Who Will Have the Last Laugh?

After eventful contest between ball and bat on Day 4, final day promises to be a thriller

- GOMESH S MELBOURNE

It is finally here. Day five of a Test match between India and Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. In what has been a contest that saw multiple records get made over the past four days, Australia went into the sunset on Sunday with 228/9, leading by 333 runs.

The last time these two teams played a fifth day of a Test in a Test fixture that was not affected by rain, was the 2023 World Test Championship Final. In the time since Australia have played 18 Tests and India 16 (three Tests between the two) and not one have gone into the final day without the weather playing its part.

Here, in Melbourne, the first and foremost credit perhaps would go to the MCG head curator Matt Page who promised an entertaining contest. However, no one deserves more than a small group of players who made it possible. Jasprit Bumrah who kept India in the contest through the series while scaling one mount after another on a personal front has taken eight wickets in the match and almost had his ninth in the final over of Sunday. Nitish K Reddy and Washington Sundar showed their value with the bat and ensured the visitors did not succumb.