SCG Test, Day-5: Australia get rid of Pant and Pujara

After acing the first session, Pant and Pujara started afresh post-lunch.

However, the former (97) finally fell to Nathan Lyon in an attempt to slog the ball down the ground.

After a while, fast bowler Josh Hazlewood got rid of Pujara with a cracker that left him in splits.

The visitors finished on 280/5 at tea, taking it to the final session.

Pant, who slammed his third Test fifty, looked set for a ton.

His counter-attacking innings inspired some hope in the Indian camp after Ajinkya 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).

Contrary to Pant's gameplay, Pujara played in his own manner, silencing the critics.

He took on the Australian bowlers with ease, and even smashed three consecutive fours in an over bowled by Pat Cummins.

Interestingly, Cummins has dismissed Pujara four times in the ongoing series.

However, this time, the latter (77 off 205 balls) departed with a ripper from Hazlewood.

During the fourth innings, Pujara became the 11th Indian to complete 6,000 runs in Test cricket.

He reached the landmark in his 134th innings, thereby becoming the sixth-fastest Indian to do so after Sunil Gavaskar (117), Virat Kohli (119), Sachin Tendulkar (120), Virender Sehwag (123) and Rahul Dravid (125).

Notably, Pujara hasn't scored a Test ton since January 2019.