Mitchell Starc Ready to Bowl 20 Overs: Australian left-arm fast bowler Mitchell Starc has shrugged off his back injury concerns, saying he is fit and ready to bowl 20 overs if needed on the final day of the fourth Test against India on Monday. . Starc was seen rubbing his back on the third day of the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
“We have 98 overs tomorrow and we’ll see how the match goes. I’m absolutely ready for the second innings. It’s not like that,” Starc told ABC Network after the fourth day’s play on Sunday. Which is bothering me.” He said, “I am still bowling at my full speed so I have no worries. If I need to bowl 20 (overs) tomorrow, I will bowl 20 overs.”
This match is tied and Australia has taken a lead of 333 runs by scoring 228 runs for nine wickets on the fourth day and one day’s play is left. When Starc was asked whether Australia should have declared the innings to give Australia more chances to win, he said, “You have to ask (captain) Pat Cummins that… You have to trust his thinking.”
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 as 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.
