Pat Cummins scored two runs, including knocking out KL Rahul with the last ball before tea, in response to Australia’s score of 474, and Steve Smith hit a century on the second day of the pre-Christmas Test match.
Meanwhile, Virat Kohli avoided a ban for colliding with Australian player Sam Konstas but was fined 20.
Follow the action in our live blog below, view the full ScoreCentre and listen to our live radio coverage.
Key Events
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That’s 50 for Yashasvi Jaiswal
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TEA: India 2-51 (Jaiswal 23)
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BOWLED! Cummins sends Rahul packing with a ripper
Live: Boxing Day Test — Australia vs India
39th over – Boland returns to the attack for Cummins
Scott Boland returns to the attack. If anyone can whip this group into a frenzy, it’s him.
He started with Jaiswal, who walked off the field before defending the first ball.
Boland looked to throw the ball across to Jaiswal, hoping to hit the edge of the goal on his way through.
Jaiswal hit the ball short to the outside off for a single.
Boland hit the ball towards Kohli’s leg guard, but Kohli inside-edges and fails to defend. The Indians hit a quick single and Australia win by half-time.
Three singles after one over. It was a real waiting game for these two. Kohli once again patiently hit the ball to the boundary. Virat’s control rate today was 89, according to ESPNCricinfo.
38th over – Marsh causes some problems for Jaiswal
Defeated! Marsh bowls it but it doesn’t go in. Jaiswal cuts it hard but it doesn’t go in.
Four! A close win! It wasn’t entirely convincing, Jaiswal narrowly missed a run between first and third slip but ended up scoring four. He wasn’t quite comfortable with Marsh’s slower pace.
Kohli looked at Mash calmly and had a few words with Jaiswal.
37th over – Cummins tests Kohli with short stuff
Cummins hits another over to Kohli and takes a catcher at backward square leg.
He is tempting Virat to see if he is willing to take on this guy because if he surpasses him, there will be a limit.
The signals were mixed again as Kohli hit the leg side. Jaiswal rushed towards the pitch and was bowled back.
FOUR! Cummings looks to play it short but Virat is in complete control and he leans back and hits it past the square leg umpire for four.
Cummins tried to bowl again on the next ball but Kohli hit it straight down the ground to the fielder halfway across the boundary.
36th over – Bison time as Marsh comes on
The Bisons replace Nathan Lyon.
India has welcomed Australia’s fifth bowler, can Jaiswal and Kohli now shine? Jaiswal is 63, Virat is 28.
Alex Carey kept guarding the goalposts, which was a good move as Marsh’s first delivery hit a very smooth 121 km/h.
Interestingly, when Kohli goes on strike, Carey comes back.
What a close call! Jaiswal hits the ball hard and it flies through the empty area at the back, scoring a point.
When Kohli got forward advantage over a diving Khawaja in the valley for another point, Marsh tricked the opponent into making another fake shot.
Marsh got off to a good start, hitting four singles and getting plenty of encouragement.
The partnership between Kohli and Jaiswal reached 80.
35th over – Kohli almost runs himself out
Run opportunity! Kohli bounced the ball off leg guard and thought it had gone out but Lyon dived to block it and both batsmen were in the middle of the pitch. Lyon hesitated in front of the wicket and missed the chance, much to the delight of the Indian Army.
I think if there is an attack, Virat will run away. That is the last thing India wants.
Cummins tested Jaiswal with something short here.
He has a deep square leg 3/4ths of the way from the fence, another fielder at deep square leg on the boundary and another wicketkeeper at extra wide mid-off halfway from the fence. Very interesting field position.
Kohli once again defended the off side and feinted to run but then wisely decided not to do so.
34th over – Virat pounces after lots of defence
Now it’s Lyon’s turn to test Colley’s defense.
After defending, Virat hit a hit that landed on the ground for a single. His first 24 runs came off 61 deliveries. Patience incarnate.
Lyon decided to continue passing the ball to Jaiswal.
Lyon hit the ball a little short and Jaiswal knocked it to the ground to get a point.
Another short ball, this time to Kohli, Virat leaped back and slotted it for three. It felt good after all the shots he had taken on the defensive end.
33rd over – Cummins continues to test out Kohli
Now the ground was silent. Just like it was before Cummins shot Rahul.
Cummins is putting up a tense test of Kohli’s fielding and fielding patience.
Oh my god, what is this! Cummings imitates Siraj and throws a flick ball that flies over Alex Carey’s head and goes five yards wide.
You know what? I loved the three times this happened today, and all three times it was a wide ball instead of a bye, which is usually an absolute trap for a goalie. #ProtectOurGoalies
This fight between Cummins and Kohli has the feel of a true heavyweight boxing match.
Cummings tested Kohli with a short ball, which Kohli played clumsily, and they scored one, and Jaiswal nearly slipped, and they scored two more. The crowd screamed as if a murderer was sneaking up on an unsuspecting victim.
Meanwhile, Konstas now stood before the Indian army and also hyped them up. Excellent alliance of Greek and Indian peoples, what a good time.
32nd over – Lyon continues poker game with Jaiswal
The battle between Lyon and Jaiswal continues.
Jaiswal’s batting was like he was trying to retire Australia’s GOAT.
But Lyon is a cunning old fox, and it’s no accident that he’s been in the game for so long.
Usman Khawaja remained in the middle, allowing Jaiswal to lob the ball if he wanted.
Jaiswal defended patiently and flicked the ball to Boland, who got a point.
Lyon sent the ball across the wicket to Jaiswal, the last ball of the over, who defended it calmly.
31st over – Pat Cummins brings himself on to stop the bleeding
After Mitchell Starc scored 14, Cummins took the ball and said ‘OK, I’ll do it myself’.
The scoring stopped immediately as Kohli waited for the maiden to be out.
30th over – Jaiswal facing Nathan Lyon
Bang! Jaiswal leaps to the delivery of the ball and hits it to Lyon at mid-on for four. He treats the ball like a beach ball and looks as good as he did during his 161 in the second innings in Perth.
Jaiswal hit a single behind the over and Kohli hit one to long on.
This pitch is a little tough to hit, but both hitters looked comfortable.
Jaiswal tried to blast the ball but it flew to midfield. He missed the timing completely.
29th over – Starc continues
Whip! Starc tries a yorker and Jaiswal jumps off his feet and taps his toes through mid-on for four.
Jaiswal finished the match with a single and scored 13 runs.
Since he bowled a no ball, the score was 14 and he had to bowl one more to Virat Kohli.
He defends and now overshoots the ball.
That’s 50 for Yashasvi Jaiswal
(Getty)
The young Indian opener got back on the scoreboard when the team needed him and this was the second time he scored 50 runs in this series.
He scored 161 in Perth, but otherwise he’s scored 0, 0, 24, 4 and 4*, so you’d be forgiven for forgetting how good he is when he’s flying at full speed. But that’s it.
29th over – Starc steams in
Boundary ball.. for four. Jaiswal continues towards Starc and flashes a big ball that flies between the slip and gully, high enough to catch. It’s one of the few boundary balls that goes unheard.
28th over – Lyon is getting into his work
Bang! Jaiswal hits the ball too short, too far and hits the ropes. He could have hit it either way and he made no mistake.
Jaiswal hit the ball to the ground for a single, giving Kohli a chance against Lyon.
Kohli tried his best to hit the ball but he couldn’t get Lyon away.
Sam Konstas brought the MCG fans to their knees. (Getty)
27th over – Starc continues after a drinks break
Four. The first ball after the resumption was as easy as you like it and he just helped it go to fine leg.
But Starc tightened up his defence after that and Kohli couldn’t get away with it. It was a brilliant Test cricket match. The batsmen looked solid but, like Australia in the middle innings, you didn’t feel the bowlers were out.
26th over – We get our first look at Nathan Lyon bowling on this pitch
He defended far away at the start, while Jaiswal cut in hard but directly to the back.
Jaiswal attempted an aggressive sweep and was hit on the helmet.
It looked like he hurt his hamstring after that big step, and the trainers were running out. His shin guard was also hit, so they might be checking that, too.
He must be stretching his left hamstring.
Meanwhile, Sam Constas asked the crowd to slowly applaud as Lyon came up to bowl. Jaiswal pushed the ball to mid-court.
25th over – Starc to Kohli
Starc started well, keeping a tight line with Kohli but offered no real width and the Indian star was not involved.
Hit straight with full force. Hit and catch. No score.
Kohli’s shots were more frequent as Starc attacked him.
It was reminiscent of the 2004 Sydney Test when Australia left Sachin Tendulkar an opening and challenged him to bat but he refused and scored 241 runs without proper cover batting.
Four! The last ball is straight and full and Kohli bounces off the pads. Sam Konstace can’t touch it at mid-on and this is a beautiful shot.
24th over – Boland persists
He is still on the wicket of left-handed Jaiswal.
He was batting when he walked towards the bowler but failed to catch the ball that flew past him.
Boland changed his strategy and went around the wicket, not allowing Jaiswal to target him, while still maintaining his line and length.
The final ball broke through the defense but landed unscathed on the shin guard. These are two completely different duos, but they are currently tied.
23rd over – Mitchell Starc replaces Pat Cummins
His first delivery was a no ball. Kohli also defended the first legal delivery.
Slightly fuller – still not a half-volley – Kohli hits the ball harder to the ground for two points.
Kohli angrily did not fire any more shots and passed the match without incident.
Stark doesn’t look as threatening as a right-handed outfield player.
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