India tour of Australia, Nov 21 - Jan 18

[meninblue]

Shami strikes as Starc goes for a hit down the wicket and gets clean bowled. Goes through bat and pad hitting the off stump. 2nd wicket to Shami in this innings.

Australia 215/8.... trailing by 184.

[alfie]

Good strike by Shami. Just the two to go now...Lyon has resisted well in these games but I wonder how long he can go this time : the extra half hour is a given , if needed.

Be a bit of an anti-climax if it isn't finished tonight , now.

[meninblue]

Pat deserves a 50 here. Apart from one or two edges, he has batted with middle of the bat. Good hand-eye coordination.

[alfie]

Five overs to a new ball...might need it , too. Bowlers have to be getting weary , and the pitch really isn't behaving like one on which 26 wickets have fallen over the last 2 days...

Australia will be regretting that dreadful first innings : reckon the effects of two days in the field and heat were factors ; but the concentration they've mostly shown in this innings (in which playing the spinner and the rough has been trickier) seemed to be largely missing first time around. Match was effectively lost in a couple of sessions.

Bumrah revving up for a last effort for the day...

[meninblue]

Virat takes the extra half hour.

[meninblue]

New ball due next over as well.

[alfie]

New ball time...and taken immediately. Just about twenty minutes left.

Starting to look as if we could all be back tomorrow...

[meninblue]

New ball taken as soon as it was due. Hope Jas picks wickets in remaining part of extra time.

[bigfluffylemon]

Cummins and Lyon both demonstrating again that they can hang around, and showing the top order how it's done.

They just had the stats up - only Head for Australia is in the top 5 scorers of the series with 217. No other Australian has made more than 190.

Awful.

[alfie]

Pat deserves a 50 here. Apart from one or two edges, he has batted with middle of the bat. Good hand-eye coordination.

He did...and indeed he has one

Well deserved...

[meninblue]

Pat deserves a 50 here. Apart from one or two edges, he has batted with middle of the bat. Good hand-eye coordination.

4 all along the ground against Jas with new ball. That's 50 for Pat, well deserved.

[meninblue]

Now he hits all along the ground cover drive for 4. Moves on to 55. He has outscored Finch in this series.

[bigfluffylemon]

This is currently Australia's worst home series with the bat since 1984, when the great West Indies (Holding et Al) toured, and the fifth worst since the war (not really fair to compare prevwar, what with uncovered pitches and all)

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine ... iew=series

[meninblue]

4 more, as straight back besides the stumps as possible. 59 to him. That almost hit the off stump on bowlers end. Awesome batting.

[alfie]

Blimey...Cummins has celebrated his fifty by playing some truly magnificent drives off the somewhat surprised Ishant !

Looking like a top order bat that over

Think we will be back in the morning...