The fifth and final day of the fourth Test is underway at a packed Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), with Australia in control after a dramatic collapse from India in the final session.
Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rishabh Pant showed resilience, digging in after Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc had ripped through India’s top order in the opening session.
The pair added 88 runs for the fourth wicket before Pant’s careless shot off Travis Head saw him dismissed. Ravindra Jadeja soon followed, caught behind for just 2, and Nitish Reddy was dismissed by Nathan Lyon for 1.
Jaiswal, who has reached his half-century, is now joined by Washington Sundar at the crease. Earlier, Cummins orchestrated the collapse, removing both Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul in the same over.
Rohit was caught by Mitchell Marsh near the gully for 9, while Rahul was dismissed for a duck, caught by Usman Khawaja at first slip. Just before Lunch, Virat Kohli was caught behind off Starc for 5, leaving India reeling at 33/3.
— DJ Sinha (@sdj374531) December 30, 2024
Lyon and Scott Boland, who had kept Australia’s hopes alive on Day 4, resumed from the overnight total of 228/9 and added 6 more runs before Jasprit Bumrah delivered the final blow.