India VS Australia 3rd test From Boxing day 2014

First Day

Australia ended the day at 259/5 with captain Steven Smith batting on 72 and Brad Haddin on 23. Must say that day 1 of this test belonged to both India and Australia. India bowled consistently well throughout the day. The best thing about Indian bowling was that they never leaked runs when they weren't getting regular wickets unlike earlier tests. Australia too batted well. They lost the inform batsman David Warner early but batted sensibly after that leaving all good balls and giving the respect they deserve. Even after losing two quick wickets after lunch, they didn't panic and continued their slow stride. Steven Smith once again batted like a dream. This man is sure to reach top places in cricketing history. Rogers, Watson and Shaun March all got starts but couldn't make them big. The Indian bowlers bowled very tight line and didn't allow Australian batsmen score quickly. The run-rate which is less than 3 at the end of the play speaks a lot. On a whole, good cricket played by both teams on boxing-day of this test.

Second Day

At the start of second not many expected Australia to score 530 runs. Once again Indian bowlers failed to get opposition tail-enders quickly. Smith continued his amazing form and went on to score yet another century in the series. Harris was the surprise package of the morning. Indians were clueless against his batting. He scored wonderful 74 runs which helped his team to post a formidable score on the board. Steven Smith switched gears in the later part of his innings and scored quickly. The type of shots he played when he was in 170's, 180's showed that he all he was concerned was about Australia's scoring rate and not about his double century. Four front-line bowlers of India conceded more than 100 runs in the innings, which shows the pathetic condition of their bowling discipline. India need to find a way to get out of this mess. With this strategy, they seem no way near to picking up 20 wickets in a away test match.

India started their innings well. Must say that Indian openers in this series provided quite a number of good starts, however small they may be, compared to what Indian openers provided when India visited Australia last time. After adding 55 runs for the first wicket, Dhawan once again was dismissed after getting a start. He needs to immediately find a way to not to get out in 20's and 30's. Vijay once again played well and scored a fifty. Pujara was as vigil as ever. India ended the day at 108/1. Hope they put up a good batting performance on the 3rd day.

Third Day

India started the day in a pathetic manner. Pujara was out second ball of the day. Virat and Vijay steadied the ship from there. After beautiful little partnership, vijay was out playing a bad shot in Watson's bowling. India's innings took momentum from the moment Rahane stepped on to the field. He was quite aggressive earlier and played some breathtakingly beautiful shots. Both Virat and Rahane dominated 2 sessions and took India closer to Australia's score with wonderful centuries. Their partnership of more than 200 runs broke many records at MCG. If not for what happened in the final 20 overs, it would have been a complete dominance by India for entire day. As soon as Rahane fell LBW for Lyon, wickets started falling like a pack of cards. Debutant KL Rahul's selection of shots and the manner in which he got out would surely make him regret later. This is not how you play after doing all the hard work to get into the final eleven. Dhoni and Ashwin too fell cheaply. But on the other end, Kohli was playing some master strokes against bowlers. Kohli was out in the final over of the day playing a shot much away from his body to a bad ball. India ended the day at 462/8. Lets see how many more can India add for the final two wickets. On a whole, the day belonged to Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane who batted as easily as one could against some fiery bowling.

Fourth Day

As expected India's last two wickets didn't bother Australia even a bit and fell quickly. Australia started their innings in a aggressive manner and lost it completely once Warner got out. Later Australia tried to play safe and didn't attack. India managed to take wickets on a regular basis there by pushing Australia into a dilemma whether to attack or defend. At the end of the day, Australia are in a much better position to win this match than India. Many expect Australia to declare just before the start of play on the fifth day.

Fifth Day

Surprise... surprise... Australia not only didn't declare soon but played for quite a bit of time. It is quite remarkable that they didn't declare early and push for a result. This is rather new strategy which is unheard of Australia for last many years. India lost Dhawan early as usual. KL Rahul was promoted up the order but he again fell playing a foolish shot. vijay played his part and departed. Once again Kohli and Rahane came to India's rescue. They batted out many overs there by killing any thought of a win by Australia. Kohli fell after scoring a fifty & Rahane & pujara carried for a little longer but both of them were out opening a small window for Australia. But Dhoni and Ashwin played out some overs rather well and ensured a draw. Australia missed few opportunities in the middle which cost them the win.

In the end, a draw was a perfect result for this boxing day test. Both teams played quite well and it was a tough cricket for all five days and little sparks rising between players here and there.