4th Test: Australia in driver's seat after Smith’s 140 and India’s batting meltdown

Melbourne (The Uttam Hindu): Yashasvi Jaiswal and Virat Kohli shared a 102-run stand for the third wicket before the duo fell quickly in a sensational late collapse as India ended day two’s play at 164/5 in 46 overs and trail Australia by 310 runs in the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday. After Steve Smith's 140, his 34th Test hundred and 11th against India, carried Australia to a formidable 474, Jaiswal and Kohli were in cruise control in front of 85,147 fans. The possibility of Jaiswal, who mixed caution and aggression judiciously, and Kohli, who presented a secure and watchful look at the crease, remaining unbeaten till stumps arrived was more than certain. But then, chaos struck as Jaiswal fell for 82 in a run out caused by an awful mix-up, and was soon followed into the dressing room by Kohli and nightwatchman Akash Deep as India went from 151/2 to 159/5, and blew the game wide open.

With Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja unbeaten on six and four respectively, India’s immediate task will be to get 111 runs more on Saturday to avoid the follow-on, after the last-hour madness put Australia in a commanding position yet again. In the morning, resuming from 68 not out, Smith was batting in his usual style – hooking, driving and slicing with ease to hit his fifth ton at the MCG, and second three-figure score coming in as many matches against India through a knock laced with 13 fours and three sixes. He got valuable support from Pat Cummins (49) and Mitchell Starc (15) in stitching stands of 112 and 44 respectively as it helped the hosts make the visitors’ bowling line-up listless, with Jasprit Bumrah the lone shining light through figures of 4-99.

With India bowling tightly and Bumrah causing some discomfort, Smith left deliveries well initially, before hitting three boundaries quickly, with the square drive off Akash Deep in the 90th over being the standout. From the other end, Cummins used the pace well to take four boundaries off Akash, with the ramp over slip for four being very attractive. Smith moved into the 90s by hooking Bumrah for six, before reaching his century with a glorious cover drive off Nitish Kumar Reddy. Both Smith and Cummins took a special liking to a wayward Mohammed Siraj – Cummins cut off him twice for a brace of fours, followed by Smith hooking and thumping him with disdain for boundaries. Cummins missed out on his fifty when his attempt to loft off Jadeja was caught by running mid-off, as he fell for 49 off 63 balls. Smith continued to be in pristine touch – sweeping, lapping and thumping spinners for boundaries before Starc whacked Bumrah over long-on for six as Australia got the first session in their favour.

Post lunch, India had some relief as Starc was castled by Jadeja, who got the ball to straighten in and rattle his off-stump. Smith was next to fall in a bizarre fashion, as he danced down the pitch to hoick off Deep, but got a bottom edge and the ball rolled onto the stumps to dislodge the off-stump bail. After Scott Boland successfully used the review twice to overturn lbw decisions, Jadeja finally closed Australia’s innings in 122.4 overs by trapping Nathan Lyon plumb lbw, as the hosts added 163 runs to their overnight total to post a substantial first-innings total. India’s innings began on a bad note as captain Rohit Sharma, opening the batting for the first time in the series, played a one-leg half-hearted pull off Cummins, and the top-edge was easily caught by mid-on, as the batter was dismissed for three. That dismissal took Rohit’s tally of runs to just 22 in this series, thus extending his woeful form in Tests this year. From there, Jaiswal showed poise while ramping and driving Cummins for boundaries. On the other hand, KL Rahul showed amazing composure and lit up the session with three eye-catchy boundaries. Just as India looked to close the session on a high, Cummins brought out a jaffa of a delivery - a full ball pitched on the off stump and getting to seam past the bat of Rahul to hit the top of off stump and send the batter back for 24 off 42 balls, as Australia walked into tea break with high spirits.

The final session began with Jaiswal continuing his impressive show by ramping and pulling Pat Cummins for boundaries, while Kohli unfurled the cover drive against him for four more. Jaiswal was impressive in his front-foot play, driving Scott Boland past mid-on and getting a four off Starc through a thick edge before reaching his fifty. On the other hand, Kohli was patience personified and saw him leaving 41 per cent of the deliveries outside the off-stump. That meant Starc strayed down the wrong line and Kohli effortlessly flicked and glanced off him for boundaries. Australia tried to rattle Kohli with a short-ball ploy, but the batter kept his calm by ducking deliveries and played a controlled pull off Cummins for four. On the other hand, Jaiswal switched gears by whipping Starc for four, dancing down the pitch to whip Lyon for a boundary, and edging plus smashing Mitchell Marsh for a six and four respectively. After Jaiswal cut Boland for four, it did seem that India would end the day on a high. But destiny had other plans. On the last ball of 41st over, Jaiswal flicked it to mid-on and called Kohli for a single. But Kohli was ball-watching and was not keen on the run, as Jaiswal charged down the pitch.

It meant both batters were at the non-striker's end, and Jaiswal was run out just 18 runs short of getting another hundred on the tour. Soon, Kohli was out for 36 as he played Boland in the outside off-stump channel and edged behind. Boland came back to extract the inside edge off Akash's bat and was caught by diving leg gully. Though Jadeja ended the day with a flick off Starc going for four, the late collapse meant India squandered the momentum they had, putting Australia in a tremendous position to clinch a big lead. Brief scores: Australia 474 in 122.4 overs (Steve Smith 140, Marnus Labuschagne 72; Jasprit Bumrah 4-99, Ravindra Jadeja 3-78) lead India 164/5 in 46 overs (Yashasvi Jaiswal 82, Virat Kohli 36; Scott Boland 2-24, Pat Cummins 2-57) by 310 runs.