In the end, the dice landed the right way up for the shooter. Had India managed to bat for another hour, another 14 overs, Australia’s tactics would have been sliced up; too conservative in batting into the final day. But Australia’s gamble was about laying off risk on the other half of the equation, all but eliminating India’s chance of a win at the cost of reducing their own. In the end, this time, it worked, when Nathan Lyon snagged the 10th wicket just before 5.30pm Melbourne time; Australia bowling India out for 155 and winning the fourth Test by 184 runs to lead 2-1 before the series ends in Sydney.
It was, in the end, a close-run thing, a reminder that you’re often only vindicated in the sporting business if you happen to guess right. Lyon’s 10th-wicket partnership with Scott Boland in the third innings ended up being 61, adding only six of those after resuming on the fifth morning, and costing Australia four overs to do it. That final extension may not have worked out, but the previous evening’s runs made a major psychological difference, taking India’s target from a high-200s score, one that would have felt possible, to 340, that didn’t.
