Australia emerged winners of a thrilling Day 5 of the fourth Test match against India at Melbourne Cricket Ground on Monday, December 30. Captain Pat Cummins led by example to power Australia to a 185-run triumph and to a 2-1 lead in the five-match series.
Chasing a tough 340-run target on Day 5, the Indian side lost their experienced trio of Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Virat Kohli early in the first session but Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rishabh Pant added 88 runs for the fourth wicket to take the game to the wire.
However, Australian bowlers made a sensational comeback in the last season, denying Jaiswal his century and bowling out India to 155 in 79.1 overs. A win also strengthened Australia's chances of making the World Test Championship 2025 final. India also remain in contention but their fate now rely on the outcome of Australia's two-match Test tour to Sri Lanka next month.
Meanwhile, after losing the first Test, Australia won the second game and were denied a win by rain in Brisbane. The hosts will secure the WTC final berth if they win in the next match at Sydney Cricket Ground starting on January 3. India now need to win the Sydney Test at any cost if they desire to remain alive in the contention for the WTC final spot.
Earlier on Day 5, Jasprit Bumrah bowled out Nathan Lyon on the second second of the day to bowl out Australia to 234 in the second innings. Bumrah completed his five-wicket haul and reached 30 wickets in the ongoing series.
After the impressive show with a bat, Cummins gave Australia a brilliant start by removing Rohit Sharma for the fourth time in this series. Cummins also dismissed KL Rahul for a nine-ball duck and then Mitchell Starc stunned the Indian crowd with Virat Kohli's wicket, putting Australia in a comfortable position to win the game as early as possible.
Jaiswal, who scored 82 runs in the first innings, top-scored with 84 runs off 208 balls in the second innings. Rishabh Pant contributed with 30 runs off 104 balls but was not able to convert his innings into a big knock. Only Jaiswal and Pant were able to reach the double-digit scores for India in the second innings.
Cummins and Scott Boland took 3 wickets each and Nathan Lyon took two for the hosts. Cummins claimed the Player of the Match award for scoring 90 runs and taking 6 wickets across two innings.
Australia Playing XI: Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland.
India Playing XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma (c), Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep.
