Australian skipper Pat Cummins reached another high in his career, as he overtook legendary Garfield Sobers (West Indies) and Daniel Vettori (New Zealand) to become the player with third-highest wickets as a captain. Cummins made this movement upward in the charts during the third Test against India at Brisbane.
During India’s first innings, Cummins was absolutely relentless with his bowling, banging the cherry on the deck mercilessly. The result was that he got wickets of the entire Indian middle-order, Rishabh Pant, skipper Rohit Sharma, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Ravindra Jadeja,
Now, Cummins has 119 wickets as a Test captain, as per stats from live Cricbuzz commentary. Above him are, Australia’s Richie Benaud (138 scalps) and Pakistan all-rounder Imran Khan (187 wickets).
ITS PAT CUMMINS, ITS ALWAYS PAT CUMMINS – The best in the business pic.twitter.com/RzP9fDVuBL
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) December 17, 2024
Coming to the match, India won the toss and opted to field first. After a wicketless spell on Day 1 spanning approximately 13 overs, India seemed to have an edge on Day 2, dismissing Usman Khawaja (21 off 54 balls, with three fours), Nathan McSweeney (9), and Marnus Labuschagne (12), reducing Australia to 75 for 3.
However, the 241-run stand between Smith (101 off 190 balls, with 10 fours) and Head (152 off 160 balls, with 18 fours) shifted the momentum in Australia’s favour. Bumrah (5/72) eventually broke the partnership, triggering a flurry of wickets. Despite this, Australia ended the day in a commanding position at 405 for 7, with Alex Carey (45 not out) and Mitchell Starc (7 not out) unbeaten at the crease.
On day two, Carey (70 in 88 balls, with seven fours and two sixes) and Starc (18) pushed Australia to 445/10 in 117.1 overs. Bumrah was the pick of the bowlers for India, taking 6/76. Siraj got two while Nitish Kumar Reddy and Akash Deep got one each.
In their first innings, India lost Yashasvi Jaiswal (4), Shubman Gill (1), Virat Kohli (3) and Rishabh Pant (9) early but KL Rahul stuck around with 33 not out in 64 balls at the end of the day’s play.
However, on day four, India put up a better fight, as half-centuries from Rahul (84 in 139 balls, with eight fours) and Ravindra Jadeja (77 in 123 balls, with seven fours and a six) and some defiant batting from tailenders Akash Deep (27 not out in 31 balls, with two fours and a six) and Jasprit Bumrah (10 not out in 27 balls, with a six) helped India prevent a follow-on and reach 252/9 at the end of fourth day’s play. The series is currently level at 1-1, with two more matches left.
