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India vs Australia 4th Test Day 4 Preview: Rampant hosts eye 7th series win on the trot

India will aim to saunter towards a massive victory over Australia in the fourth Test at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala, on the fourth day.

India are all set to clinch the series after a dominating Day Three © IANS
India are all set to clinch the series after a dominating Day Three © IANS

India will aim to saunter towards a massive victory over Australia in the fourth Test at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala, on the fourth day. India require another 87 runs to clinch the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2016-17, after a dominating show in the last two sessions of the third day. India bowled Australia out for a mere 137 with Umesh Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin claiming 3 wickets each. India would be registering their seventh series win on the trot (home and away), a golden run which began for the young team in mid 2015.  FULL CRICKET SCORECARD: India vs Australia, 4th Test at Dharamsala

Going into the fourth day, which will also be the final day of what has been one of the most intriguing series played in recent past few years; India need 87 more runs to clinch the trophy in their favour, and Australia face the improbable task of dismissing 10 Indian batsmen before they score the required runs. It will also be interesting to see if the Australian side, which has showed a lot of character and grit to keep India on their toes, will be able to garner any confidence and snaffle a few early wickets in order to put the hosts under any pressure. Australia looked sapless on the third day’s evening, but are expected to go down fighting.

In what turned out to be an excellent day for India in the field, Ravindra Jadeja produced an all-round effort to put his side right in the front. Resuming their first innings at 248 for 6, India needed a strong batting show to begin with. They were delivered just that as Ravindra Jadeja and Wriddhiman Saha added as many as 96 runs for the seventh wicket, and even if the Indian tail failed to contribute, a second-innings lead of 32 runs proved more than handy.

When Australia came out to bat post lunch, they were put under tremendous pressure right away with Umesh removing David Warner and Matthew Renshaw, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar being lucky enough for snaffling Steven Smith’s wicket.

Australia had lost their top 3 batsmen even before they had rubbed off India’s lead. With one more run to score in order to erase it and level the scores, Glenn Maxwell got together with Peter Handscomb. They added 56 crucial runs before the procession started again, with Handscomb falling to Ashwin before tea.

Maxwell was dismissed for 45, which was the highest individual total in the Australian second innings. Ashwin got the better of his nemesis this time, trapping Maxwell in front of the wickets with sharp turn.

Matthew Wade combined with Pat Cummins to take Australia as far as they could, but it was nothing less than a crime to not look for runs. Wade and Cummins batted together for 15.1 overs, but they scored a mere 15 runs, with the latter contributing 12 of them. It was a botched up approach as Australia kept slipping towards an impending defeat, which became amply clear with the tail falling off without any fight.

Indian bowlers were terrific right from the beginning and deserve rich credits for pulling the game as well as the series completely in their favour. Jadeja was all over Australia with his innings of 63 and 3 for 24 later in the day, and even though he may not have terrorised the visiting team in the manner he usually does, Ashwin returned with 3 for 24 as well. Umesh, who removed the openers, claimed one more wicket later in the day.

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