13:08 IST Friday, 26 December 2014
The bright spots for India were the improving economy rates. Indian bowlers were impressive after lunch. They bowled much fuller. India have a new ball and they need to strike early and make the most of it. The batting will not be easy on this brown pitch and it will only get tougher from Day 3 so India needs to restrict the home side to a smaller total. Captain Smith is riding unbeaten on 72 and the home side will be the more contended of the two sides at the end of day 1. Due to the nature of the pitch the scoring has been slow and Australia lost key wickets at crucial moments but Smith anchored the innings, unperturbed by spin or pace. Smith and is making the most of his purple patch. Both the teams have had a hard day. India struck in the second over of the morning, bowled well but lost the plot to Chris Rogers and Shane Watson. Both of them slammed fifties to help Australia past 100. Rogers' and Watson's fine run was ended, but then Shaun Marsh added a vital 69 in company of Smith. Joe Burns managed a measly 13 on debut and Haddin kept fighting to keep the scoreboard ticking. A disciplined pack of Indian bowlers stuck to the plan for larger part of the day but on a flat pitch, they weren't clicking beyond a point. The new-ball is only eight overs old and India will need to make it count before it drifts away like every other Test. We will be back tomorrow morning.
12:11 IST Friday, 26 December 2014
Stumps-Third Test Day 1 Session 3
90 overs- Australia-259/3
Steven Smith (72 off 158) and Brad Haddin (23 off 53) remain unbeaten on Day 1.
11:50 IST Friday, 26 December 2014
86 overs- 253/3.
That was a dangerous delivery! Last ball of Yadav's over as Haddin tries to move to the off side again but this time the ball follows him and smacks him on the shoulder.
Second new ball has been taken.
11:30 IST Friday, 26 December 2014
82 overs- 242/5
11:27 IST Friday, 26 December 2014
Murali Vijay has been brought into the attack to break the current Haddin-Smith partnership. Smith remains unbeaten on 63 off 124 balls.
80 overs- 237/5
11:14 IST Friday, 26 December 2014
DRINKS BREAK
75 overs- 224/5
Haddin- 2 off 15, Smith- 58 off 106
10:56 IST Friday, 26 December 2014
71 overs- 216/5
WICKET! Umesh Yadav gives India yet another breakthrough to dismiss Joe Burns.
He goes for a pull shot but that is short enough, and he gets a bottom edge through to the keeper. That's 13 on debut for the batsman.
JA Burns c Dhoni b Yadav 13 off 27b
The Indians would have wished for Smith's wicket but there is no complaining.
HALF CENTURY for the Steven Smith, the young Australian captain. Scores 52 off 96 balls.
10:48 IST Friday, 26 December 2014
69 overs- 213/4
Smith seems to batting strong and Indian bowlers are conscious and grow wary of his attacking prowess. The fact that he could prove to be a dangerman in the later stages of the game if he gets going is a fact even captain Dhoni is aware of. The Indian team will be desperate to get his wicket.
Smith-49 off 93, Burns- 13 off 19
10:32 IST Friday, 26 December 2014
65 overs- 195/4. Joe Burns- 4 off 9, Smith- 40 off 79
Indian bowlers fire on all cylinders to press Australian batsman. Bowlers scalp wickets and involved in key dismissals.
10:26 IST Friday, 26 December 2014
WICKET! 60.6 overs- 184/4. Mohammed Shami to Marsh, OUT, another one for Shami! A loose shot by Marsh. The length delivery outside off again, and Marsh goes on front foot trying to cut one. The bounce compels him edge it to the keeper
SE Marsh c Dhoni b Mohammed Shami 32 off 83b
TEA
9:52 IST Friday, 26 December 2014
59 overs- 174/3
Smith- 23 off 58, Marsh- 32 off 77
India got the better of Australia in the post-lunch session. Two wickets to put India in the competition. Umesh Yadav, R Ashwin and Mohammed Shami were on target for India.
9:41 IST Friday, 26 December 2014
56 overs- 163/3
Murali Vijay proving to be really handy, as a part-time spinner. Supposedly he has good action.
9:34 IST Friday, 26 December 2014
54 overs- 155/3
Murali Vijay bowls a good over, letting off just two runs as batsmen Marsh and Smith try to get runs on a turning pitch.
Umesh Yadav has got Marsh out five times.
9:16 IST Friday, 26 December 2014
49 overs- Steven Smith- 2 off 31, Marsh- 15 off 41
Steve Smith is the third youngest captain to have led Australia at 25 years.
8:56 IST Friday, 26 December 2014
44 overs- 123/3
It seems like an evenly poised test match at this stage.
8:50 IST Friday, 26 December 2014
DRINKS BREAK! 42 overs- 120/3. India are back in the game with two quick wickets of Watson and Rogers taken by Ashwin and Shami respectively. The Australian pair's partnership needed to be broken as they looked dangerous and in a position to pile up runs. However India will need to keep the Aussie captain Steve Smith at bay.
8:38 IST Friday, 26 December 2014
39 overs- 117/3. Steven Smith- 0 off 6, Marsh- 0 off 8
Shaun Marsh is the next batsman.
37.2 overs- 115/3. That is wicket no.3 for India, and this gives fans a reason to smile and cheer about. Shane Watson tries to sweep one off Ashwin's over but he completely misses it, appleas for LBW. Ashwin breaks into an appeal and the umpire wastes no time in giving that one out.
SR Watson lbw b Ashwin 52 89b
8:28 IST Friday, 26 December 2014
Steve Smith walks in to bat.
36.1 overs- 115/2
OUT! And Mohammed Shami strikes. That is wicket No. 2 for India. Shami bowls a length delivery outside off and manages to get the outside edge.
CJL Rogers c †Dhoni b Mohammed Shami 57 126b
8:16 IST Friday, 26 December 2014
33 overs- 111/1
HALF CENTURY! And now its Shane Watson's turn. Scores 50 off 74 balls.
The right-handed Australian has looked dangerous right from the start as Mohammed Shami bore his brought, haveing been taken to the cleaners often.
8:06 IST Friday, 26 December 2014
31 overs- 102/1
HALF CENTURY! His third half century in three innings now. 50 off 113 balls.
100-run partnership comes up for Rogers (49 off 110) and Watson (46 off 65)
28 overs- 92/1. Lunch has concluded and the players have walked on to the field to get on with the second session. New ball is being used and Ishant Sharma will open the first over after the first session.
7:20 IST Friday, 26 December 2014
Good recovery by Australia after losing Warner in the second over early in the morning. Rogers and Watson took time to settle down, afterwhich they grew in confidence as India's bowlers lost their lines and lengths. Mohammed Shami, included over Varun Aaron, bowled everywhere and was leaking runs. Dhawan dropped a catch at second slip and these are mistakes Australia wasted no time in capitalizing on.
7:11 IST Friday, 26 December 2014
LUNCH-End of first session. The session goes to Australia who regrouped despite losing Warner. Rogers- 46 off 101, Watson- 41 off 61.
Shane Watson was lucky to survive after a catch was dropped in the second slip and he survived.
28 overs- 92/1
Ashwin bowling the last over before lunch.
7:01 IST Friday, 26 December 2014
25 overs- 85/1. Watson- 39 off 54 balls, Rogers- 41 off 90
DROPPED catch! Mohammed Shami to Watson, who edges it and that has been dropped. Carries to first slip but Dhawan dives to his left from second slip and gets two hands to it, but it just pops out. The three - Dhoni, Ashwin, Dhawan - look down with disappointment.
6:49 IST Friday, 26 December 2014
22 overs- 75/1. Rogers does not like facing Ashwin that much. Too much turn makes the Aussie left-hander uncomfortable.
6:44 IST Friday, 26 December 2014
Australia have recovered well. Both these batsmen have stabilzed the innings after Warner got out for 0.
20 overs- 74/1. Good start by Ashwin as Rogers wasn't looking very comfortable playing him.
India experiment with a spinner and R Ashwin has been brought into the attack.
6:36 IST Friday, 26 December 2014
18 overs- 71/1
The response to the situation after losing a wicket should be to drive the game ahead. And that's exactly what the Aussies are doing.
55 runs have come in the last 10 overs.
Its that phase in the game where runs have started to come. Boundaries come often as the ball gets softer.
6:21 IST Friday, 26 December 2014
15 overs- 61/1. As they say its a 'vanilla pitch' The over has not been a very good one for Shami, who gave away 13 runs.
This a slow track. Batsmen and bowlers both have got to be patient.
Ishant Sharma has got Watson OUT six times before
6:11 IST Friday, 26 December 2014
The session has been a balanced one with India taking Warner out for a duck and Watson and Rogers hititng a few good shots.
India have started well. Rogers has hit a few pleasing drivers.
6:09 IST Friday, 26 December 2014
DRINKS BREAK- 13 overs- 44/1
Dhoni needs to change the field while asking pacer Shami to pitch the ball a little higher.
12 overs- 42/1
India has been bowling just too short..a problem for India in this series.
Chris Rogers worried about the ball going away from him in Ishant Sharma's bowling.
5:56 IST Friday, 26 December 2014
10 overs- 39/1. After losing Warner early Watson and Rogers combine well as runs continue to flow. The batsmen keep the run meter ticking.
Watson- 16 off 17 balls, Rogers- 22 off 37
5:45 IST Friday, 26 December 2014
8 overs- 22/1
OUT! Umesh Yadav's first strike to Warner as Dhawan takes a smart catch at third slip. Sharp fielding there. Dhawan has been one of the more secure hands there and he doesn't make a mistake.
Warner c Dhawan b Yadav- 0 off 7 balls
TOSS! Australia win toss and elect to bat first.
4:01IST Friday, 26 December 2014
Surprise, Surprise !! Indian Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni takes a brave call. Young opener from Karnataka KL Rahul has been inducted in the first 11. Dhoni himself handed Rahul the coveted Indian test cap. Very few pundits would have taken bets on KL Rahul getting a game in this tour, that too in the third test. Let's see how KL Rahul utilises this opportunity.
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India is all set to take on Australia in the third match of the 4 test series. Already 0-2 down, a loss here will suddenly make the ignominious probability of a second consecutive whitewash eminently real.
Even though the scoreline is heavily loaded against the visitors, the team has enjoyed its moment of dominance against Aussies Down Under. Rather it will be fair to say that some individual brilliance has ensured that India has been at least competitive in the last two test matches. But the boys haven't been able to string together a strong performance as a team thus losing initiative in both test matches. The unsavoury news of tension between Virat Kohli- Shikhar Dhawan has certainly not helped the cause.
The team will try to turn the tide in Melbourne, where incidentally India hasn't won a test match in last 33 years. Except inclusion of Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, no major change is expected in the Indian playing 11. Captain Dhoni will probably be tempted to play Suresh Raina in place of distinctly out of sorts Rohit Sharma but 'Mr Talent' may get one last chance in this test match. Kumar's inclusion is likely to boost India's listless bowling attack. If Kumar fails to clear the fitness test, India will go with the same pace troika from last match. Pressure will be on Ravi Ashwin to come to the party, especially when the lower middle order and lower order of Aussies are batting.
All the Indian batsman have got run intermittently in this series and MSD will be hoping they show a strong performance in MCG.Virat Kohli after a stellar first test failed in the second test.Indian fans will hope that stylish Delhi dude will score heaps of runs in this test match to give India the cutting edge. The stadium has a drop in pitch which is likely to assist pacers initially. So it will be interesting to see if Dhoni decides to bat provided he wins the toss. India is 0-2 down, so one hopes Captain Cool goes all out to pull one back.
Aussies are set to make two changes in their line-up. Joe Burns will make his test debut replacing injured Mitchell Marsh. Ryan Harris is set to comeback in place of Mitchell Starc.Australian team is going through a phase of rebuilding and there are quite a few chinks in their armour. With Michael Clarke out, Watson out of form and Burns a rookie, the batting order is a pale reflection of the Aussie teams from the past. The batting is heavily dependent on David Warner and Steve Smith. The bowling is spearheaded by Mitchell Johnson with an able supporting act by Nathan Lyon. Boxing Day test matches have always produced epic cricket in the past and hopefully this time too fans will get to see riveting action.
For all coverage related to India tour of Australia 2014-15, visit http://www.dnaindia.com/sport/india-vs-australia-2014
Also Read: Matthew Hayden tips Australia to win Boxing Day Test within four days
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