Australia are still in control of the game, but the clouds of doubt have reappeared on the horizon for them
Alex Malcolm28-Dec-20241:31
Boland: ‘We’re still in a pretty strong position but could’ve been better’
In the glorious sunshine on a Saturday morning in Melbourne, Australia were in control of the game. Nathan Lyon had just pinned Ravindra Jadeja lbw to leave India 221 for 7, 253 behind with two days and two sessions remaining.Five hours later, Nitish Kumar Reddy walked off the MCG to a standing ovation from 83,073 people, unbeaten on 105 and India’s innings still 116 runs behind but alive and kicking, as the dark clouds of a rainstorm rolled in to end play early.From the brightness of the horizon to the impending gloom was an apt metaphor for Australia against India in recent years.Related
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They are still in control of the game, with two full days of set fair weather to come. But the clouds of doubt have appeared. They shouldn’t be there, but they are because they have seen this movie before. In Brisbane in 2021 and in Delhi in 2023 they were in control of the game, until lower-order century stands dragged India back into the contest and to eventual victory.It was noted yesterday after Steven Smith and Pat Cummins’ exemplary stand, that Australia had only produced four century stands for the seventh or lower wicket in the last ten years. India have produced four in the last four years against Australia alone. Only one other team, England, have managed one in that time against this Australian attack.The same man has been involved in two of them. Washington Sundar named his dog after the Gabba, having made 62 on debut in a 123-run seventh-wicket stand with Shardul Thakur that turned that game India’s way.Can you call a second dog MCG? He could do whatever he likes if India win from here following his 50 in a 127-run eighth-wicket stand with Reddy.The other lower-order century stands were produced by Axar Patel and R Ashwin in Delhi in 2023 and Thakur and Ajinkya Rahane in the World Test Championship final at The Oval only months later against this exact Australian bowling quartet of Cummins, Lyon, Mitchell Starc and Scott Boland. The only difference is that Mitchell Marsh is the allrounder at the MCG in place of the injured Cameron Green. That was the only one of the four that hasn’t cost them the game so far.2:10
Washington: Nitish’s hundred ‘will be remembered forever’
This one shouldn’t either. But how and why it keeps happening should be concerning to this Australian side.To be fair to Australia, they did exactly the same with the bat on day one. Two lower-order century stands, both against the second new ball, might point to an excessively flat pitch. But a man who knows MCG pitches would disagree.”I think it started off with a fair bit of nip in it, still a little bit of nip there at the moment,” Boland said. “Not as consistent as I’d like as a bowler, but I think it’s going to be a pretty good Test match wicket.”Boland knows a truly flat MCG pitch when he sees one, having played Sheffield Shield cricket in the pre-Matt Page era. The ongoing issues he manages in his left knee could well have resulted from slamming it repeatedly into the slab of concrete that used to sit underneath the drop-in trays here prior to 2018.Australia’s bowlers have been doing the heavy lifting for the team in recent times, but the repetitive nature of these stands against this opponent speaks to a couple of issues.India’s ability to nullify Lyon is a major reason why the tail continues to frustrate Australia. Against every other opponent, Lyon can lock down an end when the hardness of the new ball wears off. His frugality, and his ability to threaten batters with spin and bounce in Australian conditions allows Cummins to set and forget and rotate his three quicks in short bursts at the other end to ensure they sustain their pace and quality.Ravindra Jadeja was trapped by a quicker one from Nathan Lyon•AFP/Getty ImagesBut Lyon has been almost completely shut out of this series so far. He has five wickets at 53.60, striking at 114. Two of those bookended the stand between Reddy and Washington. In between times, Reddy scored 44 off 60 against Lyon including three fours and a six.It meant Cummins had to manage his bowlers differently and he made some odd decisions. Boland, who had easily been Australia’s best having removed Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant, was hardly used in the early part of Reddy’s innings. He went from 1 off 2 to 56 off 90 before Boland returned to the attack.Straight after an hour-long rain delay, the likes of which had enabled Cummins and Starc to continue to bowl in Brisbane, Marsh bowled a three-over spell in tandem with Starc, instead of Cummins or Boland, when the pitch had become more difficult to bat on according to Washington.”Coming off that break we tried to take them a bit wider with the ball,” Boland said. “We obviously set a seven-two field and try to see if they want to flash their hands outside the off stump.”Marsh conceded just four runs. But it only served to massage his figures from 0 for 24 from four overs to 0 for 28 from seven. Since taking 2 for 12 in the first innings of the series in Perth, Marsh has figures of 25-1-1-125.There were some slightly odd bowling changes on Pat Cummins’ part•Associated PressIt was no surprise then to see Starc grimacing with some back soreness as he shouldered the load at the other end. He never left the field and continued to bowl at high pace despite getting the physio to check his back at fine leg between overs.Starc was part of a three-man attack that took 20 wickets in Adelaide, and a three-man attack that did all of the bowling in Brisbane after Josh Hazlewood broke down.”He’s okay,” Boland said. “I think he just had a bit of a niggle somewhere in his back or rib, I don’t know. But he came out after the break and was bowling 140kph so I think he’s going to be fine. I think he’s underrated for how tough he is.”Four years ago, Australia’s quicks got to the line in the fourth Test having shouldered a heavy load in Melbourne and Sydney, only to run out of gas in Brisbane.”We’re leading by 115 runs, so in a pretty strong position,” Boland said. “Obviously, it could have been better, but I think that’s Test match cricket. It ebbs and flows. Yeah, hopefully tomorrow morning, we get that first wicket, and then put on a really nice lead and see how the game plays after that.”There shouldn’t be cause for alarm in Australia’s dressing room. But no one could blame them if there wasn’t a looming sense of déjà vu.