Ajinkya Rahane, Shardul Thakur Keep Australia at Bay at Lunch on Day 3

First over, second delivery of the day, Scott Boland finds his radar outside off stump and the ball jags back in, beats the inside edge of Srikar Bharat and then hits the top of off stump. Sixth wicket down for India for 152. This was the worst possible start for India on Day 3 of the WTC final against Australia at the Kennington Oval, London; and the best possible for Australia. And it did seem Australia would be able to wrap up the Indian tail in no time.

But Ajinkya Rahane and Shardul Thakur had other plans. After enduring a tough first hour of play in which Thakur was peppered with some short pitch deliveries directed at his body, and add to that a couple of dropped catches, the duo riding on some heavy dose of luck managed to add 108 runs for the seventh wicket as India put on a remarkable fightback to stay afloat in the Test.

Rahane was going to be the key for India and after the Bharat wicket, he realised that hanging back and playing for time will not work out and chanced his arms whenever the opportunity presented. Thakur had got a life early when an outside edge off Boland climbed a bit too much for Usman Khawaja’s liking at third slip.

Rahane continued to check his shots, judged the length soberly off the fast bowler and did not allow Australia to bowl at him for a prolonged period of time at once. He reached his fifty with a confident pull for six off Pat Cummins and then he shifted gears.

Day 3 traditionally is a good day to bat and with the sun out, it indeed was and Rahane was not going to miss out. With the marginal uneven bounce of Day 2, not being much of a factor on Day 3, Rahane easily negotiated Boland’s probing line and while Cummins was laser focused with his back of the length angling in deliveries, Rahane coped a few blows to his digits, but managed to get the runs on a consistent basis.

Thakur at the other end showed courage more than anything else during his stay. Quite a few body blows had made Thakur nervy, but he did not miss out on the occasional loose deliveries to score runs. A superb drive off a Mitchell Starc 142 kmph delivery came as a big confidence booster for him after early struggles and with each passing over, Thakur’s confidence grew.

Cummins was unlucky not to walk back with a wicket, but he had Thakur in all sorts of trouble with a few near misses and a couple that fell short of the slip cordon. While Cameron Green held one end tight, Starc’s experimental lengths meant runs were not at a premium and by the time lunch was taken, India were just 10 short of avoiding follow-on.

Rahane, during his clam and composed innings reminiscent of his knock in Melbourne (112*), achieved a personal milestone of 5000 Test runs and his hard work payed off with a spree of runs late in the session. He reached his fifty off 92 balls and then next 37 runs came in just 20 balls.

With 30 minutes left in the session, Cummins managed to induce a false shot from Rahane when the he chased after a length ball that moved away after pitching, taking a genuine edge, but wicketkeeper Alex Carey sold first slipper David Warner a dummy and the regulation catch was spilled.

Rahane ensured he did not commit to any false shot afterwards as he feasted on Nathan Lyon, brought into the attack late in the session, with two boundaries in an over – first punch off the back foot and then a glorious square drive that had confidence written all over it.

Cummins was the best bowler on show for Australia in the session, but he was guilty of overstepping on a delivery he trapped Thakur in front. India walked away with the session scoring 109 runs, losing one wicket, making 260/6, trailing Australia by 209 runs

Brief Scores: India 260/6 (Ajinkya Rahane 89*, Shardul Thakur36*; Scott Boland 2/47) trail Australia 469 (Travis Head 163, Steve Smith 121; Mohammad Siraj 4/108) by 209 runs.