AUS vs IND: Day 3 dominated by Australia, lead now by 197 runs

The third test of the Border-Gavaskar trophy is underway as Australia is approaching another win at the SCG. The third day was fully dominated by the Aussies as they cleaned up the Indian batting lineup under 250.

India came in to bat on day 3 with 2 wickets down of Rohit and Gill, Pujara and Rahane were well set when they came in to bat. Rahane was soon dismissed by Cummins as the uneven bounce on the pitch worked for the Aussies. The Indian innings was too slow as Pujara and Vihari were only looking to survive through the overs. As the flow of runs slowed down, Vihari became impatient and tried to steal a run where he fell short of his crease courtesy of a direct hit off Hazelwood. Pant and Pujara looked good as Pant was scoring the quick runs which worked for Pujara who kept on playing the way he is known for. Soon the duo had a 50-run stand between them. But Pant suffered a blow to his elbow. Pant was seen in pain and he tried to bat with an injured elbow. He couldn’t stay at the crease for long as he was soon dismissed by Hazelwood. Pujara followed Pant to the pavilion as he was immediately dismissed by Cummins after he got to his half-century. Jadeja looked to build a partnership with Ashwin but a miscommunication in the middle caused confusion and Ashwin was run out. Jadeja looked to play with the tail but Bumrah became the third player of the team to be found out of his crease in the same innings. A brilliant direct hit from Labuschagne got Bumrah run out. Jadeja then decided to go after the bowlers. He along with Siraj added a crucial 28-run partnership for the final wicket. Siraj nicked the ball and was found out after reviewing it. Jadeja remained not out but suffered a hit to his left thumb.

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Jadeja and Pant didn’t come to the field in the second innings as both of them suffered a blow while batting. Saha came in to keep in place of Pant and Agarwal came in for Jadeja.

Australia led the first innings by 94 runs. With this lead, Australia was in a comfortable position as the openers David Warner and Will Pucovski came out to bat. They looked confident as their batting showed the same. Siraj provided the first breakthrough as Pucovski couldn’t play and nicked the ball to the keeper. Ashwin was introduced to the attack in the 10th over and immediately got his bunny Warner trapped in front of wickets. This is the 10th time in tests that Ashwin has got better of Warner. Labuschagne and Smith again didn’t give any chance to the Indian bowlers after picking two quick wickets. The duo went on to add another 50+ run partnership. They remained not out at the stumps as the Aussies lead by 197 runs.