Batsmen show resilience as Sydney test ends in draw
The third match of the Border-Gavaskar Test series being played between India and Australia ended in a draw. With their backs against the wall, and almost almost half the side injured it would have been easy for the team to give up the chase, but team India batsmen dug deep to script a memorable draw for the team. With 8 wickts needed for victory, Australia couldn’t have asked for a better start claiming the wicket of skipper Ajinkya Rahane in the first hour of play. But Rishabh Pant launched a counter attack on the Aussies so much so that an improbable win for India could also have been possible had the swashbuckling left hander not been dismissed on 97. Pant forged a good partnership with Cheteshwar Pujara who did what he does best tiring out bowlers.
With a draw looking imminent, the visitors lost the wickets of Pant and Pujara to leave it upto Hanuma Vihari and Ravichandran Ashwin to bat it out. Vihari injuring his hamstring during his innings only made matters worse for team India. Ashwin too was batting with a bad back. Despite this, both fended off 269 deliveries together to help India keep the series level at 1 all.
Everyone was praising the resilience that Team India showed in the last innings of the match. Australia needed eight wickets to win on the last day of the Sydney Test match. But ahead of the Indian batsmen, the Australian bowlers struggled till the end and did not get success. The kind of team game that all the players showed in the match was very impressive. Despite the injury and pain, the Indian batsmen faced Australia strongly. Ashwin and Hanuma Vihari batted for nearly 42 overs and managed to draw the match. Both batsmen have recorded the record for the third largest partnership for the sixth wicket in terms of balls faced. Infact this was the most overs team India had faced in the fourth innings of a Test match since 1980.
The Australian team dominated the four days of the Sydney Test match. But in the last innings, the Indian batsmen did not look uncomfortable even once during the chase of 407 runs. Rohit and Shubman Gill gave a good start but could not convert them into big scores. On the fifth day, captain Rahane also could not stay long. Pujara and Pant then handled the Indian innings. The way Pant was playing, it seemed that India could win the match. But as soon as he was out, India’s hopes of winning the match were broken. After that, the emphasis of the Indian batsmen was to draw the match. Ashwin and Vihari faced 259 balls for the sixth wicket. It was the third highest partnership for the sixth wicket in Test history in terms of ball played. In 2018, KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant faced 267 balls for the sixth wicket against England. While Sachin Tendulkar and Nayan Mongia faced 266 balls for the sixth wicket against Pakistan in 1998.
Ashwin and Hanuma Vihari faced 259 balls and scored 66 runs. In which Ashwin faced 128 balls while Hanuma Vihari faced 131 balls. Ashwin scored 39 runs with the help of 7 fours while Hanuma Vihari scored 23 runs. The Test series being played between India and Australia is equal at 1-1. The last match of the series between the two teams is to be played in Brisbane.
Hanuma Vihari out of the fourth Test, doubtful for England tour
Hanuma Vihari, who saved India the loss by batting strongly against Australia in the Sydney Test, is out of the fourth Test. The last match of the four-match Test series against Australia is to be played at Brisbane’s Gaba. On the fifth day of the third Test in Sydney, Hanuma batted for 43 overs despite being injured and drew the match.
