Brisbane Test: India Need 324 More To Win As Rain Ends Day 4 Early (Day Report)
India will need 324 runs more, with all their wickets intact, when they come out to bat on Tuesday to win the fourth and final Test against Australia at The Gabba.
Brief scores: Australia 369 and 294 (Steve Smith 55, David Warner 48; Mohammed Siraj 5/73) vs India 336 and 4/0 at Stumps on Day Four (Rohit Sharma 4*, Shubman Gill 0*; Mitchell Starc 0/4)
Brisbane Test: India vs Australia Day 4 Report
The day resumed At 21/0 with David Warner and Marcus Harris being the overnight batsmen. The Australian openers added 68 runs off 19 overs when, with the score on 89, Harris fell for 38 when he tried to duck a Thakur short ball only for the ball to graze his glove on the way through to wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant.
It prompted a mini-collapse as two runs later debutant Washington Sundar trapped Warner lbw for 48, the Australian opener's highest score since his return from a groin strain in the third Test in Sydney.
Marnus Labuschagne came to the crease and continued to attack, blasting five boundaries on his way to a quickfire 25 before he was straightened up by a Siraj delivery and edged a simple catch to Sharma at second slip.
Siraj, who was expensive in his early overs, then had Matthew Wade caught behind down the leg side for a duck three balls later to leave Australia 123 for four. Steve Smith and Cameron Green then began to take the game away from the visitors, though both had let-offs. Smith was dropped at long-off by Siraj on 38 while Green survived a caught and bowled by the same bowler on 14.
But Siraj made amends when he got one to leap into Smith's glove with the former Australian captain on 55, while Thakur took the wickets of Green, Tim Paine, and Nathan Lyon.
For India, right-arm fast bowler Mohammed Siraj picked up his maiden five-wicket haul, conceding 73 runs in 19.5 overs. Shardul Thakur also picked four wickets for 61 while debutant off-spinner Washington Sundar scalped one.
India reached 4/0 in their chase on 328 in the extended final session before the rain started pouring in and umpires were forced to call for early Stumps. Only 1.5 overs could be bowled in India's second innings on Day Four as Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill remained unbeaten on 4 and 0 respectively.
The weather forecast for the final day isn't great and Australia will be praying that rain god to stay away so that they can win the Brisbane Test and win the Border-Gavaskar series, a trophy which they lost in India's last tour of 2018-19. On the other hand, a draw in the game would be sufficient for India to retain the coveted trophy.