India went on the counter-attack on a sunny third morning of the ICC World Test Championship Final at The Oval. With batting conditions good, India ate into the first-innings deficit having resumed five wickets down and still 318 runs behind.
And it was Ajinkya Rahane who led the charge, bringing up his half-century with a maximum and taking the attack back to Australia with some aggressive stroke play.
India added 109 runs for the loss of just one wicket in the session to trail by 209 runs, while Australia were left to rue two dropped catches and a wicket off a no-ball.
Earlier, it had looked like Australia were set to carry on where they left off from day two, with Scott Boland striking with just the second delivery of the day.
The Aussie seamer nipped one back off a probing length that cleaned up KS Bharat and prompt some early and presumptuous talk about the follow-on in some corners of The Oval.
With Pat Cummins bowling superbly and aggressively at the Pavilion end, striking both Rahane and new batter Shardul Thakur repeatedly, India were under the pump.
But Rahane responded with some aggression of his own, forcing the field back and looking to up the run rate throughout the first hour.
And Shardul followed suit after drinks as India attempted to get back into contention to win this WTC Final.
A total of 109 runs were added in the session, with Rahane and Thakur going in at lunch on 89* and 36* respectively.
It could have been a very different picture at lunch had Australia held onto their chances, with Cameron Green and David Warner putting down Shardul and Rahane respectively, both off Cummins bowling.
And Cummins was left to rue his front foot once again, as a no ball denied him the wicket of Shardul, after the Australian skipper had made the same error to deny him the scalp of Rahane on Thursday evening.
But a large and vocal Indian contingent in the stands at The Oval have been given something to shout about after two less-than-ideal days at the start of this Test.
And the pair will be looking to extend their influential century partnership yet further in Friday’s second session.
Such a contribution was exactly what India had been hoping for after a second day’s play at The Oval the had largely belonged to the bowlers. The Australian attack got stuck into India’s top order to leave Rohit Sharma’s side five down at the close on Thursday, removing most of the positive momentum India had garnered from taking 7/142 in a much-improved bowling display.
India’s top four all departed with scores in the teens, with an otherwise rusty Mitchell Starc bowling the delivery of the session to remove Virat Kohli, and two carbon copy wickets seeing Shubman Gill and Cheteshwar Pujara departing without offering a stroke.
And a wicket for Nathan Lyon shortly before the close meant that the wickets were equally shared one-apiece across the Aussie attack on day two.
