Updates, analysis and color from the fourth day of the fourth Test
Welcome to our live report on the third day of the Australia-India trial from Brisbane. Join us for updates, analysis and color. You can find the traditional ball-by-ball statement here
11.11am: Siraj joins the party
He has bowled well in this game without much success, but now Mohammed Siraj gets Labuschagne with a peach after coming up for a new spell. Fishing into the corridor, straight back in length, make the bat play, and take it straight and bring the edge to the second slope. An important break, as Labuschagne struggled dangerously until then, using his legs brilliantly against Sundar in all directions to try to push the offspinner off his lengths. He is out for 25 off 22, and Australia 123 for 3. They are 156 ahead now.
Two balls later he is 123 for 4, as Rishabh Pant dives on his right side to carve Matthew Wade, who is out dragging the ball down the side. the leg. Well, well.
10.50am: Sundar acquires Warner
Excellent delivery, the one that goes by the corner from around the wicket, Kryptonite for left-backs in DRS time. This one would have been delivered even in the pre-DRS era, as David Warner didn’t get a step forward at all, and was hit on the back leg, just inside the stock line. He argued recklessly before deciding to make a last-minute review; he had no need to worry. Natural difference has done the trick for Sundar again, and Australia are 91 for 2 with two new bats at the center. Both are Marnus Labuschagne and Steven Smith, and if India can get rid of either of them quickly …
10.42am: Thakur breaks through
It has been a good spell, and Thakur has hit just as the first time came to an end, forcing Harris to take a close look at the keeper. He looked to get under it, but was unable to get his hands out of the way in time. Australia are 89 for 1, and led by 122.
10.35am: The weather
That is a Google search for these terms over the last seven days. My own research tells me that there is a 92% chance of rain starting around 3pm today.
10.25am: The park
The ball has done a lot over the last few trophies, with Shardul Thakur hitting the left-handed bats frequently. He bowls from more than the wicket, swinging inside the line of stocks, thus making the bats play, and making the ball jump away from them drastically. He was a tracker in the first innings; today it is controlled and intelligent looking, consistently hitting the high 130s. At the other end, Washington Sundar has also received a good amount of turnaround. While all of this is reassuring to India, Australia is still unbeaten, and the mattresses like what they see as well. It is 81 for 0.
10.00am: Australian Race away
Two expensive couples from India, and Australia suddenly 94 ahead with the top ten wikis in the bank. The two new ball bowlers have strayed in line and length, falling short and wide and straying on the pads, and Marcus Harris has hit three four-pointers in two hits. He even drives balls up through the covers now, and quickly catches up with his opening partner in terms of score and strike rate. Natarajan, who surrendered 14 in 12th place, has now surrendered to Shardul Thakur. Navdeep Saini is on the field, at least, which is great news for India.
9.49am: It happens at the Gabba
So far it’s been a morning to call Bill Lawry’s classic line. Mohammed Siraj has beaten David Warner a couple of times with a seal move from just a short distance, and forced him to reach a similar delivery margin just beyond Rohit Sharma’s reach at the second inning. T Natarajan has found Marcus Harris’ edge at the other end, just to make the ball fall short of the chord. When the archers have shrunk a bit on the full side, the two fighters have built boundaries with straight strokes with a sweet time. Australia is 39 for 0 in 11 years.
9.15am: The fairy tale of Sundar and Natarajan
That is Sidharth Monga in the common sense running through a partnership that was in every other way the result of a schoolboy cricket dream. We also have Deivarayan Muthu talking to Washington Sundar’s sister – who is also a cricketer – and his coach and parting with his early years; if he surprised you with his batting show yesterday, you shouldn’t.
Looking at it from an Australian perspective, Dan Brettig suggests that Sundar-Thakur’s stance was attributed to a bowling attack that showed the physical and mental fatness of playing the four Tests, in a move away from the past circulation policy to undertake in the ashes of 2019.
9.00am: Clear weather … for now
Australia are 54 ahead at Gabba, with two full days left to play and all ten wikis in hand. That would normally mean they are in the driver’s seat, but we may not get two full days of play due to the rough weather expected in Brisbane today and tomorrow. The news for now, though, is that it’s sunny, so we should start on time, which is 9.30am local time.
Karthik Krishnaswamy is the senior sub-editor of ESPNcricinfo