India tour of Australia 17 Dec - 19 Jan: Tests

[alfie]

Anyway day three is well under way and Australia removed Rahane in the only likely manner with a close run out. Which will be a massive relief - not least to the fielders who dropped him late last night.

Lead is over 100 though and Jadeja has his commendable fifty so India remain in the driver's seat. Aussies trying to unsettle Jadeja with barbs about running his skipper out ... I'm not sure he's the type of fellow on whom that will work but we will see...

[alfie]

Australia's morning as they worried out the last five Indian wickets for just another 49 runs. Tail predictably folding last three going for 1 run...they really are six out all out this mob. Aussies will regret dropping a bunch of catches but they've eventually succeeded in limiting the damage...a good comeback in that session.

Still 131 is a decent lead given there is a bit still in this pitch for the bowlers. A few Aussie bats with a lot to play for both personally and in team terms but at the same time they're likely to feel a bit of pressure so the rest of today will be quite interesting. Couple of early wickets could lead to another collapse...but on the other hand Smith is surely due a (big) score ? Not going to call this yet...

[alfie]

Bit each way early on in this Aussie innings.

Burns out for four in an appalling innings in which he nearly ran himself out , was lucky to survive a pretty good lbw shout on umpires call , and then compounded his dismissal (to an admittedly excellent delivery this time) by burning his team's first review with a pointless attempt to overturn a clear caught behind decision. Smacked of selfishness. Should be the end of him in this team.

But then Yadav hobbled off injured so India is down to just two pace men and their spin attack. And Labuschagne is looking a bit more like his "old" self so far. He and Wade are running well between wickets and not taking any silly risks. Ashwin on early again so it will be interesting to see if Wade can keep his natural exuberance under control this time...

28/1 off 13 and time for a drink.

[alfie]

Tea at 66/2 .

India down a bowler but Ashwin bowling a treat...inches away from having Smith in identical fashion to the first innings. Wade maintaining his patience .Labuschagne eventually ran out of luck. Both sides have wasted one review...which might be important later.

Not as much happening for the pace men this time round so it will be interesting to see how Jadeja goes when he joins the attack. Game still well in the balance.

[alfie]

Smith failing again...this time bowled behind his legs by Bumrah. Huge pressure on Wade and Head now with fifty odd still needed to make India bat again.
Going to need a serious innings from someone to turn this around.

[bigfluffylemon]

Modding awful shot from Head. No need to play at that. Then the same for Paine, swiping at one he could have left.

Australia crumbling to a litany of poor shots, again. With Smith out of form and no Warner, the fragility of the batting is exposed.

India could win tonight

[yuppie]

Not one Aussie Batsman have put their hand up yet during this series.

[alfie]

Don't think it will finish tonight , BFL. , though Warne is plugging the extra half hour. Green digging in (young fellow must be getting desperate to actually get something on the scoreboard to justify the advance publicity) and Cummins (who must be a bit p....d off at having his bowling efforts wasted) not selling his wicket lightly.
Only 11 behind now.

Going to need a bit of a miracle tomorrow . Got one a few years back against Pakistan in somewhat similar circumstances but I think India are a bit less flaky...

[alfie]

Not one Aussie Batsman have put their hand up yet during this series.

Well sometimes ...but mainly to call for a referral

Really has been an overall run drought. Wade is probably the (somewhat improbable ) leading run maker so far...

Mind you , not many Indian bats have exactly enjoyed a picnic yet. The Rahane innings has been a real stand out - and he wasn't coming off a huge tally from Adelaide.

Perhaps both teams are markedly better in the bowling department...and for once the pitches are giving the poor old bowlers a bit of help.

[Durhamfootman]

scorecard makes for poor reading for Aussie fans

[sussexpob]

Anyway day three is well under way and Australia removed Rahane in the only likely manner with a close run out. Which will be a massive relief - not least to the fielders who dropped him late last night

Maybe someone can clear up the rules for me, as this is probably the closest call on a run out I have ever seen given out (anything this close is usually given the batsmans way). My understanding is the law states you need to have the bat grounded and behind the line; in this case Rahane's bat is grounded, but the distinctive part of the bat that is potentially saving him is in the air. So the bat is (a) grounded (b) potentially breaking the popping crease line. Does that satisfy the rules? To me its not clear, does the bat have to be touching the floor and any part behind the line in the air, or does the part saving you have to be touching?

If Rahane's bat is counted as grounded, then I cant see how the umpire can give that out. If it doesnt, then yeah ok the decision is fine. But looking at the freeze frame on my TV I cannot tell if Rahane's edge is behind or over the line. The colour of the bat is to similar and plays tricks on the eyes. In someways it looks like you can make out the faintest of edges past the white line, on others a hint of white. Its so close and impossible to tell you'd have to have given him in, and I dont think the umpire gives a soft call on these decisions, he went straight to the booth without giving it out. So he'd get the benefit in my understanding.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Close decisions might be a bit touchy with the home umpires/officials.

[sussexpob]

Burns out for four in an appalling innings in which he nearly ran himself out , was lucky to survive a pretty good lbw shout on umpires call , and then compounded his dismissal (to an admittedly excellent delivery this time) by burning his team's first review with a pointless attempt to overturn a clear caught behind decision. Smacked of selfishness. Should be the end of him in this team

The guys confidence is totally shot, you can tell because he clearly wanted to get bat onto anything and get to the other end, even if risking his wicket. I cant believe the lbw decision, hes hit on off/middle on his toe with no stride really forward, how that is only scrapping leg (or how the umpire didnt give it out on the field) is beyond me. Its the third decision this test where Hawkeye has come up with a questionable tracking (a few commentators have said this too, Warne for instance, and me, couldnt believe the Marnus LBW in the first innings was going that far over).

Cant blame him for his dismissal mind. Just a top drawer piece of bowling that would get 95% of people edging regardless of quality or form. Snorter. Of course the review was braindead, but I guess its his career in the balance. Wade really needs to send him off and tell him youve nearly middled it.

Had to play. If he doesnt its castling him. Not much you can do about it, when your lucky is out it can be a cruel game.

[alfie]

Rahane got close ... But he didn't actually get any part of his bat grounded over the line in time. (you do have to have the part over the line in contact with the ground...a bit like the case where you slide in with the hands and handle touched down but short of the line while the blade is unfortunately still in the air.)
Always seems a bit rough on the batsman to me , especially in these really close calls , but with the zoomed in television replays they have to go. One of the Aussie bats got away with an even closer one the other day , I seem to recall. A lot of these would have been deemed too close to call in the Old Days . But I don't think Rahane had any complaints.

[sussexpob]

Close decisions might be a bit touchy with the home umpires/officials.

Marnus got another umpires call go his way, but that one was pretty fair I think. Looked high live. But I do believe just like Pakistan had in a couple of tests in the summer, India have not got a single umpires call while bowling (didnt watch all their batting innings so cant comment on that). You could argue that the booth backs these calls up, but certainly with indigenous umpires we do seem to be noticing a shading of decision making on closer calls to the home team.