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24th over: India 74-5 (Rahul 45, Jadeja 0) Cummins has beaten the bat several times this morning and finally gets the breakthrough as Rohit edges behind to Carey. First ball to Jadeja sets the tone of what may be to come for the India all-rounder as Cummins digs in a bouncer. Jadeja ducks under that one then keeps out a yorker.
WICKET! Rohit c Carey b Cummins 10 (India 74-5)
Cummins gets the wicket he has deserved this morning and unusually turns it up in the celebration. Rohit dabs with an angled bat as Cummins again targets the fifth stump as an edge flies through to Carey for a simple catch.
23rd over: India 74-4 (Rahul 45, Rohit 10) Cummins causing all kinds of problems again, this time beating Rohit with a leg-cutter much as he had troubled Rahul with earlier. Rohit responds with a punishing square drive to the boundary at deep point.
22nd over: India 66-4 (Rahul 42, Rohit 5) Cummins causing all kinds of problems again, this time beating Rohit with a leg-cutter much as he had troubled Rahul with earlier. Rohit responds with a punishing square drive to the boundary at deep point.
21st over: India 61-4 (Rahul 41, Rohit 1) Another chance! Rahul ends the over with a mis-timed drive to mid-on and there is a delayed call for a single. Rohit is slow off the mark as Hazlewood pounces on the ball and throws to the striker’s end as the India skipper dives across the crease. He looked home but that was another scare for India. One delivery earlier and Rahul plays the shot of the morning so far with a square drive through point to the boundary.
20th over: India 52-4 (Rahul 36, Rohit 1) Cummins with another fast start to the over as the Australia skipper beats Rahul’s bat outside off. That one moved a touch too far away from Rahul off the seam. Cummins gets another to jag back into the India opener and he takes a heavy blow around the hip. Rahul happy to leave a couple more outside off for a maiden over.
19th over: India 52-4 (Rahul 36, Rohit 1) Starc starts to Rahul with a pair of good length deliveries that angle across the right-hander. Rahul fends away a shorter ball for a single. That one reared up at the batter which will only excite the Australia pacers. Rohit gets off the mark with a gentle drive.
18th over: India 52-4 (Rahul 34, Rohit 0) DROPPED! Almost the perfect start for Australia as Pat Cummins finds plenty of bounce out of the deck and takes KL Rahul’s edge on the way through for a regulation chance to Steve Smith at second slip. It arrives at waist height and Smith seems unsure whether to go fingers up or down. The ball bobs straight out of his hands and it is hard to believe that has been grassed. Smith looks devastated.
Pat Cummins has the cherry in hand with KL Rahul resuming on 33 and India skipper Rohit Shama at the non-strikers’ end while yet to score after coming to the crease shortly before the last rain delay on day three.
Virat Kohli was one of the key wickets to fall on day three as the India great continues his battle against Father Time as much as Australia’s pace attack.
Geoff Lemon has written superbly about the gradual decline of the four outstanding batters of recent times and whether Kohli can consistently rediscover something resembling his former glories.
Weather update: Promising signs for Australia with sunny skies overhead as we near the early start of play at 9.50am local time in Brisbane / 10.50am AEDT. But rain is very much forecast throughout the day as well as a high of 29 degrees.
Australia were able to build momentum across a rain-interrupted day three at the Gabba with India already four wickets down. The tourists’ first target today will be reaching 245 to avoid giving Australia the option to enforce the follow-on. But here is how day three played out:
Preamble
Martin Pegan
Hello and welcome to live coverage of the fourth day of the third Test between Australia and India at the Gabba in Brisbane.
Australia made the most of the rain-affected third day to build a strong first-innings total of 445 and tear through the India top order to have them 51-4 at stumps. But the hosts are now in a race against time – and the weather – to claim India’s six remaining first-innings wickets as well as dismiss their entire batting lineup a second time. The star-studded pace trio have threatened in the limited time they have been able to take the ball in hand with opener KL Rahul the only India batter to get set and look particularly comfortable. But as Australia showed in their first knock, once a batter is set and the ball softens, the Gabba can be a good deck for batting. The impact of the stop-start action across the opening days as well as moisture in the air now looms as an added danger for batters, though there are also signs of cracks that will tempt the spinners. We’ll be back with more of a weather and pitch report shortly.
First ball is scheduled to be at 9.50am local time or 10.50pm AEDT. I’ll be covering the first session and a half, when Angus Fontaine will jump into the hot seat. In the meantime, send me an email or find me @martinpegan on Bluesky or X. Let’s get into it!
