Nitish Reddy justified the Indian management's faith in him with a composed and gritty performance on the third afternoon of the MCG Test. Coming in at 191/6, the allrounder partnered with Washington Sundar to establish a record eighth-wicket stand of 105 runs, helping to lift India from their batting struggles. By the time bad light forced an early Tea break, India had reduced their deficit to 148 runs.
Their partnership, which lasted 32.1 overs, demonstrated that the batting conditions were favorable. Washington, with his 40 runs off 115 balls, played a perfect supporting role to Nitish, who scored his maiden Test fifty and is now just 15 runs shy of his first Test century.
Nitish scored 85 at a brisk strike rate of 71.43, yet he took few risks. He avoided the common trap of playing ramp shots against short balls from Pat Cummins, a dismissal that had cost him in Adelaide. Even when he took a short ball to the glove, he refrained from playing aggressively. He displayed confidence from the outset, driving the quicks effectively and charging at Nathan Lyon. His only risky moment came when he attempted a reverse sweep off pacer Scott Boland.
Their productive batting session followed a dramatic morning where Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja were dismissed by Boland and Lyon, leaving India precariously positioned at seven down and facing a significant first-innings deficit. Pant was caught at third man while trying to lap Boland over the leg side, resulting in a top-edge. Jadeja, who had been restrained throughout, fell victim to a clever delivery from Lyon, who trapped him leg before wicket with a quicker ball.
From 221/7 in the 65th over, Australia's hopes of a swift wrap-up were dashed by the unbroken eighth-wicket partnership, forcing them to take the second new ball in their first innings for the first time in eight Tests.
0 Comments