AUS vs IND 2024/25, Australia vs India 3rd Test, Day 5, Brisbane Match Report, 14 – 18 December 2024

On By Littum

Australia 445 (Head 152, Smith 101, Carey 70, Bumrah 6-76) and 89 for 7 Dec (Bumrah 3-18) departed with India 260 (Rahul 84, Jadeja 77, Cummins 4-81, Starc 3-83) and 8 for 0

Rain had the final say at the Gabba, as was widely expected, but only after Australia and India conjured up the most exciting of what-ifs in the 22 overs possible on the fifth day of the third Border-Gavaskar Test match .

After taking the last Indian wicket four overs into today’s play and securing a 185-run first innings lead, Australia made a final push for victory, going hard on India’s bowling, losing quick wickets in the process and declaring at 89 for 7 after 18 heroics-skelter third-innings overs. That left India with a target of 275 in a theoretical 54 overs. Only 2.1 was possible as poor light drove the players off the pitch before the rain returned to signal an early finish.

Australia’s short innings on day five offered a glimpse of all the possible rain-free finishes this match could have had. There was pronounced seam movement and uneven bounce and Jasprit Bumrah, Akash Deep and Mohammed Siraj ripped out five wickets in the space of 11 overs. But some of the wickets also came from Australia’s intent to score quickly. They promoted Mitchell Marsh to no. 4, Travis Head beat Steven Smith and continued their shooting. The runs also came at a reasonable pace, with the pace of the pitch allowing Head, Alex Carey and Pat Cummins to rattle off a combined 59 off 49 balls.

Given all the help of the new ball, Australia could have imagined bowling India out. Given the run-scoring opportunities and the fact that Australia were without one of their three fast bowlers, India could have fancied making a bid for victory if they managed to get through the early overs relatively unscathed. As it happened, a draw may have been the best result for the series going forward, with two Tests remaining and the teams locked 1-1 on Boxing Day.

Australia’s declaration harked back to the 1950 Test on the same ground when England declared at 68 for 7 and then Australia at 32 for 7 as both teams tried to make the best of a sticky pitch after a spell of rain. Such events are exceedingly rare on the days of covered pitches, but something not unlike happened on this day when Australia declared 89 for 7.

One man who was perhaps a little unhappy at the time was Bumrah; he had just come back to a new spell and dismissed Cummins with a smart slower ball. It was his ninth wicket of the match and he came so close to claiming his first ten-for, one of the few feats he has yet to achieve in his remarkable career.