4th Test
Day-3 Morning Session Highlights:
Nitish Reddy has remained steady after India have lost Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja
At The Lunch of Day-3:
India scored 244/7 (1st Innings), where as Australia scored 474 (1st Innings).
So, finally India trail by 230 runs.
India’s batting woes continued as they lost their two overnight batters, Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja, on the third morning, still trailing by a significant margin at the MCG.
Nitish Reddy once again displayed solid batting technique, taking the team to 244/7 by Lunch, in partnership with Washington Sundar.
In a lively first half hour, Pant struck a streaky boundary and another where he charged down to loft Pat Cummins over mid-on.
Cummins made a hopeful caught behind appeal against the wicketkeeper-batter, which was reviewed, but to no avail.
On two separate occasions, the batters found themselves pushing for quick singles, only to be sent back by the other.
However, Pant’s flirtations with danger were short-lived.
His attempt to shuffle across and lap Scott Boland over fine leg ended his stay.
After missing on the previous delivery, Pant tried again, only to top-edge the ball straight to Nathan Lyon at third man.
Pant, often prone to making audacious attempts, found himself on the floor but had to walk back after failing to clear the fielder.
Nitish, who retained his spot ahead of Shubman Gill, exuded confidence on arrival, playing a couple of assured straight drives early on – one each against Lyon and Mitchell Starc.
However, Lyon set up Jadeja with persistent back-foot deliveries, before surprising him with a quicker delivery at 88 km/h that trapped him leg-before for a patient 17.
Nitish continued to play fluently and fearlessly, charging down the pitch to hit Lyon for a six.
When Lyon went short, he quickly adjusted, rocking back and cutting the ball effectively.
Against Cummins, Nitish resisted the temptation to ramp short deliveries to the third-man fielder, as he had done in Adelaide.
He moved into the 40s by stepping out against Travis Head just before Lunch, with India still trailing by 230 runs.
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