By Nick Mulvenney
SYDNEY, – Indian paceman Prasidh Krishna, standing in for injured skipper Jasprit Bumrah, kept the fifth test on a knife edge on Sunday by reducing Australia to 71 for three at lunch on day three, still 91 runs from their victory target of 162.
Bumrah, the most influential player of the series, did briefly bat but was unable to bowl after missing much of the second day’s play because of a back issue.
On a track that retained some of the spice that saw 15 wickets fall on Saturday, Krishna stood up in his stead and sent back opener Sam Konstas for 22, Marnus Labuschagne for six and Steve Smith for four.
Smith trudged off, head bowed, on 9,999 career runs, leaving Usman Khawaja, who was 19 not out, and Travis Head, unbeaten on five, to resume the chase in the second session.
The Sydney Cricket Ground was bathed in pink for Glenn McGrath’s cancer charity with another packed house enjoying the sunshine and anticipating a final dramatic chapter in an enthralling series.
India need to win the match to square up the series at 2-2 and retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy but the first 90 minutes of the day belonged to the home side as they dismissed India for 157 and had 39 runs on the board without loss.
The tourists had resumed on 141-6 looking to bolster their lead of 145 but were soon on the back foot as Australia captain Pat Cummins had Ravindra Jadeja caught behind for 13 and took out Washington Sundar’s middle stump for 12.
That brought Bumrah to the crease but he did not stay long as Scott Boland first removed Mohammed Siraj and then shattered the wickets of the India skipper in the space of three balls.
Boland, playing for the second straight test as an injury replacement for Josh Hazlewood, finished with figures of 6-45 for a 10-wicket match haul.
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