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[VIDEO] Australia vs India Test highlights: Day 3 cricket scores, blog

18th December, 2014
Australia XI:
Smith, Haddin, Starc, Johnson, Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Rogers, Hazlewood, Warner, Watson, Shaun Marsh

India XI
Aaron, Rohit, Dhawan, Ashwin, Kohli, Umesh, Pujara, Rahane, Dhoni, Ishant, Vijay

Time: 10:30am (AEDT)
Venue: The Gabba
TV: Live, Channel Nine
One man exits, while another man enters. (AFP PHOTO/ MARWAN NAAMANI)
Roar Guru
18th December, 2014
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15397 Reads

Josh Hazlewood grabbed a five-wicket haul before Steven Smith continued his batting form to pull Australia level with India at the end of the second day of the Brisbane Test. You ​can ​follow the live blog of the third day’s play starting ​11:00am (AEDT).​

When India resumed from their overnight 4/311, a score of 500 loomed large for Australia. They hadn’t bowled well on the first day and suffered a few injuries to their pace bowlers, which meant they had to get their lines and lengths correct or face the risk of being batted out of the contest.

AUSTRALIA VS INDIA: DAY FOUR LIVE SCORES

It was Hazlewood who took ownership of the situation.

He got rid of Ajinkya Rahane with a peach of a delivery and then came back to grab the wickets of skipper MS Dhoni and R Ashwin when they were going rather well.

Rahane had no chance of surviving a length ball that shaped to angle into the batsman but left him last moment. He nicked it to the keeper.

Ashwin played hard at one on a good length and was caught in the slips. Dhoni wanted a delivery outside the off-stump but its proximity to the off-stump meant that decision had to be taken quite late, taking the under-edge of the bat.

Nathan Lyon wrapped up the innings with a couple of wickets after Shane Watson had earlier chipped in with enticing Rohit Sharma into driving at a wide, swinging ball that got the edge of his bat.

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Australia got off to the kind of start they are used to thanks to David Warner. Except, unlike previous occasions, he was hurried by Umesh Yadav’s pace and managed to top-edge an attempted forced-flick to offer first slip an easy catch.

Shane Watson’s flattery to deceive was no different from earlier, while Chris Rogers exhibited batting form that he hasn’t since his century at Port Elizabeth before he gave it away just before tea.

Another quick wicket would have allowed India to take control of the game but Steven Smith and Shaun Marsh thwarted the visitors. They were mindful of the Indian bowling attack at the start of their partnership but as they grew in confidence they began to take on more of the attack.

Smith was suddenly severe on R Ashwin, who had previously bowled his first 11 overs at less than two an over and went on to notch up his fourth successive score of more than fifty in Tests. He was still there unbeaten at close, as in both innings of the Adelaide Test.

Marsh left after he had been given a life and while he did not convert his start into something more meaningful, in the context of the game, it was a vital innings.

Going into the third day of the game, the match is quite evenly poised. Australia are 187 short of the Indian score and on paper, they have the batting to even things up.

With Smith still around and Mitchell Marsh having shown good promise with the bat in his short career, a lot will rest on their shoulders. Brad Haddin hasn’t had the best of times recently but the Australian lower-order, unlike the Indian one, can more than hold their bats.

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It promises to be excellent third day of cricket and given the pace at which both teams have batted, a result looks very likely in this Test. That being the case, the third day could well decide which way this game is headed.

Join me for ​the third day of this second Test between Australia ​and India. Follow the live score from ​11:00am (AEDT) and post your comments ​below.

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