Finance
Nitish Kumar Reddy emerged as India’s hero on day three of the Boxing Day Test, scoring a spectacular maiden Test century to lead the hosts’ charge in front of 83, 073 people at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Saturday.
In only his fourth Test match, Reddy was astute in his strokeplay – both on the front and back foot – while also being solid in defence, patience, application, and poise as he teamed up with fellow all-rounder Washington Sundar, who scored a patient fifty and became the ideal second foil.
The duo came together when India were 221/7 in the first session and put on a pivotal 127-run partnership for the eighth wicket. The flattening of the surface also helped the duo keep Australia at bay as India ended day three at 358/9 in 116 overs and trail by 116 runs.
With his father Mutyala praying constantly to God, his uncle and other family members watching from the front seats in the stands, Reddy completed an emotional century in 171 deliveries with a lofted on-drive off Scott Boland.
As soon as the hundred was confirmed, Reddy dropped to his knees and raised his arm upwards to look up to the heavens after placing his helmet on the handle of his bat (a nod to the Baahubali film), before soaking in the moment of hitting his first Test century in front of his family, with his father in tears and thanking God with folded hands towards the skies at an iconic venue.
Reddy became the first Indian hitter to smash a test century in Australia after coming out to bat at number eight or lower. Nine balls after Reddy got his century, bad light and later drizzle forced both teams to go off the field, with the right-handed batter holding his bat aloft and soaking in all the appreciation from his teammates and spectators at the MCG.
Resuming from 164/5, a measured Rishabh Pant collected boundaries off Pat Cummins and Boland, while surviving a caught behind appeal, as replays showed the ball brushing his elbow, and two mix-ups with Jadeja almost ending up in a run-out.
But in the 56th over, Pant began to unleash some aggression – he tried going for the scoop shot off Boland, but copped a blow into his body and fell down. On the very next ball, Pant went across to go for the scoop shot again, but got a thick top-edge edge, and was caught at third man for 28.
Reddy got going with a drive and slice fetching him boundaries, but Lyon was troubling Jadeja with loopy deliveries. On the fifth ball of the 65th over, Lyon fired in a skiddy delivery and hit Jadeja’s back pad in front of off-stump and trap him plumb lbw.
Jadeja attempted to dispute the judgment, but ball monitoring revealed that the delivery would hit the stumps, thus he walked back for 17. Lyon maintained his off-stump line, but Reddy danced down the pitch, smacking the off-spinner over his head for a magnificent six, then scoring a four off Travis Head in the same manner.
Cummins battered Reddy with some tough short balls, but the impressive young all-rounder handled them admirably. Sundar, on the other hand, appeared uneasy against the Australian captain, as the hosts won the first session.
Following lunch, Reddy and Sundar continuously rotated the strike against the old ball, before Australia took the second new ball. Reddy impressed with his powerful drives and ability to keep the scoreboard moving , reached his fifty by unfurling a lofted drive over cover point for four off Mitchell Starc.
Shortly after, India reached the magic number of 275, which meant the follow-on was averted, leading to cheers by fans in the stadium. Such was the ease of run-scoring with the second new ball, along with the pitch flattening, that Sundar even got four runs while running between the wickets against Starc.
After India went past 300, the first instance of this happening after the Chennai Test against Bangladesh, Reddy struck a picture-perfect straight drive down the ground off the latter for a boundary, before using his wrists gloriously to smash Lyon over extra cover for another four. From the other end, Sundar got his first boundary by whacking a short and wide ball from Starc on the backfoot through cover.
Reddy got back-to-back boundaries off Mitchell Marsh, with some slice of luck in his way – Starc’s dive fell short of saving the ball, while Lyon slipped near the fence and right foot got in touch with boundary cushion, before rain and bad light forced players to take tea break early.
The last session began late due to rain, but when play resumed, Reddy and Sundar maintained their composure in the face of tough Australian bowling. Sundar marched forward to score his fourth half-century in 146 balls, while Reddy swept Lyon for four more runs to confound Australia.
Lyon finally broke the obstinate stand when he got a ball to bounce and hit the outside edge of Sundar’s bat to first slip. Cummins claimed his third wicket by having Jasprit Bumrah nick to first slip following Nitish’s exciting two-run over.
After Mohammed Siraj survived three balls to give Reddy a chance to record his century, the all-rounder reached his maiden ton in the following over, leading to emotional moments for him and hois family in the stands.
Reddy also became only the second Indian to score his first Test century at the MCG, after Vinoo Mankad in 1948. India would be hoping Reddy and Siraj score as many runs as possible on day four, following a magnificent rearguard performance by the visitors on day three with controlled, disciplined, and patient batting.
Brief scores: Australia 474 in 122.4 overs (Steve Smith 140; Jasprit Bumrah 4-99) lead India 358/9 in 116 overs (Nitish Kumar Reddy 105 not out, Yashasvi Jaiswal 82; Scott Boland 3-57, Pat Cummins 3-86) by 116 runs.
Source: IANS
