Australian pacers kept up their momentum by swiftly removing Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar early in the day. Jasprit Bumrah’s entry brought a glimmer of hope despite his injury scare, but India’s lower order crumbled, leaving them all out for 157. Chasing 162, Australian openers Sam Konstas and Usman Khawaja batted aggressively, racing to 35/0 in just three overs. However, Prasidh Krishna dismissed Konstas and Marnus Labuschagne, reigniting some hope for the Indian side. Additionally, the Karnataka pacer removed Steve Smith, denying him the chance to reach 10,000 Test runs.
On the last ball of the 10th over, Prasidh bowled short and outside the off stump. The red cherry hit the pitch hard and nipped away with an extra zip off the surface. The Aussie legend was caught off guard on the back foot, fended at it and got hit on the shoulder of the bat. He couldn’t drop his bottom hand in time, and the ball lobbed up to the right of the gully. Jaiswal spotted the chance and leapt to his right to complete a stunning catch. Krishna celebrated animatedly before Smudge, who fell short of his 10,000th Test run. Twitterverse praised Jaiswal’s brilliant effort and sympathized with Smith for missing his significant milestone.
Smith has gone! We still have hope to win. Let’s cross the finger 🤞#INDvsAUSTest#INDvAUSpic.twitter.com/a693YpIdyV
— Ujjwal Kumar (@Ujjwalkumar2001) January 5, 2025
