Just 33 overs could be bowled on Day 3 of the third Test at the Gabba – but it was enough to turn Australia’s firm control of proceedings into a stranglehold and leave India praying for the weather to help them preserve a 1-1 series scoreline.
A freewheeling 70 from Alex Carey took Australia to a considerable 445 after Travis Head and Steve Smith’s Day 2 centuries, before Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins wreaked havoc with the new ball to reduce India to 4/51, with danger men Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal all out of the equation.
In between, though, there was rain, and lots of it.
Six times Australia and India were forced off as the heavens opened, the largest a two and a half-hour stoppage midway through the afternoon, before the seventh brought with it a premature end to the day’s play.
While the remaining two days of the match will see an extra hour added to proceedings in a desperate bid to make up the significant time lost across Days 1 and 3, the forecast looks set to bring more rain to Brisbane for the remainder of the week, leaving Australia’s quest to take 16 wickets and force a victory looking increasingly unlikely.
However, the worm has officially turned in this series: after being demolished in the first Test in Perth, Australia are looking more and more dominant with every passing day, and can head to Melbourne and Sydney with renewed confidence of regaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy regardless of the result at the Gabba.
With Carey racing to a half-century at near run-a-ball pace in the opening session, the highlight a jaw-dropping 108-metre six over cover off Akash Deep, the wicketkeeper did the lion’s share of the scoring as Australia batted on for a further 16 overs after resuming at 7/405.
A sixth wicket for the indefatigable Jasprit Bumrah, with Starc edging behind to Rishabh Pant, was just about the sole highlight for India – and things only got worse when it was their turn to bat.
Fresh off a first-ball duck in the first innings in Adelaide, Jaiswal doubled his time at the crease in Brisbane, following a first-ball edge wide of the slips cordon for four by flicking Starc off his pads to present Mitchell Marsh with the simplest of catches at mid-wicket.
Marsh added a second catch in much more spectacular fashion shortly after, leaping like a salmon at gully to snaffle a flying edge off the back of Shubman Gill to cement Australia’s dominant start – and hand Starc a second wicket.
With plenty of bounce and pace in the Gabba surface, Hazlewood and Cummins soon got their share of the spoils: Hazlewood seeing the back of Kohli after inducing a loose drive to get a thin edge through to Carey, and Cummins producing a cracker to find Pant’s edge through to the keeper just four balls after the resumption from another rain break.
Perhaps the moment to signify Australia’s rejuvenated form came a ball before Kohli’s dismissal, where a diving Starc did brilliantly at fine leg to save a near-certain Rahul four, keeping the veteran on strike for Hazlewood to find his edge.
At 4/44, another Indian collapse seemed imminent – but having repeatedly been forced off for periods both fleeting and lengthy due to the rain, the day’s sixth stoppage brought with it gloom for the hosts – Starc especially – as they felt their chances of forcing a result and taking a series lead slowly ebbing away.
There was enough time for 13 more balls in between the sixth and seventh delays – all but one bowled by Nathan Lyon and Travis Head due to fading light denying Cummins the chance to use the quicks – before the heavens again opened to call a permanent halt to proceedings.
Should play begin uninterrupted on Day 4, India’s hopes of salvaging a competitive total lie with KL Rahul; amid the carnage, the opener played fluently, driving with confidence and judging the bounce well despite an early blow to the wrist off a vicious Hazlewood lifter leaving him in pain.
On 33 not out at stumps, he and out-of-form captain Rohit Sharma are the only recognised batters standing between Australia and the bowlers – and potentially, a 1-2 series deficit.
