Australia
Stumps
India
| 4/303 India are 303 for 4 |
| 0/62 (19.0) | *Cummins | O: 90.0 | Pujara* | 130 (250) |
| 1/88 (29.0) | Lyon | RR:2.89 | Vihari | 39 (58) |
| c. Paine b. Starc |  | 70.2 4/228 |  | Rahane 18(55) |
| c. Paine b. Hazlewood | | 52.5 3/180 | | Kohli 23(59) |
| c. Starc b. Lyon | | 33.6 2/126 | | Agarwal 77(112) |
| c. Marsh b. Hazlewood | | 1.3 1/10 | | Rahul 9(6) |
Show Full Scoreboard
Hide Full Scoreboard
| First Innings: India | 4/303 | RR: 2.89 | O: 90.0 |
|---|
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
M.A. Agarwal c. Starc b. Lyon | 77 | 112 | 7 | 2 | 68.75 |
K.L. Rahul c. Marsh b. Hazlewood | 9 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 150.00 |
C.A. Pujara not out | 130 | 250 | 16 | 0 | 52.00 |
V. Kohli* c. Paine b. Hazlewood | 23 | 59 | 4 | 0 | 38.98 |
A.M. Rahane c. Paine b. Starc | 18 | 55 | 1 | 0 | 32.73 |
G.H. Vihari not out | 39 | 58 | 5 | 0 | 67.24 |
R.R. Pant+ | |||||
R.A. Jadeja | |||||
K. Yadav | |||||
M. Shami | |||||
J.J. Bumrah | |||||
Extras (b 0, lb 2, w 5, nb 0) | 7 | ||||
| Total | 303 | ||||
| Bowlers | O | M | R | W | Ec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M.A. Starc | 18.0 | 0 | 75 | 1 | 4.17 |
| J.R. Hazlewood | 20.0 | 7 | 51 | 2 | 2.55 |
| P.J. Cummins | 19.0 | 3 | 62 | 0 | 3.26 |
| N.M. Lyon | 29.0 | 5 | 88 | 1 | 3.03 |
| M. Labuschagne | 4.0 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 6.25 |
The fourth and the final Test of Australia and India’s series gets underway today at the Sydney Cricket Ground and with the series still alive. Day 1 will begin at 10:30am (AEDT) and you can follow it live right here on The Roar below.
A solid all-round performance from India helped them clinch the third Test at the MCG but not before the surface at that iconic stadium came for a lot of criticism.
Both Justin Langer and Tim Paine were of the opinion that the pitches rolled out in the series haven’t exactly helped the Australian bowlers as much as they should.
The fact, however, is that the Indian seamers have out-bowled their Aussie counterparts this summer.
Leaving comparisons aside, it also remains to be seen how the SCG pitch will behave. The first look of the wicket suggests there’s grass on it, but some interspersed brown patches might signify it will help spin later in the game.
Both Sheffield Shield games played at the SCG this season have been on batting-friendly surfaces that have gradually started turning.
The other question that has been on everyone’s lips is to do with the line-ups.
While Australia have more or less been steadfast in their selections, India’s XI has changed drastically at times. This time, however, even Australia are expected to throw a few curveballs.
According to reports, Aaron Finch and Mitchell Marsh might get dropped for this one and will be replaced by batting all-rounder Marnus Labuchagne and middle-order bat Peter Handscomb.
Labuchagne might actually bat at number three, which sounds like a curious move. After all, the Queenslander doesn’t possess a first-class average that inspires a lot of confidence. Hopefully sanity has prevailed by the time the first Australian wicket has fallen.
India have some selection worries of their own.
They ruled out Ravi Ashwin because of injury yet just hours later named him in the 13-man squad. Ashwin has indeed been unfit for most of the series, missing two Tests in a row, so how much of a difference will one day make?
Even if Ashwin is out, there will be at least two changes for India.
Rohit Sharma will miss the Sydney Test for the birth of his daughter, while Ishant Sharma’s remarkable toils have rendered him exhausted. Umesh Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav and KL Rahul have all been added to the squad alongside Ashwin, meaning there’s no place for either Bhuvneshwar Kumar or Hardik Pandya.
Prediction
The first high-scoring Test match of the series in the offing.
Be sure to join The Roar for live coverage of this opening day of the fourth Test at Sydney from 10:30am (AEDT) and don’t forget to drop a comment in the section below.
Mad max
Guest
Nah dude, he absolutely does. He is dejected by this continual crap. Clearly you are happy with the status quo... you're probably English or extremely untalented in any kinetic movement.
Mad Max
Guest
Honestly, you jave nailed every sing lie player too a tee. Forget the reverse naysayers it is all true. Maxwell Burns and Renshaw should be in. The bowling is too much hype and those domain and alinta energy commercials are cringeworhty. I'm 39 and seen alot of cricket, by tj is time next year I may have dropped cricket ad my favourite sport and past time ... man what happened??? This really sucks ... going forward, we will probably only produce a good team once every 10 years. But you know, i want guys that will bleed foe nt h is country every time they play, instead of counting the dollar. Greedy little buggers.
anon
Roar Pro
Don't like truth?
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
Don't like cricket?
Battler
Roar Rookie
Harris: easing his way into test cricket but by no means deserving of a Marsh like run in the side if he doesn’t start scoring. Khawaja: woefully out of touch. May be a liability in England. Marnus: one of the worst selections I’ve ever seen although it’s hard to top Mitch Marsh. Smarsh: an old man holding onto his spot due to incompetent/biased selectors despite his average dropping like a rock (if you could believe that were possible). Ponting, who was in a different dimension as a cricketer, dominated shield attacks as an older man despite falling off badly at test level. Handscomb: Not sure why he’s even in the side? Failed badly the first two tests due to his disgusting technique, which wouldn’t have been fixed in under 2 weeks, and doesn’t have amazing FC form to warrant another go. Head: same deal with Harris. Paine: possibly the most overrated bloke in our lineup. Escapes criticism despite his captaincy not being great and not having scored a ton in over a decade. Him being talked up as the best gloveman in the world is also a bit of a joke. Cummins: World class. Starc: deserves to be dropped on form, won’t be. Lyon: your standard off spinner who picks up wickets when the track suits him. Gets talked up as some sort of Warne like genius but isn’t. Averages 32. Hazlewood: out of form.
peter chrisp
Guest
No chance of a victory we will need more than a miracle and with our batting lineup our top score is only 72 and it looks like an easy batting wicket can India score over 500. With their top line bowlers the inevitable will happen?
marees
Roar Rookie
Pujara knows a canteen XI, when he sees it :)) jokes aside, this is Pujara’s ‘natural’ game give the first two sessions to the bowler, then get it back in the third but in MCG it looked like he was batting time, for all of the 320 balls he faced but it was a reflection of the ‘poor’ pitch and not his natural game in the MCG pitch you had to hang back and survive couldn’t play the shots
Hari
Roar Rookie
India needs to bat the whole day tomorrow and if possible the first session on 3rd day and unleash Kuldeep on the Aussies.
Hari
Roar Rookie
It strictly depends on the bowling when it comes to Pujara's strike rate. When it is rubbish he doesnt miss out.
Hari
Roar Rookie
Oh how i would have loved to watch Cummins bowl another 15 or 20 overs in the second innings of last match!
danno
Guest
Test series is done, Australia can't win.
Ashan D
Roar Pro
Would have helped if we bat first I reckon.
Squirellgrip
Roar Rookie
The stats actually dont support that hackneyed saying. The ICC are giving serious consideration to dropping the present toss aspect for a different system (‘ visiting side bowling first with an option of a toss if they dont wish to bowl’). Remains to be seen whether they will or not. The win % for the toss winning side over the last 40 international tests sits at around 72% ( and if you take out draws it is close to 92%). The toss is an issue without a doubt, although I am not sure about the proposed change either.
George
Guest
Been reading the luck excuse intermittently throughout the day. But the reality is India are doing well and Australia aren't an especially strong side currently.
Luke Ringland
Guest
On my way back from the game. I agree with three of the main conclusions from the author. Stark bowled without guile. Cummins looked down on pace. Lyon struggled with his length. In many ways this is a generous scorecard. We had a genuine hole out to Lyon, and a lazy shot from Kohli. Both players would have absolutely killed the game had they stayed at the crease. As it stands, the Aussies have an outside chance with early wickets tomorrow.
Geoff from Bruce Stadium
Roar Rookie
Agree Ronan - made the same point myself a bit earlier
anon
Roar Pro
We would have been skittled for 240 or less. We have 5 specialist batsmen with Handscomb not deserving a spot.
RogerTA
Roar Rookie
TBF you make your own luck. We bowled poorly for large parts of today.
anon
Roar Pro
Why did we bring Labuschagne if he was going to bowl 4 overs. Maxwell could have done that and given up less runs. Or even a specialist like Burns and gave Khawaja at 3. What in the world is going on?
Simoc
Guest
I don't think Australia can win from here. It looks like India will score at least 350 which is to many for our team at present. Pujara has had a dominant series. Hopefully some wannabe Australian batsman can take note. Minimise your scoring range of shots and make the bowlers bowl to you.