AUSTRALIA VS INDIA, 3RD TEST,THE GABBA, BRISBANE: India vs Australia 3rd Test Draw Sends Shockwaves Through WTC .
Continuous rainfall in Brisbane resulted in the third Test between India Australia concluding as a draw. On the final, India lost their last wicket and managed to take seven wickets before the hosts at 89 runs India was set a target of 275 win, and Yashasvi Jaiswal along with KL Rahul contributed four runs as India reached 80 before play was. Consequently, the-match series remains tied at 1-1 with both teams eager to gain an advantage in upcoming Boxing Day Test Melbourne. India vs Australia 3rd Test Draw Sends Shockwaves Through WTC .
TOSS
India won the toss and elected to bowl.
Australia Squad
Usman Khawaja, Nathan McSweeney, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood
India Squad
Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Rohit Sharma (c), Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep
Day 1
On a rain-affected opening day of the Brisbane Test, only 13.2 overs could be played. Australia’s openers, Usman Khawaja and Nathan McSweeney, survived this brief session unscathed after captain Rohit Sharma chose to put the home side in to bat. India, having won their third consecutive toss of the series, opted to bowl first under cloudy skies, introducing two changes to their lineup since Adelaide. Akash Deep, along with Ravindra Jadeja, was included in the team; however, Akash had to wait for his turn to join the action as senior bowlers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj explored the right areas on the Gabba pitch, covered with a light layer of grass.
DAY 2-
Nathan McSweeney, who had succeeded in facing just three deliveries from Bumrah on the opening day, only confronted two more this morning before edging a delivery that straightened against the angle to second slip. This dismissal handed Bumrah an impressive average of 4.28 against Australia’s openers in this series, totaling seven dismissals (McSweeney 4, Khawaja 3) across just three Tests. India captured a third wicket in the morning session when Nitish induced Marnus Labuschagne to edge a full, wide delivery to second slip.
Travis Head and Steve Smith both achieved centuries, as the duo capitalized on India’s bowling efforts on a largely compliant surface at The Gabba, placing Australia in a commanding position to control the remaining three days of the Brisbane Test. Head remained a persistent threat to India, notching a 160-ball 152, his third century in six innings against India, including two in his last two outings. Smith, who has historically thrived against India in this format, secured his 10th century against them, and 33rd overall, with his hard-fought score of 101 marking his first century in a lean 2024, breaking a run of low scores. The pair’s 241-run partnership for the fourth wicket occurred on either side of bursts from Jasprit Bumrah that led to another five-wicket haul—his 12th in just 43 Tests.
Bumrah’s spell with the second new ball eventually provided India with a degree of control. He claimed three wickets in the span of 12 deliveries, all via catches behind the wicket, to complete an excellent five-wicket haul, his second of the series, complemented by another four-wicket haul in Adelaide. However, even after slipping to 327 for 6, the end of Bumrah’s spell indicated an opportunity for Australia. The duo of Alex Carey and Pat Cummins went on to add another 58 runs for the seventh wicket, with Carey remaining unbeaten on 45 off 47 at the close of play.
DAY 3-
The majority of the day’s excitement unfolded during the extended first session. In just over an hour, Australia added 40 runs to their overnight total of 405 before India swept up the final three wickets. Although rain caused a five-minute delay at the start, Alex Carey reached a half-century in 53 balls, concluding with a clean boundary off Ravindra Jadeja. Starc managed a six and a four before edging Jasprit Bumrah, earning India’s lead bowler his sixth wicket of the innings. This milestone also made Bumrah the second Indian bowler, after Kapil Dev, to claim 50 Test wickets in Australia.
In the subsequent 10 overs, despite another 14-minute rain delay, only 22 runs were scored as Australia aimed for a bat-once total. India opted for a spread-out field for Carey and used this time to rest Bumrah, pulling him out of the attack after a three-over spell. Eventually, Mohammed Siraj bowled a full-length delivery, breaching Nathan Lyon’s defenses, and Akash Deep caught Carey at deep mid-wicket for 70 with a shorter delivery, marking his only wicket after 29.5 overs of effort.
India’s batsmen faced challenges due to the interruptions and the pitch, which favored Australia’s taller bowlers. Nonetheless, some of India’s shots were questionable, reflecting their ongoing format difficulties. Yashasvi Jaiswal departed on the second ball of the innings, flicking a full delivery from Mitchell Starc directly to Mitchell Marsh at square leg. The same bowler-fielder duo accounted for Shubman Gill, who failed to adequately shift his weight when driving a full and wide ball.
Tasked with stabilizing the innings, Kohli struggled with deliveries outside the off-stump and a short ball before loosely driving a Josh Hazlewood delivery, being dismissed for 3. His dismissal coincided with another downpour, leading to an early lunch break.
Rain continued to disrupt play, occurring 11 balls into the second session and again after another 3.5 overs. Rishabh Pant fell, poking at a length delivery from Pat Cummins angled across him, five balls into another restart. A heavy downpour prompted a nearly two-and-a-half-hour break, spanning the scheduled Tea interval. After returning briefly for spin bowling under diminishing light, further drizzle eventually halted play for good.
Amidst the rain breaks and the team’s collapse, KL Rahul held firm with an unbeaten 33, displaying a series of elegant cover drives despite suffering a painful blow to his left wrist early in his innings.
DAY 4-
Looking back, it turned out to be a crucial juncture for India, as their struggles with batting on the curtailed third day’s play meant they faced the challenge of reaching 246, the target that would make Australia bat again and reduce game time. India bounced back from nearly being 51 for 5 and ended up at 74 for 5 in that initial hour.
Rahul and Jadeja then joined forces to create India’s top partnership of the innings. Both batted with excellent control, with Rahul particularly making wise choices after positioning himself well with his technique. He chose only the very full balls for his shots, notably favoring the square drive over the broader extra cover variant, and waited for straighter deliveries to flick, tuck, or drive.
Throughout the series, batting became noticeably easier when the ball surpassed 30 overs. Rahul and Jadeja added safe runs until their 67-run partnership was interrupted by Smith, who made amends for an earlier drop by quickly reacting to catch Rahul’s attempted cut off Nathan Lyon.
Jadeja began forming another substantial partnership with Nitish Reddy. With only 13.2 overs available in the middle session, Jadeja notched his 22nd Test match fifty in his first game of the series. Despite surviving a Starc spell following a 67-minute rain delay, they weren’t as fortunate against Cummins. He bowled Reddy with a nip-backer that clipped the inside edge and hit the stumps. At this point, India still required 51 runs to avoid a follow-on, with only three fast bowlers left to support Jadeja.
Batting at No.9, Siraj was left to confront six deliveries from Starc, a tactic by Jadeja that unfortunately backfired as Starc found the tailender’s edge for a catch behind. Jadeja attempted to manage the strike with Bumrah, hitting a six off Lyon and a lucky four off Cummins before a well-executed short ball plan ended his innings at 77, with Cummins capturing his fourth wicket.
India remained 33 runs short of compelling Australia to bat again, but Deep and Bumrah stood their ground against a two-man pace attack showing strain from extended bowling. Bumrah skillfully maneuvered a Cummins bouncer for a six and began collecting singles. Deep contributed with a vital boundary by slicing over Starc.
India got within 14 runs of the follow-on target when Cummins turned to Lyon to replace Starc. Australia’s captain pushed himself to continue bowling from the opposite end in pursuit of the final wicket, which could have secured him a five-fer, but ended up conceding seven runs in his 20th over. In his 21st over, Deep edged a boundary over the cordon bringing India past the key milestone. Celebrating the occasion, highlighted with enthusiasm in the Indian dressing room, Deep smashed Cummins for a six over mid-wicket before umpires halted play due to diminishing light.
DAY 5-
In total, 216.1 overs of action had taken place at the Gabba Test, which, in an ordinary set of circumstances, would have placed us at the halfway mark of the third day of the Test. But the weather had a major impact on the game from the outset with just 13.2 overs possible in Day 1, and 33.1 in the third day. Australia were still looking at windows to go for a series lead despite piling up 445 in their first innings and having India on the mat at 74 for 5 in reply.
The visitors were however bailed out by the weather and the fact that Australia had just two frontline fast bowlers left after Josh Hazlewood left the fray with a calf strain. They were also rescued by some precious half-centuries by KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja besides a fighting and spirited 47-run 10th wicket partnership between Akash Deep and Jasprit Bumrah that helped the visitors stave off the follow-on late in Day 4.
Australia was still looking to convert their dominance across the board into a win that was perpetually being frustrated by the elements. In a frenzied afternoon session on the last day after just four overs could be bowled in the morning, their batters attempted to go hard at the bowling and in the process even gave India the barest glimpse of an improbable victory. After Jasprit Bumrah bowled Usman Khawaja for the fourth time in the series, his stumps rattled from round the wicket, India quickly had the hosts on 33 for 5 as Akash Deep and Mohammed Siraj claimed the scalps of Australian batters keen to swing for the fences.
Travis Head and Alex Carey got a rapid 27-run partnership in 22 balls before Pat Cummins clubbed two sixes and as many fours in his 10-ball 22. At the end of the day, it was down to how many overs Australia believed would be enough for their three-man attack to create a result. They finally announced at 89/7. But the openers from India serenely saw off 2.1 overs before the bad light drove the players off for a last time in the Test.
Brief scores: Australia 445 (Travis Head 152, Steve Smith 101; Jasprit Bumrah 6-76) & 89/7 dec. (Pat Cummins 22; Jasprit Bumrah 3-18) drew India 260 (KL Rahul 84, Ravindra Jadeja 77; Pat Cummins 4-81) & 8/0.