably, the previous-best was 139 by Rusi Modi and Vijay Hazare (vs WI, 1948/49).
In the fourth innings, Pant slammed his third Test fifty. His counter-attacking innings inspired some hope in the Indian camp even though Rahane was dismissed early on. Pant was finally dismissed for 97 (118), smashing the second-highest score by an Indian wicket-keeper in the fourth innings of a Test. Interestingly, the highest score is also owned by Pant (114 vs Eng, 2018).
A 131-run knock by Smith saw him equal Virat Kohli's tally of 27 Test centuries. Besides Kohli, he also managed to equal the likes of Allan Border and Graeme Smith in terms of Test tons (27 each). Smith raced to 7,449 career Test runs at 62.07, overcoming Kohli's Test tally of 7,318 runs. In the second innings, he registered his 30th Test fifty (81).
Smith is the second-fastest to 27 Test centuries (136 innings). Sir Don Bradman had taken 70 innings to achieve this mark. He now has the sixth-most number of centuries for Australia alongside Border. Smith surpassed the 1,600-run mark against India in Tests (1,651). He now has eight tons against Team India. This is the joint-best tally alongside former West Indies legend Gary Sobers.
With an 81-run knock in the second innings, Smith now owns a century and half-century in a match most times (10) in Test cricket. The star batsman surpassed the tally of former South Africa legend Jacques Kallis (9). Smith became the 11th Australian batsman to surpass 800 runs at the SCG (823). Notably, he is now the ninth-highest run-scorer among Australians (Tests).
Labuschagne accumulated scores of 91 and 73 in the third Test. The right-handed batsman has scores of 47, 6, 48, 28, 91, and 73 across six innings. Labuschagne has raced to 1,752 runs from 17 matches at 60.41. He has four centuries and 10 fifties.
Gill scored 50 and 31 in the SCG Test. The youngster slammed his maiden fifty in only his second Test. Notably, Gill became the fourth-youngest Indian opener (21y, 122d) to score 50 or more outside Asia (Tests). Rohit notched his 11th fifty in Test cricket in the second innings (52). Interestingly, this was his first Test fifty as an opener away from home.
Rohit and Gill shared a 70 and 71-run opening stand across the two innings. Interestingly, they became the first pair to slam a fifty-plus opening stand in the fourth innings for India away from home since 2006 (Jaffer and Sehwag: 109 vs West Indies). They became the fifth Indian opening pair with 50+ stands in both innings of an away Test.
