[Oxy]

Overall lead reaches 275 at lunch on day 4. We have lost Pujara and Tailunt Sharma.

I believe if we can get another 75 runs then the match will pretty much be out of Australia's reach.

[hemanth.anand]

I would've wanted india to take a lead of 350 to be safe. But with Rahane also gone and the score at 303-9 with the lead of 318, 350 is almost impossible. I feel we have an interesting match at hand. We started to accelerate a little too quickly IMO.Rash shots from Pant, Ashwin tried to be overly positive, Rahane was left with the tail and he fell trying to score quickly, a shocking shot from Shami first-ball as expected. Ishant and Bumrah hung around and got 4 byes

Although it is tought to get 323 - which will be the highest fourth innings chase on this ground if at all they get it.

[NPV]

Great match so far and India is on top, just need to keep the momentum going to get the remaining 7 Aussie wickets, hoping and praying for a great win at Adelaide Hope rain doesn't save Australia!

[NPV]

With Australia on 200/7, India is just 3 wickets away from a win. On the other hand Australia need some magic from Starc, Cummins, Lyon and Hazelwood to save the match or create history and win this test for them (not impossible since it is another 120 odd runs). A close finish is very much a possibility.

[ninjatalli]

We seem to be playing a risky game here - making a nail biting finish where it isn't even required. Starc and Cummins are not being attacked as much as Marsh and Head were in the morning. The runs are coming gradually with the singles and the occasional boundaries; the near misses have reduced.

[hemanth.anand]

Drinks...so the equation is 42 Overs 99 Runs 3 Wickets (ignoring the extra half hour for now)...Interesting

[selfdrive]

We needed to be ruthless enough to bat them out of the game. Another 15 overs of batting for even 15 odd runs would have left them 340+ to get in 15 less overs.
Instead we ended up losing 4/4 with 2 hoicks to midwicket and 1 reverse sweep.

I hope we don't end up ruing it in this game.

[hemanth.anand]

Starc gone! Now the equation is 40 overs, 95 runs 2 wickets.
Meanwhile Pant has taken his 11th catch and equaled the highest wicket-keeper dismissals in a test match (first Indian). With 2 more wickets to go, he has a good chance of setting a new record

[Oxy]

Only 70 left to defend. This might go down to the wire.

Ashwin is the epitome of uselessness. If you are a specialist spinner and cannot get tailenders out on a day 5 pitch then you should pretty much retire out of sheer shame.

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by Oxy

Only 70 left to defend. This might go down to the wire.

9 down. Literally down to the wire. And as I said earlier, absolutely unnecessary!

Ashwin is the epitome of uselessness. If you are a specialist spinner and cannot get tailenders out on a day 5 pitch then you should pretty much retire out of sheer shame.

I believe there's an injury at play to one of his right hand fingers - read something on that in the commentary. We'll get to know in the end.


Edit: On a different note, Kohli's aggression is worth watching! Loving his emotional outbursts after every wicket!

[Eddy]

Down to 40 now. Surely, Surely we will not throw this one away !!

[msdivy]

The most important first test victory in the history of Indian cricket. Well done.

On a lighter note, have to thank Steve Smith & Warner for leaving the test side weak, by their mischief. Tendulkar was right when tweeted the defensive mindset of Australia in their 1st innings. Any other Australian side middle order would have taken at least 50 runs lead which would be significant in the current game.

Originally Posted by selfdrive

Instead we ended up losing 4/4 with 2 hoicks to midwicket and 1 reverse sweep.

After lead of 300, I think the dressing room gave license for free bat, with the hope of getting 50 more runs in quick time. This is artificially induced collapse. I wouldn't see much into it.

Here is stats on Mr. Talent Nohit:

60.51 - The difference between home and away batting averages for Rohit Sharma in Test matches.

He averages 85.44 at home and only 24.93 outside India. This difference is the highest for any player playing at least 10 innings both home and away.

Selectors should automatically select him for home tests and automatically leave him out on away tests.
(Like they have a fixed mindset of playing an extra spinner in home tests and an extra pacer in away tests).

[PPS]

Well done India!
Not surprised that the Aussies managed to get so close. They have a very strong tail & the pitch is still good to bat & hasn't broken up. Just hope our tail learns from this & don't hand out their wickets like early christmas presents.

[NPV]

The way the Aussie tailenders batted, I started getting the feeling maybe we were about 30-50 runs short.

Finally, India won the opening test on a tour to Australia

Kudos to the entire team - the batting, bowling and fielding came good together. I just hope we return with a Test series win in Australia this time.

[Eddy]

Congrats, well done.

Pak vs NZ
Eng vs SL
Zim vs BD

I hope the trend of visiting teams winning test series continues.


The next match is in Perth - a new stadium and a drop in pitch (IIRC). The ODI here earlier in the year was a mid scoring affair with England defending 25x against Australia.

I guess it may be too soon for Shaw to return so we may go in with the same 11, barring injury to someone (Talent, Ashwin are both not a 100%).