Marnus Labuschagne, who scored the most runs in the second innings of the fourth Test match for Australia, said on Sunday that it may be difficult for India to chase the target on a wicket which has uneven bounce. By the end of the fourth day’s play, Australia had scored 228 runs for nine wickets in its second innings and its total lead was 333 runs. Labuschagne scored the highest score of 70 runs while in the lower order, Pat Cummins (41), Nathan Lyon (41 not out) and Scott Boland (10 not out) made useful contributions.
The pitch will change its ‘colour’ on the fifth day!
When Labuschagne was asked how the pitch would behave on the fifth day, he said, “I believe there was some movement from the pitch in the first innings. Certainly there was a struggle to score runs in the first 40 to 50 overs but As the game progressed, the bounce became less and more uneven, so we saw that most of the balls were aimed at the wicket.” He said, “The seam movement is probably the same as before but now the ball is bouncing less and in such a situation it becomes difficult to bat.”
Will Australia declare innings?
Labuschagne did not say whether his team would announce the end of the innings on the current score tomorrow morning or not but he did say that his team implemented the strategy on the fourth day. He said, “I am very pleased that you think that I know whether our team will declare the end of the innings or not.”
Labuschagne said, “Obviously it was a perfect result for us. We felt that we would put pressure on them by bowling but looking at the way they bowled and kept us under pressure for 40-50 overs, we ended the innings We didn’t have a choice to make the announcement. A lot of credit should be given to the lower order for the position we are in now.”
Bumrah shines on the fourth day
After the stormy bowling of Jasprit Bumrah, with the excellent batting of the lower order, Australia tightened the noose on the match by scoring 228 runs for nine wickets in the second innings on the fourth day of the fourth cricket test against India and taking its total lead to 333 runs. After gaining a lead of 105 runs on the basis of first innings, Australia lost six wickets for 91 runs in the second innings in front of the sharp bowling of Bumrah (four wickets for 56 runs) and Mohammad Siraj (three wickets for 66 runs).
Marnus Labuschagne (70 runs in 139 balls) and captain Pat Cummins (41 runs in 90 balls) then added 57 runs for the seventh wicket and then Nathan Lyon (41 not out in 54 balls) and Scott Boland (10 not out in 65 balls) By making an unbroken partnership of 55 runs for the last wicket, the team’s total lead crossed 300 runs. Australia’s number 8, 10 and 11 batsmen batted around 35 overs and if the Indian batsmen do not perform brilliantly on the last day, then this performance of the host team’s lower order could prove to be decisive.
During this period, Bumrah also completed 200 Test wickets at an average of 19.56. He troubled the opposition batsmen a lot with his accurate length, troublesome bounce and movement at the last minute, but the Indian bowlers missed the opportunity to keep the team’s upper hand in the final session.
However, Bumrah was also unlucky when he could not take the fifth wicket in the innings in the form of Lyon because his leg went out of the crease while bowling and it became a no ball. Lokesh Rahul then took the catch in the slip. Victory is still not impossible for India but for this it will expect good performance from its senior batsmen and Rishabh Pant.
