Day three report
Emerging all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy scored his first international century in emotional scenes at the MCG to claw India back into the Boxing Day Test. Reddy, who was first picked for India in Perth last month, mainly off IPL form, continued his memorable debut series with a game-shaping ton.
India were 9-358, trailing Australia by 116, when play was suspended late on day three due to bad light, with Reddy unbeaten on 105. Heavy rain started falling minutes later, bringing about an early stumps on Saturday. Reddy’s maiden Test century came from 171 balls, as he reached his milestone with the threat of rain lingering.
The talented 21-year-old was almost left stranded on 99, but No 11 Mohammed Siraj (2no) survived four tense deliveries from Australia captain Pat Cummins to allow him to regain the strike. Powerful right-hander Reddy celebrated his ton by taking a knee and saluting the strong crowd of more than 80,000 – a record for day three of a Boxing Day Test – with his father in tears of joy in the crowd.
Earlier, India legend Sunil Gavaskar blasted wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant for a “stupid” dismissal in the first session. Pant, the hero of India’s famous series win in Australia four years ago, departed in reckless fashion when he mis-hit a Scott Boland delivery to Lyon at third man. The previous delivery, Pant had been hit in the midriff by Boland while attempting almost the same shot.
Pant also fell over in the process of attempting to play the leg-side shot that was his downfall, prompting Gavaskar to call it a “shocking” way to depart. “Stupid, stupid, stupid,” an exasperated Gavaskar said on ABC Radio. “You missed the previous shot, and look where you’ve been caught. That is throwing away your wicket.”
Boland (3-57), Cummins (3-86) and Lyon (2-88) shared the bowling honours. With the five-match series tied 1-1, India will retain the Border-Gavaskar trophy if they pull off an extraordinary comeback victory in this fourth Test. AAP
And a great Test, gets a great crowd – an astonishing 83,073 at the MCG today. They saw a brilliant day’s cricket as well.
The biggest ever Day 3 crowd at the MCG since January, 1937 🌟
— Cricket Australia (@CricketAus) December 28, 2024
The current total attendance is 255,462 - will the record of 271,865 (set in 2013) break tomorrow?#AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/ReiMYNzQPu
I don’t think we are going to be shown any post-match interviews on TV so I’m going to call it a day now and crawl temporarily back to bed.
Congratulations to young Nitish Kumar Reddy, and Washington Sundar, who took India from a position of fragility to one of competitiveness with that 8th-wicket partnership of 127. Mature, controlled and stylish batting from the future of India’s team. Australia must go again in the morning, though that lead of 116 still gives them the upper hand.
Thanks for your company through the night. We’ll be back tomorrow to see what occurs on day four, with the start of play pushed forward to 10am local time (11pm GMT, 4.30am in Mumbai). Have a lovely day, wherever you are. Bye!
Updated
