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By winning the third Test at Melbourne, India have ensured that they will retain the Border-Gavaskar trophy. Now, in the final Test, all they need is a draw to win their first Test series in Australia.
Even before the first ball was bowled, things started to work in favour of India as Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to bat first on a surface which looked conducive to batting.
India's gamble of bringing back KL Rahul into the side failed but Rahul's Karnataka-mate Mayank Agarwal helped India get a good start by scoring his second half-century of the series. Agarwal put together a 116-run partnership with India's No.3 Cheteswara Pujara.
Mayank got out for 77 but Pujara continued his extraordinary run in Australia. He went onto add 54, 48, 101, and 89 for the next four wickets with Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari and Rishabh Pant respectively before falling seven short of a double century.
Also read: Twitter reacts to Cheteswar Pujara's century at the SCG
India were at 418-6 after the dismissal of Pujara but the departure of India's No.3 did not provide any respite to the Australians as Rishabh Pant upped the ante after he joined hands with Ravindra Jadeja.
The two left-handed batsmen clobbered the Australian bowlers to all parts of the ground, adding 204 runs for the sixth wicket. While Pant remained unbeaten at 159, Jadeja's dismissal for 81 made Virat Kohli call for a declaration.
Also read: Twitter reacts to Rishabh Pant unbeaten century against Australia
On Day 3, The Australian openers, especially Marcus Harris, showed intent in their attempt to get close to India's total of 622/7. Harris was involved in two half-century partnerships at the top but once he got out for 79, the Australian innings derailed.
While Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav kept chipping away with wickets at regular intervals, a brilliant field set-up helped Mohammad Shami pick up the wicket of Marnus Labuschagne, who looked well settled till then.
Pat Cummins, Australia's best player of the third Test, was batting with Peter Handscomb before bad light interrupted play.
Here's how Twitter reacted to Day 3 of the final Test between India and Australia:
Kohli's captaincy skills were at their best on Day 3.
Shaun Marsh attracted a lot of attention after getting out for just 8 runs.
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