Australia secured a solid lead of 2-1 in the ongoing Border Gavaskar Trophy after a stunning 184-run victory during the match against India in Melbourne.
India struggled a lot in the second innings after a combined bowling attack from Pat Cummins, Scot Boland and Nathan Lyon who picked 3,3 and 2 wickets respectively.
Jaiswal fought a lone battle, scoring 84 runs before his controversial dismissal saw his doom before touching the 100-run mark in the second innings.
Batting first, Australia batted first and made scores of 311/6 by the end of day 01. Earlier on day 02, Australia went on to score 474 runs with Steven Smith scoring 140. They were able to post a huge total with half-centuries from Sam Konstas, Usman Khawaja and Labuschagne.
Australia is within touching distance of reclaiming the Border-Gavaskar Trophy after a memorable victory at the MCG. #AUSvIND https://t.co/Ic62eO1OW5
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 30, 2024
Pat Cummins scored 49 runs at the low order to strengthen their score. Indian bowlers worked on a challenging surface, with Bumrah picking 4/99, Jadeja had a return of 3/78 and Akash Deep picking 2/94 runs.
After KL Rahul’s dismissal for 24 runs by Cummins, India struggled once again with top-order woes. Virat Kohli and Yashasvi Jaiswal stitched a solid partnership to recover India after the loss of Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul.
They made a 100-run partnership before being dismissed for 82 and 36 runs respectively. After their dismissal, Akash Deep sent out on a duck with Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja at the crease by the end of day 02.
Meanwhile, India struggled despite Jaiswal-Kohli Partnership and in the low order, Nitish Reddy and Sundar’s partnership helped the side. Nitish Reddy has made a century and helped the side to score 369 runs.
Cummins, Boland and Lyon picked three wickets each in the match. Australia then countered with 234 runs with Marnus Labuschagne’s 70 and led the visitors for 339 in the match on day 05. Cummins and Lyon helped out with gritty 41s to set up a formidable target.
Bumrah once again wrecked Australia’s batting line picking 5 wickets and extending his lead as the highest wicket-taker in the ongoing series. Meanwhile, Siraj and Jadeja picked 3 and 1 wickets respectively helping Bumrah to dismantle the side.
After Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Virat Kohli failed in the top order, the youngster smashed a classy fifty helping the side to cross the 100-run mark, but the visitors were losing wickets on the other side. Jaiswal was the only scorer smashing a half-century in the second innings.
With Rishabh Pant scoring 30, only the wk-batter and the opener are the ones to score double-digit runs. Eventually, India fell for 155 losing all 10 wickets and suffered a humiliating defeat at Melbourne.
Pat Cummins was named as the player of the match, after scoring 49 and 41 runs and picking 6 wickets across the test. Australia maintains their second spot in the WTC points table.
The final test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy is set to begin on January 03 at Sydney Cricket Ground.
