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#INDvAUS, 3rd Test: Cheteshwar Pujara's marathon innings continues, Wriddhiman Saha adds crucial half-century

As Ravi Shastri repeatedly said on Sunday morning, only one team can win from here - Team India.

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Indian batsman Wriddhiman Saha and Cheteshwar Pujara cross each other to complete a run during the 3rd day's play of the 3rd Test match in Ranchi on Saturday
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Cheteshwar Pujara and Wriddhiman Saha made hay even when the sun did not shine on the Jharkhand State Cricket Association International Stadium here on Sunday morning. Batting under overcast conditions in the morning session before it threatened to brighten up, Pujara and Saha took India to within 16 runs the Australian first innings total of 451.

At lunch on the fourth and penultimate day of the third Test, India were 435/6 with Pujara on 164* after playing for a little over four full sessions, and Saha on 59*. The two raised their first century partnership together in Tests – unbroken 107 for the seventh wicket that is certain to take the game away from Australia.

While Pujara reached his fifth score of 150-plus in Tests and his first since the 153 he scored at the Wanderers against South Africa in December 2013, Saha posted his fifth half-century in Tests. The session also saw India use DRS successfully, and Australia use one unsuccessfully. India got right with their DRS after Saha and Pujara were given out leg before wicket on one occasion each. Patrick Cummins, who was searching for his second five-wicket haul in as many Test appearances though more than five years apart, nearly got one with the first delivery of the day he sent down.

Saha played away from his body and the inswinger trapped him on his pad. New Zealand umpire Chris Gaffaney ruled him out. But the India wicketkeeper went for the referral that revealed the ball missing leg stump though the pitch of the delivery and the point of impact were within the parameters of the LBW law.

Less than half-an-hour to go for lunch, Pujara, on 157*, was ruled out with the appeal by Englishman Ian Gould. However, replays showed that the ball was missing leg stump following a sharp turn after pitching around the off-stump even as the off-spinner bowled from round the wicket. The next over, Saha, on 51*, was dropped by Wade off left-arm spinner Steve O’Keefe.

In the last over before lunch, Australia had an unsuccessful DRS when their appeal for a caught behind against Saha swept Lyon and missed, was negated by Gould. Having begun his batting less than 40 minutes before stumps on the second day on Friday, continued to relish the Australian attack to come unscathed. Pujara and Saha thrived on the conditions that were not helping the bowlers.

Pujara continued to play the ball on merit, showing patience of the highest order and also not losing his concentration levels. This was his longest innings in Tests in terms of balls faced – 434 at lunch – while Saha stepped out to hoick hapless Lyon over long-on for a six.

Brief scores (at lunch): Australia 451 vs India 435/6 in 161 overs (C Pujara 164*, W Saha 59*).

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