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A Virat Kohli century helped India get to within touching distance of Australia‘s score, but the dismissal of the Indian captain afforded the hosts an opening. Follow the live blog of the fourth day of the first Test from the Adelaide Oval starting 10:30am (AEDT).
India batted incredibly positively on day three. Led by a determined Kohli ton, the innings had Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane topping the half-century mark and it was done at a remarkably aggressive 3.8 runs an over.
>>FOLLOW THE LIVE BLOG OF DAY FIVE
When play was called off India were only 148 runs behind Australia, but the late wicket of Kohli meant Australia have a good chance of running through the second half of the innings in a jiffy.
India have Rohit Sharma at the crease, and it will be interesting to see how he goes about batting in the same role that VVS Laxman did for many years for India.
Laxman was a number five or six batsman who was often shepherded the admirably. Rohit could take a leaf out of his book but given his relative lack of experience in Tests, he may allow Australia to sneak in.
The other flip is the longish Indian tail.
In England, India had often played Ravindra Jadeja, Ravi Ashwin and Bhuvneshwar Kumar instead of Rohit, Kan Sharma and Varun Aaron. While Rohit is a far superior batsman to the other five, the absence of Ashwin and Bhuvneshwar could hurt the Indian batting at such a crucial stage in the game.
Karn hasn’t had too much experience and while he showed he can hold his own, playing at this level and against a bowling side of this class will be a difficult job. The rest of the three Indian bowlers can bat at 9, 10 and jack and no-one will know the difference – which makes it even tougher.
That is why the partnership of Rohit and wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha – who is himself only in his third Test – is a crucial one.
If they can bring India closer to the Australian score and the tail can wag enough to get to at least 475, then we might have an exciting match on our hands – especially now that the ball has begun to turn and bounce a tad more.
If, on the other hand, India capitulate to allow Australia a lead of 100 or more, the Aussies will go into the third innings knowing they have a huge advantage. A quick-fire half-century from any of the top-order batsmen could help set a daunting final innings chase for India in enough number of overs to bowl them out too.
What must be noted, however, is that Australia did not bowl as well as they could have. Mitchell Johnson picked up a couple of wickets but went for 90 in his 18. Peter Siddle conceded 63 from his 13 and went off the field later in the day, while Mitchell Marsh, Shane Watson and Steven Smith never looked like they would pick a wicket.
The rest of the Indian batsmen will hope to feed off this, try and keep Johnson’s spells out, and bat long into the day.
Join me for the fourth day of this first Test between Australia and India. You can follow the live score of this game from 10:30am (AEDT) and post your comments below.
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