< >

Harris Derail India After Kohli, Rahane Counteract

by Sandeep Shivam Sunday 28 December 2014

An energetic spell from Ryan Harris in the final stages of the day's play derailed India

Australia 530 (Smith 192) v
India 462-8 (Kohli 169, Rahane 147)
Third Test, Day Three, Melbourne
Scorecard

An energetic spell from Ryan Harris in the final stages of the day's play derailed India after a fascinating counteract from Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane swayed the momentum towards the visitors.

It would have been early curtains for India, however Kohli and Rahane displayed immense wisdom and with the help of a few reprieves from Australia, the duo battled it hard to save the face for the visitors.

In the very first over of the day, Ryan Harris got rid of Cheteshwar Pujara (25) who played a foul shot resulting in his early dismissal.

Murali Vijay (68) threw away his wicket to Shane Watson as he played a flashy stroke straight to Shaun Marsh at backward point.

India was reeling at 115 for the loss of three wickets when Rahane and Kohli came to India's rescue.

The pair added 262 runs for the fourth wicket at a run rate of 4.53 per over.

Nathan Lyon failed to hold on to a dolly of his own bowling as Rahane got a much needed reprieve while batting on seventy.

Ajinkya Rahane, then overtook Kohli in a bid to reach his third Test career hundred. He was dismissed after scoring 147 from 171 balls with the help of 21 impressive boundaries.

Virat Kohli had a few moments of altercation with Mitchell Johnson while batting in the nineties. In the heat of the moment, Kohli gifted a couple of opportunities which Australia failed to grab.

Kohli, then went on to smash his ninth Test career hundred before being dismissed on 169 by Mitchell Johnson on what became the final delivery of the day's play.

Australia managed to bag seven wickets in the day with Ryan Harris (4-69) leading the way. Nathan Lyon (2-108), Shane Watson (1-65) and Mitchell Johnson (1-133) made notable contributions with the ball.

Australia has a healthy lead of 63 runs with a couple of Indian tail-end wickets in their way.

A win for India will be a far-fetched dream, considering the struggle their bowlers are going through.

Australia surely has a fair chance to win the Test match and the series if they manage to score quick runs on day four and apply pressure on the visitors.

© Cricket World 2014