LONDON: Former India captain and star batsman Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane kept India alive in the run chase after they lost Shubman Gill, Rohit Sharma and Cheteshwar Pujara on the fourth day against Australia in the WTC final.
India are 164/3 and need 280 to win from the final day. Scott Boland broke Indian hearts after he dismissed Gill right at the stroke of Tea before Sharma and Pujara were snapped up by Nathan Lyon and Pat Cummins.
Gill and opening partner Rohit Sharma had started started steadily mining 41/0 after the first 7 overs before Boland’s strike.
India went into the morning session with the twin objective of keeping Australia’s scoring rate in check, while also inflicting further damage to their wickets column.
Disciplined bowling ensured that Australia didn’t run away with their lead in the first hour of play, scoring at 2.35 runs an over. Umesh Yadav also brought success in the form of Marnus Labuschagne (41). He bowled a beautiful delivery that jagged slightly away from Labuschagne’s bat, and the Queensland batter ended up giving an outside edge towards first slip, where Cheteshwar Pujara safely pouched it.
Though India accounted for Cameron Green, who was bowled by Ravindra Jadeja in the second hour, some purposeful batting from Alex Carey ensured that Australia scored at an improved run rate of 3.75 and steadily furthered their grip over the Test. (ICC Media)
