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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Sport
Geoff Lemon (earlier) and Scott Heinrich (later)

India pull off stunning win over Australia to seal series – as it happened

Mohammed Siraj and Rishabh Pant
India’s Mohammed Siraj hugs Rishabh Pant in celebration of victory in the fourth Test against Australia on day five at the Gabba in Brisbane. Photograph: Patrick Hamilton/AFP/Getty Images

Sorry to everyone who emailed in during that thrilling final session. I had no time to get to any of them, but looking at them now they complement the drama of India’s push for victory. And they are worth reading. So here they are.

“Scott - can’t breath!” writes Samanda Black. “This is the second time I have been stuck in Jaipur when India decide to spank the Australians in Australia. For the love of!?!?I work in a block printing factory, so out my office door are a bunch of guys I do not want to face. Same thing happened in Jan 2018 and now again. Extraordinary cricket, gritty Indians and “Say NO to 4 day tests”!! Wish I was Latvian and could watch it impassionately with just full blown admiration, rather than begrudgingly having to admit we’ve lost. Bugger, but outstanding.”

“So are India a better team without Virat Kohli,” asks David Toze.

“Where would you rate this in the pantheon of great series?” asks Tane Aikman. “Surely not far behind the 2005 Ashes. Greatest overseas win of all time?” Right up there, Tane.

‘Can‘t wait to get you to the Gabba.’ “Tim Paine looks even more foolish now,” writes Tom. “Superb achievement from this massively deleted India side. Thanks for the coverage throughout the series.”

“Fantastic commentary, Scott. Great match and series,” writes William Hargreaves. You’re welcome, Bill. The pleasure is definitely ours.

Here is a match report for a quick round-up of an extraordinary day.

Summary

A truly remarkable end to a scarcely believable series. The record books will show India winning by three wickets in Brisbane and retaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy courtesy of a 2-1 series verdict, but the bare facts tell none of the story.

This was a win for the ages by India, one that will be trumpeted on the subcontinent as possibly their greatest in Test history. At no stage did they have anything going for them. Australia had not lost at the Gabba since 1988. India were beset by injuries. No team had scored anything like 329 to win a Test match in Brisbane. India didn’t even have to win, a draw being enough for the visitors to retain series honours as the current holders of the trophy.

But India batted to a plan on the final day of the final Test, getting home with three overs to spare to seal a triumph that will live long in the memory. India have showed immense courage and character this series, especially after being skittled for an all-time low of 36 in Adelaide, but today they portrayed a deadly intent that typifies the new India.

Cheteshwar Pujara was India’s glue on the final day, taking blow after blow in an innings of 56 that consumed 211 deliveries. It allowed the likes of Shubman Gill (91) and Rishabh Pant (89 not out) to flourish, the latter guiding the visitors home in style with a knock of equal parts composure and class.

Australia are in for some soul-searching after again failing to knock India over on the final day of a Test match. They should have done better after Adelaide, with their tails up and India’s personnel in disarray. They were held at bay in Sydney and then beaten by the better team in Brisbane. Australia played their part in a memorable series, but they were second best. India were, quite simply, breathtaking.

India win by three wickets!

97th over: India 329-7 (Pant 89, Saini 0)

Pant drives Hazlewood past mid-off for four to seal an incredible win for India. They could have batted for a draw, but they batted to a plan today and have won with three overs to spare. India win the series 2-1 and retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Updated

WICKET! Thakur c Lyon b Hazlewood 2 (India 325-7)

Pant shows his versatility, and agility, to get India to within six runs of victory with a swivelled hook off one foot to send Hazlewood to the fine-leg fence. A single then puts Thakur on strike. Two scampered runs behind square put India within three runs of victory but Thakur perishes going for the money shot, picking out Lyon at midwicket. The batsmen cross and Pant is back on strike.

WICKET! Sundar b Lyon 22 (India 318-6)

96th over: India 318-6 (Pant 80, Thakur 0) Pant takes Lyon for a single before Sundar does the same to put his partner back on strike. Good move. Pant picks Lyon’s length up early and sweeps out of the middle for three more through midwicket.

But that stroke puts Sundar back on strike and he does something he doesn’t really need to do, attempting a reverse sweep that he drags back onto his stumps. Australia’s pulse returns as Lyon takes his 399th Test wicket. India need 10 runs off four overs to win.

95th over: India 313-5 (Pant 76, Sundar 21) Hazlewood now on for Cummins. Two runs to Pant, then two more to deep backward square thanks to brilliant running. And after a nurdled single, India’s target is now inside 20 runs. And luck is on their side, too. Sundar looks to turn Hazlewood behind square but misses, could easily have got an edge, but in the end the ball ricochets off his thigh pad and over gully for four leg-byes. Time, or overs, is now no longer an issue for India. And nor is wickets, save for an unexpected collapse. This Test, this series, is India’s for the taking. They now need 15 runs off five overs to win.

94th over: India 304-5 (Pant 71, Sundar 21) Four! Four! Pant takes Lyon for eight runs in two deliveries, scooping over the keeper’s head before dropping onto one knee and sweeping over midwicket. Such confidence. A single follows. And then four byes follow as Sundar lets one go, only for all and sundry to watch on as the ball bites out of a crack and beats the lot en route to the boundary. Sundar then picks up two through the covers to make it 15 from the over. Six overs to go. India need 24 runs to win.

93rd over: India 289-5 (Pant 62, Sundar 19) Cummins again. The man’s heart is as big as Phar Lap’s. As big as Pujara’s. Pant collects a single before Sundar drives on the up, giving Australia hope of a catch but Labuschagne is very deep at mid-off. More saving a single than there for the catch. Sundar then dispels any doubt India might have put the cue in the rack as he steps inside a short one from Cummins and swivels around his hips for a massive six! Another four follow as the debutant flashes hard outside off and slices to third man. Eleven runs from the over. Surely that’s Cummins done for now.

92nd over: India 278-5 (Pant 61, Sundar 9) Lyon to Pant, who wants to move things on after watching on at the non-striker’s end the previous over. The Indian swings hard outside off, misses, then defends, then picks up a single past point. Sundar gets one of his own before a misfield at backward point not only gifts Pant a run but keeps him on strike for the over to come. Eight overs remaining. India need 50 runs to win.

91st over: India 275-5 (Pant 59, Sundar 8) Paine goes to the well again with Cummins. He must be tiring. Sundar cuts nicely out of the middle but a sharp piece of fielding by Lyon at backward point makes it a dot ball. If Cummins is fatigued he’s not showing it. He digs one in short to Sundar, plenty of pace, and Sundar does pretty well to fend the ball down to safely. But with no catchers near the bat, there was no danger anyway. Maiden over.

“Will Australia continue using Cummins in one end for rest of the innings?,” asks S. Balaji. “Can he be strong for another 5 overs?”

I can’t imagine he continues. Hazlewood is out there. Just try getting the ball out of his hands, though!

90th over: India 275-5 (Pant 59, Sundar 8) Lyon rips through his over, giving India precious little time to think through their next move. Not much thinking is required, however, when runs are the only thing on your mind. Sundar flashes outside off with maximum intent, but he miscues the shot and looks in trouble before the balls lands safely between the infield and the fielder at deep point. Two from the over.

89th over: India 273-5 (Pant 58, Sundar 7) Cummins continues, one wicket away from yet another five-wicket haul. India are now needing almost a run a ball. Right on cue, Sundar devours a fullish one from Cummins and drives past mid-off for four. Glorious shot from a man on debut. In this situation. Quite remarkable.

Here’s the Agarwal dismissal.

88th over: India 267-5 (Pant 58, Sundar 1) Lyon again. Sundar is the new man at the crease. He batted well in the first innings - his first innings! - but the fate of the match, the series, rests with Pant. He takes a single with two balls remaining. But Sundar has no desire to see off the last two balls and put Pant back on strike, taking a single which precedes a failed reverse sweep from Pant. Yes, a reverse sweep on day five of a Test match. This series, huh?

WICKET! Agarwal c Wade b Cummins 9 (India 265-5)

87th over: India 265-5 (Pant 57, Sundar 0)

Cummins again! He is THE MAN. Agarwal goes chasing outside off but doesn’t get a lot of his attempted drive, picking out Wade at short cover. Another twist to this tale, and again Cummins is the architect.

87th over: India 265-4 (Pant 57, Agarwal 9) Agarwal hangs his bat outside off to Cummins and it looks like the outside edge is beaten, but Australia like it and send the not-out decision upstairs. Review! Not out! Australia burn yet another review. They have just one left.

Updated

86th over: India 265-4 (Pant 57, Agarwal 9) Lyon resumes after the drinks break, playing in his 100th Test and needing just two wickets for 400 in Test cricket. But - pace, turn - it all comes the same to India as Pant sweeps deftly for four more. Six from the over. That will do India nicely.

85th over: India 259-4 (Pant 51, Agarwal 9) Shot! Cummins is full again and now it’s Agarwal’s turn to cash in as the right-hander drives down the ground for four. A single elsewhere in the over as India keep a grip on the required rate. Time for drinks. We all need one. There are 15 overs remaining. India need 69 runs to win. Australia need six wickets.

“India have been brilliant again,” writes David Bertram. “I do hope they close it out. Any thoughts on how England will fare? (And as an aside you have to look at this Australian team and think the ashes are there for the taking if you can cope with the short ball).”

India have been brilliant. But sorry, David, I have no time to lie down and think of England.

Half-century! Pant 50 off 100 balls

84th over: India 254-4 (Pant 50, Agarwal 5) No-ball from Hazlewood. Australia do not need that. They also don’t need Hazlewood wide and full outside off, a delivery which draws a cover drive from Pant to move to 49. And then some luck for Agarwal, who chops outside off and lives to fight on as the inside edge teases across the face of the stumps. Pant then urges his partner through for a quick single that take him to fifty. Australia need Pant out of this situation. He holds the key.

“If Australia don’t win this series, where does that leave Paine’s captaincy?” asks Tanay Padhi. “His side have 5 players who would be in a serious conversation for a world test XI, up against an Indian third team. They’re also not that much more pleasant than the 2018 vintage he was brought in to reform.”

I would think nobody escapes the spotlight in this audit, Tanay.

Updated

83rd over: India 248-4 (Pant 46, Agarwal 4) A picture of stillness, Pant stays in his crease and punches Cummins down the ground for two. Wonderful timing. Cummins then overpitches and it’s not his best delivery, Pant driving through the covers to take four more runs off the victory target. Lovely way for Cummins to end the over, nipping one away from Agarwal and hard into Paine’s gloves.

“Dear Scott,” writes Colum Fordham. “With Vesuvius shrouded in the golden glow of dawn, this incredible match (nay series) is coming to its denouement. Two more sharply contrasting styles of batsmen at the cricket - test cricketer par excellence in Pujara and T20 swashbuckler Pant - could not exist as India have the total within their sights. Thanks to you and Geoff for your vivid word pictures of this scintilating series. Great coverage!”

Trust me, the pleasure is all ours.

82nd over: India 241-4 (Pant 39, Agarwal 4) Hazlewood from the other end. Pant flirts with one outside off, then decides against it, as the ball catches the toe of the bat before trickling to slip. Hazlewood then strays down leg and beats batter and keeper for four byes before Pant steps into a full one and drives sumptuously through the covers for four. A quick single follows. India chasing victory. Ain’t no doubt about it. At the end of the over, Hazlewood lets out an almighty appeal for leg before but Agarwal survives. Too high? A bit of bat? Who cares ... no review from Paine.

WICKET! Pujara lbw b Cummins 56 (India 228-4)

81st over: India 232-4 (Pant 34, Agarwal 4)

The new ball is taken. Cummins gets it. Of course. And it looks like he’s struck! He traps Pujara on the crease, Australia rise in appeal. Pujara is given out leg before. But a review is forthcoming. OUT! The ball is shown to be no more than touching the leg bail, but given the umpire’s call is out ... the decision remains. Australia - and that man, Cummins - have struck. Pujara’s marathon study in defiance comes to an close. He walks off, shaking his head in disbelief. He’s seen them not given, as have we all. Agarwal gets off the mark with two runs to mid-on and then gets two more down the ground.

Updated

80th over: India 228-3 (Pujara 56, Pant 34) Pujara uses his feet and knocks Lyon to mid-on for one. Very useful over from Lyon, who maintains an outside-off line before setting up Pant with an arm ball that juuuuuuuuuust misses off-stump. New ball is due. India need 100 runs to win off 20 overs. You do the math.

Don’t think they’ve missed a trick at all. Scoring on the fifth evening of any Test match with an old ball is never easy. They’re looking to score. They might be as happy to see the new ball as Australia will be.

79th over: India 227-3 (Pujara 55, Pant 34) Starc continues, wide on the crease angling in across to the right-handed Pujara. It’s a good over until he overcorrects as Pujara flicks his wrists and turns the paceman backward of square for three. Rain now descending on the Gabba. But it looks like a sun shower. Nothing dastardly about it. New ball due in one over.

78th over: India 224-3 (Pujara 52, Pant 34) More bounce and turn for Lyon, not what you’d normally expect on a fifth-day deck, but there’s enough there to keep the Indians guessing. A maiden over, which if nothing else pushes the asking rate that little bit higher.

77th over: India 224-3 (Pujara 52, Pant 34) Starc continues. He’s brisk again but short and wide outside off isn’t much use and he’s lucky that Pant picks out deep backward point for only a single. Starc looks more dangerous around the wicket to the right-handed Pujara, and there’s a shout nworth making as the right-hander is rapped on the pads right on the crease. But that angle is severe. Looks to be heading down leg and no review is forthcoming. Starc finishes the over way down leg, almost pleading with Pujara to clip away fine for four runs. Actually, they’re leg-byes. Regardless, the over goes for five runs.

Hmmmmmmmmm.

76th over: India 219-3 (Pujara 52, Pant 33) As expected, Lyon returns from the other end. Around the wicket to the left-handed Pant, he gets good turn off a length and beats the Indian’s outside edge. Lyon does it again later in the over with a straighter one that doesn’t miss off-stump by that far. Five dots balls make way for a release from Pant, who charges the spinner but barely does better than miscue a slog down to long-on for one.

75th over: India 218-3 (Pujara 52, Pant 32) Now Starc from the other end. Instigated by the skipper or Starc himself? Better from the big man, over the wicket to Pant. Faster, with more intent. Pant looks interested in a bouncer but it’s quick, and straight, and beats the chasing blade. Pant retains the strike with a hurried single. Twenty-five overs remaining. India need 110 runs to win. Australia need seven wickets.

India = Huge Chance To Win.

Half-century! Pujara 52 off 196 balls

74th over: India 217-3 (Pujara 52, Pant 31) Starc is pulled after one over as Paine turns to Labuschagne. Pujara gleefully accepts one that turns wide away from off, cutting late for four to register one of the bravest, most heroic half-centuries these tired eyes have witnessed. What a stoic effort. Pujara is the wall that cannot be scaled.

73rd over: India 213-3 (Pujara 48, Pant 31) Australia rise to the cries of “Catch!!!” as Pant flashes at Lyon outside off-stump, but his leading edge lands just short of gully. India maintain near their their required rate with four runs from the over.

72nd over: India 209-3 (Pujara 47, Pant 28) Starc returns top the attack, some time before the new ball is due. Big, big call by Paine. Starc hasn’t had a great series but this has been a particularly ordinary match for the left-armer. And it’s more of the same from Starc, who is short, wide and not very handsome to Pant - four runs! There are singles elsewhere in the over and that’s eight runs from the over.

71st over: India 201-3 (Pujara 45, Pant 22) Lyon again to Pant for the latest chapter of an exchange that could decide this Test. The spinner gets one to turn square out of a crack, which Smith collects at slip, but the over ends up belonging to Pant, who moves his feet and cracks a huge six over long-on. Big shot. Big statement. The 200 is passed by India.

70th over: India 194-3 (Pujara 44, Pant 16) The Pant-Lyon-Paine triangular soiree from the previous over shows India will go chasing if the carrot is dangled. No carrot from Hazlewood in this over, however, as a single to Pujara is the only notable occurrence.

69th over: India 193-3 (Pujara 43, Pant 16) Lyon again, possibly bowling from even wider on the crease in search of those footmarks. No bat-pad, however. Pant looks happy to defend. That is, until, mid-on is brought up and Pant goes waltzing down the pitch, looking to hit high and long down the ground. He misses the lot but, sadly for Australia, so does Paine and so does first slip as the ball races away for four byes. The ball did look to rise sharply but that must go down as a missed stumping chance.

Just check this out!

68th over: India 189-3 (Pujara 43, Pant 16) Around the wicket, Hazlewood to Pant. The Indian prods defensively at one and looks to be in a bit of discomfort. Or did it just keep low? If Pant is in any pain it doesn’t show, with two through the covers and three pulled square coming from the following two deliveries. With India’s run-rate now creeping above four, these are the overs they want. If not exactly need. Wickets, however, are what Australia need. Badly.

67th over: India 184-3 (Pujara 43, Pant 11) Finally, after 20 dot balls, scoring for the session is under way as Pant takes a single past cover. But that’s it for the over. If anyone thought India would come out swinging, or anything remotely like it, think again.

66th over: India 183-3 (Pujara 43, Pant 10) Pujara drives at a Hazlewood half-volley but can’t beat the bowler. The Australian follows up with a zippy delivery that moves markedly off the seam, but it’s a wasted effort with Pujara showing no interest at all. Yet another maiden. Matty Hayden, on the telly, is remarking how Paine should take the new ball when it’s available but that he can’t rely on Starc, who according to Haydos has displayed poor body language and has lacked confidence all Test. The camera shot pans to Starc, who lets out a huge yawn standing detached in the deep.

65th over: India 183-3 (Pujara 43, Pant 10) Lyon from the other end. If Australia are to win, he’ll be taking his 400th Test wicket and then some. One slip for Pant. Off-side field stacked. Pant refuses each of the baited hooks. Another maiden.

64th over: India 183-3 (Pujara 43, Pant 10) And we are back. For the final stanza of a series few will forget. Strap yourselves in. Hazlewood begins for Australia. Pujara tries to pull out of his shot but the ball catches the end of the bat before it dribbles to slip. Hazlewood mixes his length but Pujara isn’t one to fall for trickery. Imagine playing poker against this gent. A bit of seam movement off the cracks in there for the paceman, also. A maiden to kick off the final evening of the final Test.

“Intriguingly set up,” writes Will Ellen. “Here’s hoping for the thrilling ending that this magnificent series deserves. All 4 results still possible on the final session of the fifth day. A fifth day that will bury, once and for all, and forever and a day, the ludicrous idea of turning Test Match Cricket into a 4 day crash bang wallop fest. Leave this form of the game as it is, there is nothing else like it. India’s resilience in this series has amazed me, we could be in for something special here.”

Oh yeah, I forgot about the tie. That rarest of exquisite birds. Given how this series has gone, you might as well install it as the favourite.

Tea - India 183-3 (need 145 to win)

One hundred runs scored at a cost of two wickets on the final afternoon. Australia will be overjoyed to see the back of Gill and Rahane, both of whom scored with purpose, but they still need seven wickets to win this match and regain the Border-Gavasker Trophy. With men still in the hutch, India will look to push on for victory after tea. With a possible 37 overs still to play, 145 looks within their grasp. Should they reel the runs in, it will be a record Test chase at the Gabba. Anything looks possible in the final session. Don’t go anywhere.

63rd over: India 183-3 (Pujara 43, Pant 10) That’s got to smart. Pant tries to defend Cummins, angling into the left-hander from around the wicket, but misreads the line and is struck high on the thigh or groin area. Pujara, for once, isn’t the one hurting. But he can feel Pant’s pain and goes to the striker’s end to check on his partner. What a nice fellow. Pant sees India safely to tea, but not before Cummins beats his outside edge with one that looks to just seam away slightly.

62nd over: India 183-3 (Pujara 43, Pant 10) Pant drives Lyon backward of point for two before going to the same part of the field for one more. It’s a brisk over from Lyon, quick enough to ensure there is another over prior to tea.

61st over: India 180-3 (Pujara 43, Pant 7) Cummins watches on with hands on head as Pant splits slip and gully for four more, but it was a shot played with soft hands and a closed face. A good ball, no argument, but a low-risk shot from a man who has it in him to take this match, this series, right away from Australia. Pant finishes the over with a controlled hook shot, above his head, for a single past square.

“Notwithstanding Lot’s more to be said and done today’,” writes Ian Swan. “At what point would Tim Paine offer / concede the draw? A balancing act of wickets required, runs required, time and overs remaining - or will he play to the very end?”

If wickets are still required and the umpires aren’t removing the bails, Paine would play until the wee small hours I’d wager!

60th over: India 175-3 (Pujara 43, Pant 2) Pujara turns Lyon square and sets off what he thinks is a sure single. Pant, however, has other ideas and sends his partner back from fully halfway down the crease. A direct hit from Cummins at midwicket might have made things interesting, but his throw to Paine is wide and Pujara dives to make his ground. Good over from Lyon to keep Pujara planted.

59th over: India 175-3 (Pujara 43, Pant 2) Pant gets off the mark as Pant does, with a breezy pull shot past square for two that might have brought two more had the ball been struck cleaner. Pant sees off the remainder of Cummins’ over defensively. And India can afford to be measured. With a possible 41 overs still remaining to be bowled, an asking rate south of four is all that’s required.

58th over: India 173-3 (Pujara 43, Pant 0) Lyon to Pujara, who is ready for the ball outside off but waits for the straighter ones and capitalises when he gets them, first collecting two backward of square before concluding the over with a boundary clipped to fine-leg.

WICKET! Rahane c Paine b Cummins 24 (167-3)

57th over: India 167-3 (Pujara 37, Pant 0)

Hazlewood off, Cummins on. No surprise there. Paine needs another breakthrough and Cummins is the go-to man, even moreso given Starc’s struggles today. And Cummins delivers! Again! But a horrible, horrible shot from Rahane, who sets up to ramp the ball over the slip cordon, gets cramped a little, and does nothing more than edge the ball into the gloves of his Australia counterpart. All well and good to bat with intent, but that was nothing short of suicide. A shrink-wrapped treat for Australia. Australia, again, are back in it. But out strolls Pant ...

Updated

56th over: India 163-2 (Pujara 34, Rahane 23) Rahane has had ants in his pants facing Lyon so far today and this over it pays dividends with a huge, beautiful six high over long-on. Australia then think - hope? - they have their man as the short midwicket pouches a catch, but instead of bat onto pad ... it was only pad. No review. India going along nicely after the loss of Gill.

Given Pujara’s brush with pain today, he’ll be happy to watch on from the non-striker’s end as his skipper scores.

55th over: India 156-2 (Pujara 34, Rahane 16) Australia might have been guilty of being too short this morning but they want Rahane driving, especially in the mood he’s in, and Hazlewood almost cashes in as the India skipper swings and misses at a full delivery outside off-stump. The fast bowler beats the outside edge again next ball as Pujara is cramped a little for room but still attempts to cut. Good, attacking bowling.

54th over: India 153-2 (Pujara 34, Rahane 13) Lyon, two strikes short of his 400th Test wicket, continues. He persists wide of off and both batsmen are watchful. Neither can get him away until Lyon delivers a straighter one, which turns away from Pujara and is duly turned past square for four.

53rd over: India 148-2 (Pujara 30, Rahane 12) Excellent shot and even better running as Rahane drives Hazlewood square and the batsmen scamper through for an all-run four. This is not the batting of a man, of a skipper, who wants to bat out the draw. And that’s no bad thing for Australia. It means they have a chance. Two balls later, four more follow from Pujara’s blade but it was a streaky collect after he tried to pull the bat away from one outside off and top-edged over the slip cordon. Nine from the over.

Updated

52nd over: India 139-2 (Pujara 26, Rahane 7) Wow. Lyon is quite wide outside off-stump, enticing Rahane to rocvk back and prepare for the cut shot, but the ball spits almost diagonally onto the pads of the batsman. It draws a big grin from Lyon and a wry smile from Rahane. There’s some action in them there footmarks.

51st over: India 138-2 (Pujara 26, Rahane 6) Hazlewood to Rahane. The quick is short, as expected, but slightly down leg, inviting the new batsman at the crease to roll his wrists and pick up four runs to fine-leg. An good show of intent from the India skipper. If they are thinking only of the draw, he might have stepped inside that one. A single follows. And then Pujara gets hit again! He tries to get under a Hazlewood short ball but it’s a deadly one - head height, fast, and nipping back into the right-hander - and Pujara gets hit flush on the helmet. He gets struck with such force that the rear strap comes clean off. But Pujara, of course, is still standing. It takes more than three of the best fast bowlers in the world, each of whom want blood, to bring this man down. New helmet, same Pujara. He blocks the last ball of the over as it nothing happened.

50th over: India 133-2 (Pujara 26, Rahane 1) Lyon has a spring in his step but it’s Pujara who is light on his feet as he dances up and down the crease, trying to nullify the spinner’s turn. And now we have a review! Pujara gets a huge stride in, is rapped on the pads outside the line of off with no shot offered but is given not out. Australia send the decision upstairs but the ball is shown to be travelling well over the stumps. Not out.

Thanks Geoff. Awesome work these past five days and all series, for that matter. This has been an incredible series and the best might yet be saved for last. Australia needed to lift and thanks to Nathan Lyon they found something from somewhere. India’s second-wicket pair were firmly in the zone. But with the Gill, the enforcer, gone, what looked to be slipping away from Australia is now again in sight. That said, none of the three possible results can be ruled out. If Rahane and Pujara can keep India going as they were prior to Gill’s departure, India might well be retaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy with a win, not a draw. Lot’s more to be said and done today.

49th over: India 132-2 (Pujara 26, Rahane 0) Hazlewood to Pujara and he’s hit again! This time on the hand and that is properly nasty. Pujara yelps and rips his glove off and sits down, ending up lying down on his back trying to ride out the worst wave of pain. That looks like a broken finger, from his reaction. The umpires order a drinks break while Pujara gets some treatment.

Tablets, spray, sympathy, and he’s going to continue. So either that means it isn’t broken or he’s a maniac. He’s led the way with his resistance on this tour, like he did in 2018, even though it’s looked like it has taken more effort from him this time around, more of a battle. Last time the bowlers couldn’t touch him, this time they’ve been at him the whole time.

He’s back at the crease, driving Hazlewood into the cover gap, deciding against a single. Leaving a bouncer. Completing another maiden.

And that, for me, is that for the series. Thanks for some emails in the last few minutes: Laksmi, Ben, Keith and everyone else who has written in to talk about the coverage. We’re very glad that you can pass some enjoyable hours with us sharing the game that we all love. It’s been a belter. A few more hours of it to come, and Scott Heinrich will take you through those. Cheerio.

48th over: India 132-2 (Pujara 26) Last ball of the over when Gill falls. No promotion for Pant, instead it’s Rahane who walks out. Interesting call. The runs to win have come down under 200.

Updated

WICKET! Gill c Smith b Lyon 91, India 132-2

The show ends here! Short of a hundred for Shubman Gill, who played so well. A nothing much sort of dismissal, he looks to drive Lyon to the leg side, the off-spinner gets turn, and that’s wicket 398 for Lyon thanks to his first slip.

47th over: India 128-1 (Gill 90, Pujara 23) Hazlewood quietens things down by conceding a single, just to annoy Starc even further.

46th over: India 127-1 (Gill 89, Pujara 23) Starc to continue, and Gill hooks him for six! Whooshka. How did that travel so far? He barely seems to hit this ball, he just elegantly wafts through the line of it. Too leg side, but it gets punished to the max. On the slow-mo there’s a flick of the wrists as bat meets ball, giving it the momentum off somewhat of a top edge to carry the long leg rope despite there being three catchers out for it: fine leg, deep backward, deep square.

What’s next? Bouncer. Off stump line, Gill leans back and ramps it over slip for four! Nearly six more, that bounces a metre inside the rope just in front of my seat at deep third man.

Next? A short ball that doesn’t get up properly. Gill pulls it for four! Along the ground that time, and absolutely middled, racing to the fence with no chance for anyone to stop it.

That’s a no-ball as well, the fourth ball of the over, the third umpire pinging Starc for an overstep. So when he bowls his replacement seventh delivery, wide and short after Gill has taken a single, Pujara uppercuts four more. Wider, reaches for this one where Gill’s uppercut was closer to the body and played with almost an upright bat.

20 runs from the over! On the fifth day of a Test match. India need 201 to win.

45th over: India 107-1 (Gill 74, Pujara 19) Hazlewood to Pujara who gets hit again. Adding to his human inkblot artwork that will be unveiled over the next day or two. This ball hits him on the arm, partly missing the arm-guard. It hits him near the elbow but Pujara manages to twist his arm so that it hits more of the fleshy forearm part than the bone of the elbow, which is the hit that can make it so hard to bat given you can’t move your fingers properly afterwards. Like Pant in Sydney in the first innings. Pujara gets some bruise treatment then resumes. Sees out the over.

44th over: India 106-1 (Gill 73, Pujara 19) That was Gill, right? It was Shubman Gill? It had to be Gill. But no. It’s Cheteshwar Pujara, getting width from Starc and flashing an uppercut at the ball, open blade, deliberate elevation, over point for a rocket four. The deficit is down to a Benaud, 222.

Updated

43rd over: India 102-1 (Gill 73, Pujara 15) More bouncers, more byes, Cummins launching over Gill and over Paine’s head again. The keeper gets half a glove to it which takes off some pace, allowing it to be saved on the rope as deep third and fine leg converge. Technically that’s still a maiden over, even though it was the bowler’s fault.

42nd over: India 100-1 (Gill 73, Pujara 15) Who was that masked man? Che Pujara has just smoked his first boundary of the day! He gets width and the right length from Starc, gets up on his back foot with his front boot off the ground, and slays it through point. Cha-cha-cha!

Raises the team ton. India need 228 more to win.

41st over: India 95-1 (Gill 72, Pujara 11) More runs for Pujara, who takes his score into double figures and his strike rate per 100 balls above 10. He does that by nudging Cummins off his hip, through the fielder at leg gully who sprawls but can’t stop the ball. The Cowan Ton arrives later in the over: 101 balls faced by Pujara by the over’s end.

40th over: India 93-1 (Gill 72, Pujara 9) That is dismissive from Gill! The first real thump of the ball that he’s played, as he leans back to a length ball from Starc and smears it through midwicket for four. The next is shorter and he hooks it despite having two men waiting for that shot. Deep square leg and deep backward square are both two thirds of the way to the rope, so that ball loops over Harris at deep backward. Gill gets two more, in streaky fashion. So the tactic is that he’ll bat for the win and Pujara will bat for the draw, a bet each way. Gill pulls again, along the ground to fine leg for a single, and Pujara remarkably scores his ninth run, pushing one to point. India need 235 to win.

39th over: India 85-1 (Gill 65, Pujara 8) We commence after lunch via the person of Pat Cummins, who starts as he means to go on: short. Gill pulls away another single and Cummins contributes a no-ball via the front line. Pujara blocks his way up to 94 deliveries, closing on yet another Cowan Ton.

Arul Kanhere was bullish earlier this morning. “India need to go for it. Shutting up shop will end in heavy defeat. And a chase maybe....just maybe cap off a miracle after being the underdogs for so long. What a story it will be. Give us a documentary already.”

Leo Bajzert down in Sydney has a smile on. “Freelancing at the mo and got an email saying there’s nothing for me today. Thrilled. What’s money compared to an enthralling Test series that comes down to the final day? Bring. It. On.”

As a fellow freelancer I fully endorse this attitude. Take time whenever you want. The OBO though is the sweet spot: doing freelance work where the job is watching the Test match.

Andrew James is feeling cheerful too. “No matter the result, I think we can all agree that this series has been of such a high quality – even with a bunch of injuries and that 36 innings, India have demonstrated their steely determination and risen to every challenge. Watching Australia’s bowling attack has been wonderful, particularly in conjunction with the OBO – your commentary to Hazelwood’s dismantling of Pujara on day 3 was *kisses chefs fingers*.”

Thank you very much – doing the OBO every day of a long series has been an unusual situation, and a lot of fun.

A nice message from Blake from Mullumbimby. “I’m meant to be working here in the Coolangatta office, but you know, last day of the Test series and all. I’m really enjoying the Guardian coverage online. You might enjoy this piece from my local rag covering our Boxing Day (late arvo) neighbourhood game. The two kids who were up at 6am and dressed in their whites, waiting all day for the toss, yep, they are mine. Cheers and go the Aussies and blue skies today.”

Very good. Here it is.

Updated

Lunch – India 83 for 1, needing 245 to win

Very much India’s session. There are 62 overs left in the day now, meaning that their chances of hanging on should a couple of wickets fall are much better than they were at the start of the day. Rohit Sharma was the only dismissal. Gill has rolled along at a great clip. The only downside for India is Pujara’s scoring speed. He has been very unfairly criticised for the same thing in Sydney, when his efforts were pivotal to India saving that match. But here, with a smaller target to chase, he doesn’t need to be smashing boundaries but he could have been a bit more ambitious. He’s faced 90 balls for 8, which could have been 90 balls for 38 without any more risks. And that would have brought the target that much closer.

But still: 245 in 62 overs is 3.95 per over. If Rishabh has a good hour, that rate could be caught up comfortably. But I’d like to see Pujara get into the rhythm of scoring rather than just batting after the break.

38th over: India 83-1 (Gill 64, Pujara 8) Block it out until lunchtime? Nah, thanks. Gill gets width from Starc in the final over of the session and swishes for six! An uppercut, top edgy, and Warner is down at third man but that goes square of him and into the crowd. A guy just in front of me in a bright yellow shirt takes a very good catch. Warner kicks the ball back to the umpire to be disinfected. “He does look a bit grubby,” says someone nearby. There’s a big appeal from the last ball of the session as Pujara has a ball brush his shirt on the way down the leg side, but Paine doesn’t review. Lunch, with the chase short by 245.

37th over: India 76-1 (Gill 57, Pujara 8) More short balls from Cummins, again Gill lays into the pull shot and this time he mistimes it in the air down towards deep backward square, but it bounces in front. Don’t want to get caught on the boundary in this match situation a few minutes from lunch. Pujara comes onto strike with the single, and there’s a bonus for India when Cummins goes too short with his bouncer, launching it over Paine for four byes. Then he hits Pujara on the body again. When Che gets his shirt off tonight he’s going to be an abstract painting.

36th over: India 71-1 (Gill 56, Pujara 8) Starc comes on to continue the short-pitched attack. Gill takes it on, hooking to deep square, he’s a tall player who likes that shot. Pujara attempts a cut shot and gets beaten.

Updated

35th over: India 70-1 (Gill 55, Pujara 8) It’s Route One for Cummins now against Pujara. Short, short, short. Fourth ball he hits the batsman again, a blow on his front shoulder and the ball then ricochets through off his arm to the keeper. The Australians appeal, hoping it caught some glove, but they don’t protest the umpire’s refusal. Pujara battles through another maiden, making that 79 balls faced.

34th over: India 70-1 (Gill 55, Pujara 8) Quarter of an hour until lunch, and still no rashness from Gill against Lyon as he blocks and kicks out another maiden. If India can start the second session only one wicket down, they’ll have options in their hands.

33rd over: India 70-1 (Gill 55, Pujara 8) Runs for Che! Pushes Cummins towards mid-on and darts back for a second as well. His strokeplay is conservative but his running has been a bit hair-raising. His hair is then raised by a short ball that hits the back of his helmet, glancing off as he tried to evade it. The second one that has hit him. He’s ok to carry on, it wasn’t a full on hit.

32nd over: India 68-1 (Gill 55, Pujara 6) A nasty blow for Wade, who is hit on the collarbone fielding at short leg when Gill whips Lyon into the ground. It bounces first then comes up and hits the fielder. He recovers after some grimacing and will play on. Tough player, as we saw when he let himself be hit by a lot of short bowling from Neil Wagner last summer. A ball hits Gill and runs to fine leg but there was no shot played so the umpire says dead ball. Gill does get a couple of runs eventually past Wade to midwicket, raising the 50 partnership.

Jake Kimber-Thomson writes in – welcome. “Long time reader, first time writer. Regarding the methode d’extraction for el Che, it seems that the only way is to bowl an absolute jaffa. A compilation of Pujara dismissals could just as easily be titled Best Deliveries 2010 - Now.”

Updated

31st over: India 66-1 (Gill 53, Pujara 6) Cummins is back for Hazlewood, the quicks rotating in short spells today. Cummins uses all of his energy to bash a short ball into Pujara’s shoulder, the batsman trying to duck but the ball doesn’t get up. Unfazed, Pujara is straight onto the front foot to defend the following ball. Half an hour until lunch. Cummins gets a ball cutting back in but as he did earlier, Pujara leaves on length and it sails over off stump. Two slips, gully, leg slip, short leg, all waiting. Only the one wicket for Australia in two hours of play this morning. The anxiety will be starting to claw at their insides, little scratches now that will get worse if the day wears on like this. Another maiden to Pujaara, who has faced 67 balls for his runs.

Updated

30th over: India 66-1 (Gill 53, Pujara 6) Lyon comes around the wicket and Gill doesn’t want to take any risks. Tricky with that angle and men catching around the bat. He defuses the over and doesn’t try to score.

Updated

Fifty! Gill 50 from 90 balls

29th over: India 66-1 (Gill 53, Pujara 6) First ball of the over and Gill raises his minor milestone for the second time in Tests, playing that back-foot force to cover again for two runs this time. He adds three more from Hazlewood through midwicket, and has gone from his lowest career score (31) past his highest (50) in the last half hour or so. Only his third Test, he’s been super consistent.

The partnership is 48 and Pujara has 6 of those.

Updated

28th over: India 61-1 (Gill 48, Pujara 6) Lovely stuff from Gill, down the track and driving Lyon through cover for four. That’s both bold and beautiful. He follows with a single, and brings the deficit down to 267.

Updated

27th over: India 56-1 (Gill 43, Pujara 6) Gill makes Pujara run, taking off for a single towards mid on. Flashbacks to Adelaide 2018 as Cummins picks up cleanly, lines up the stumps, and nails a direct hit. This time it was at the striker’s end. But Pujara has dived home.

“How much can you compare Cummins to McGrath this series?” Luke has just emailed to ask. Well, McGrath never fielded like that. Couldn’t bat like Cummins either. I thin they’re very different styles of bowlers through. Cummins operates at pace, has hostility, and relies on a fuller length with slight bits of lateral movement. McGrath was always back of a length, banging on the seam, jagging one way and the other.

Updated

26th over: India 55-1 (Gill 42, Pujara 6) A quiet one from Lyon, with Gill punching a single back past him off the back foot. Pujara uses his feet but finds mid on, along the ground.

Updated

25th over: India 54-1 (Gill 41, Pujara 6) Hazlewood comes on at the Stanley Street end for Starc, who bowled five overs on the bounce this morning. Fit to play, then. Hazlewood starts off perfectly, right in the channel again and again, just outside the off stump. He’s so good. Equally good is Pujara’s judgement of what to leave. An in-ducker off the seam could see his stumps clunked, but his choices are vindicated through this over. Another maiden.

Updated

24th over: India 54-1 (Gill 41, Pujara 6) Lyon to Gill, who isn’t trying to force the pace. Happy to play out a maiden here.

“Dear Geoff, if you want some rain you are welcome to ours as I peer into a dark, miserable, wet English night,” writes John Norris. “Is the World Test Championships a coveted thing in Australia? I barely hear it get a mention over here. And is it a worthy accolade bearing in mind how disjointed the calendar has been during the last year?”

Similarly to the earlier question, I’d say you would be hearing a lot more about it if England were going to qualify. It’s like the early T20 World Cups or the Champions Trophy: the team that won cared about winning, then the other teams all pretended they didn’t care. The relevance given the mangled calendar is a fair question. I suppose the idea has to start somewhere, to get its wheels to the road. And the first one will then make the second edition matter more, and the third.

Updated

23rd over: India 54-1 (Gill 41, Pujara 6) What a shot from Gill! That’s not even a cover drive, it’s a forcing stroke to a good length ball, no follow through with a slightly angled bat, but immaculately timed, which combines with Starc’s pace to send it swiftly to the cover boundary. Then a single tucked to the leg side. Takes India past the first team milestone, and the deficit to 274. Two slips and a gully for Pujara, with a leg gully and short leg now the other catching positions. Pujara reaches 44 balls faced for his half dozen runs.

Updated

22nd over: India 49-1 (Gill 36, Pujara 6) Another run to Pujara! Pushes Lyon to midwicket and sets off. Gill drives a run wide of mid-off. Slip, leg slip, short leg, short midwicket, square leg, backward square, and mid-on for Pujara. A 7-2 leg side field. Just mid off and point on the other side. India 279 from victory.

Updated

21st over: India 47-1 (Gill 35, Pujara 5) A prince has kissed Cheteshwar Pujara and woken him from his hundred-year slumber. Pujara hops onto the front foot against Starc and drives him classily through the covers. It should be for four, but in true understated Pujara style it pulls up just short of the rope, and a tag-team effort from Lyon and Wade saves a run.

Updated

19th over: India 40-1 (Gill 31, Pujara 2) A single from Starc for Gill from the first ball of the over, pushed into the covers, then Pujara waits out five more deliveries, defending either side of ducking the short ball.

20th over: India 44-1 (Gill 35, Pujara 2) Another boundary for Gill as he goes back and glances Lyon fine, before playing out the rest of the over. That takes Gill past his lowest score for the series. Consistent. Drinks. India need 284 more to win.

Updated



18th over: India 39-1 (Gill 31, Pujara 2) As is now custom, the ground announcer goes bananas for Nathan ‘Nathan’ Lyon and the small crowd delivers a corresponding welcome. Decent shape out of the hand to start with. Lyon bowls one short ball that draws Gill into a pull shot but that goes straight on, maybe the square spinner, and Gill is lucky not to miscue it while pulling. That brings Pujara on strike for a huge lbw appeal, reviewed by Australia.

Lyon is down on one knee. Paine reviews quickly. Pujara has advanced, missed the ball, been hit around off stump but he’s a long way down. DRS says umpire’s call on height. The projection suggests that the ball is smashing leg stump, but according to the ICC rules on DRS, the bails and the top of the stump from where the groove starts don’t count as part of the impact area for ball-tracking. Which is nonsense, but that’s the rule. Stumps ain’t stumps.

Just over half the ball is above the black line drawn below the stump groove, so the call stays not out. On the other side of the grievance list, Pujara is ruled to not be playing a shot to that, with the impact slightly outside the line of the stumps, even though he probably was playing a shot.

Updated

17th over: India 38-1 (Gill 29, Pujara 2) Gill looks to back-cut Starc behind point but is denied runs by Green in the gully. Good stop. The batsman settles for a single off his pads. Pujara extends his ratio to one scoring shot in 28 balls.

16th over: India 37-1 (Gill 28, Pujara 2) Quite the shot from Shubman Gill, striding forward to an overpitched ball and lacing it through the covers for four! Labuschagne puts in a Tour de France of a chase but can’t overhaul it before the cobbles. Green fixes his length but Gill is feeling good now, and drives off the back foot regardless to pick up three through cover point.

“How do you get Pujara out?” asks Ruth Purdue. “For me he personifies grinding down bowlers. An old school player who you’d love to have in your team but hate to play against.”

That is the question. Australia have managed to get him this summer via Pat Cummins bowling some absolutely perfect deliveries, angling in and seaming away and taking edges. But that’s hard to do on demand, otherwise every bowler would. His other susceptibility is being caught at leg slip or leg gully, playing off his pads. And at times he has looked vulnerable to Lyon’s off spin with the ball turning in and catchers around the bat. But it’s like the sea breaking down a rock: you just have to continue with the dark patience of the ages.

15th over: India 30-1 (Gill 21, Pujara 2) Here is Starc at last. Alright, watch this space. He was worried about a hamstring yesterday. But he looks alright today! Up past 140 kph immediately. Gill drives his second ball, beautifully, but Wade at cover pulls off a brilliant diving stop and puts the single under pressure by throwing to the striker’s end. Pujara dives and makes his ground, then gets off the mark! A big inside edge squirting away through square leg for two. El Che is away. Starc gets through the over without dropping pace. Encouraging for Australia.

14th over: India 27-1 (Gill 20, Pujara 0) You count a Pujara innings not in runs scored but in balls faced. That’s what he goes out there to do. He’s up past 20, ending Green’s over on 21. Conventional field for him: three slips, gully, point, cover, mid off, mid on, midwicket fairly square, fine leg.

13th over: India 27-1 (Gill 20, Pujara 0) Cummins to Gill, defending. Presumably if Starc doesn’t bowl then Cummins will bowl a couple more overs, before Hazlewood replaces him, then Lyon will replace Green. This over is a maiden.

“That was an interesting analysis of the options about the World Test Championship,” writes Murray Henman. “I’m wondering what importance are the cricketing nations and teams putting on this? What would they prioritise?”

I think it’s a play-by-ear situation, but now that it’s within reach I suspect that teams that could make it will really want to make it. And those that can’t will brush it off and say it doesn’t matter. But any team would like to be the first winner of the thing, rather than being out of contention. Also given it will be played in England, the Australians would probably see it as a burnishing of their draw in the 2019 Ashes.

12th over: India 27-1 (Gill 20, Pujara 0) More runs for Gill as Green starts too straight and he whips through midwicket. Three. Pujara drives to the left of Labuschagne at cover and again considers a single before declining. Green bowling before Starc, which is interesting, but Starc is on the field, in Green’s position at gully. Pujara faces five more dots.

11th over: India 24-1 (Gill 17, Pujara 0) The opposite approach as Pujara blocks out Cummins. He does think about a single after defending to cover but bails out. Ducks a bouncer. Ten balls faced for him.

10th over: India 24-1 (Gill 17, Pujara 0) As expected, Shubman Gill hasn’t packed the toys away. Flicks Hazlewood for two runs through square, then gets an overcorrection in width and flays a cut shot over the cordon for four. Top edgy but perfectly safe in the end. That will get the blood pumping.

9th over: India 18-1 (Gill 11, Pujara 0) Cheteshwar Pujara to the middle to start building his defensive bulwark brick by brick. Gill will almost certainly keep playing shots and see where that takes him. Pujara leaves a few, including one very close to the line of the off stump, but he was confident that the length would carry it over. He was right.

WICKET! Rohit c Paine c Cummins 7, India 18-1

There it is! Just consistency from Cummins, that line that he pursued around the off stump time and again. That ball doesn’t do anything wild off the pitch but it does seam away slightly, at the tricky length that makes you play and the line that you can’t leave. Rohit defends, hands going at the ball too hard, and the movement takes the edge low to Paine’s right, where he dives across first slip to take it well.

8th over: India 18-0 (Rohit 7, Gill 11) Rohit squirts away a single from Hazlewood via an inside edge, leaving Gill to face five balls. No trouble. The last of them Gill greets with such a textbook defensive stride that he holds the pose for a good 10 seconds to soak in the feeling. Mwah.

7th over: India 17-0 (Rohit 6, Gill 11) Every over with the new ball that goes by without a wicket is a minor victory for India. Cummins makes Gill play at every ball of his over. Five of them get defended, one beats the edge going a long way off the surface. There’s that wildcard factor. There will be deliveries through the day that misbehave. So it probably is in India’s interest to unsettle the Australians by continuing to score at a good clip in between times.

6th over: India 17-0 (Rohit 6, Gill 11) Hazlewood is the candidate for an early incision, but Gill is playing him really well. Defends with solidity at the ball pitched up, then middles a pull shot as soon as Hazlewood drops short. Three runs as it pulls up on the slow outfield.

5th over: India 14-0 (Rohit 6, Gill 8) Cummins is clipped for two from the first ball of his over, but he starts settling into his work against Gill. Consistently up past 140 kph now, zeroing in on the stumps. Eventually to a bit more width Gill plays a back-foot punch to cover for one, a nice shot but it’s a risky one with the chance of the ball moving off the seam. India need 314 more to win.

Updated

4th over: India 11-0 (Rohit 6, Gill 5) Rohit guides Hazlewood away for a single, then it’s Gill’s turn to get going. An open-faced slice behind point for two, then a stylish flick off the pads for three. His scores this series: 45, 35 not out, 50, 31. He has impressed without making something substantial.

3rd over: India 5-0 (Rohit 5, Gill 0) And we’re away. Hazlewood bowls the one remaining ball of the second over that was interrupted last night for rain, then Cummins sends down an exploratory maiden (sounds like a fantasy novel) to Rohit, who defends until adding a run from the final ball.

If you want a bit more detail, and a cute baby, and some direct experience of the wild weather that descended on Brisbane yesterday, we’ve got all of that on the Final Word wrap.

The AAP report on the fourth day’s play will bring you up to speed with the basics.

Get in touch

Get on the blower. The internet blower. The email blower, more specifically. Or the Twitter, which definitely blows sometimes. Ride out this last day with me, let me know where you’re following it or how it’s making you feel. Contact details in the sidebar.

Preamble

Hello all, for the last time from the Border-Gavaskar trophy series of 2020-21. Three Test matches and four fifths of the fourth, and it all comes down to today. India need 324 runs to win the Test and win the series 2-1. Australia need to bowl them out to win the Test and win the series 2-1. A draw would see the series drawn and the trophy retained by India.

Perhaps more significantly, a draw would see Australia remain in a qualifying position for the World Test Championship final, where a loss would see them drop out. A draw would (I think) see India temporarily drop from second to third and out of contention, but with the chance to make up that gap again in their upcoming Tests against England. If Australia does tour South Africa as speculated, those Tests could also help Australia regain their place should they lose it today, but on the other hand losses in South Africa would also damage Australia’s win ratio and could see them miss out even if they win today. Qualification is done by a percentage of wins or draws from matches played, not overall points, and New Zealand have finished all of their Tests for the period with a high qualification average. Should either Australia or India slip, the Kiwis are in.

So here we are. Bowling wise, Mitchell Starc might have a hamstring twinge and could be hampered. Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood have done a power of work. Nathan Lyon has bowled well but not taken many wickets in this series. Cameron Green is yet to take one in his career. Those bowlers will have to dig deep one more time to make use of an increasingly spicy Gabba pitch.

As for India, their openers Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill are both stroke-players, and one suspects that they will go about things as normal, looking to score at a decent clip. If they put on enough runs then the rest of the lineup may go after this target. If they fall cheaply then we’ll likely see Pujara and company try to bat long as they did in Sydney.

And the weather? The forecast is good and the skies are cloudy in patches but overall dry. Fingers crossed. Shall we, once more with feeling?

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