Melbourne: Nitish Kumar Reddy and Washington Sundar's crucial 105-run stand helped India to fight back against Australia at the ongoing Melbourne Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy on Saturday.
At Tea on Day 03, India stood at 326/7, with Washington Sundar (40*) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (85*) unbeaten on the crease for the visitors as they trail by 148 runs.
India with the help of Washington and Nitish made a solid comeback in the match, at a time when the Aussies were in the driver's seat of the match.
The visitors started the second session from 244/7 and added 82 runs in 24 overs without losing a single wicket.
The two middle-order batters looked solid on the crease, they were determined to capitalize runs on the board and fight back against the Australian bowlers.
Early in the second session, Steve Smith dropped Washington's catch as it took an edge, which came off the back of the bat towards the Aussie batter at second slip. Now, probably Smith will be regretting for not taking it.
In the 83rd over of the match, Nitish lofted the ball through the vacant point region for a four and achieved his maiden Test fifty. It helped the youngster to gain confidence in the game as he continued to add runs.
In the 84th, India took a sigh of relief as they avoided the follow-on. Later in the 92nd over, India crossed the 300-run mark, all thanks to the partnership of Washington and Nitish.
The visitors needed a crucial partnership in the game without losing a wicket. The two youngsters proved them at the most important moment of the game.
The conditions deteriorated in Melbourne as it started drizzling, following which the umpires had taken an early tea.
Nitish is nearing his maiden Test century and will be looking forward to achieving that and propelling India to a better place in the game. Even though Australia still have an edge in the game, but India's performance in the second session will definitely help them to boost confidence.
Earlier in the day, India started the first session at 164/5 with Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja on the crease.
The duo of Pant and Jadeja continued to build a partnership on Day 03. However, India struggled infront of the Aussie bowlers.
There were two instances of run-out in the first session when Jadeja and Pant lacked communication. but Australia couldn't benefit from it.
Scott Boland continued his top performance and successfully got rid of Rishabh Pant. The Aussie pacer dismissed the Indian wicketkeeper for 28 runs in the 56th over. Nitish Kumar Reddy replaced him on the crease and joined Jadeja to add runs to the scoreboard.
However, Jadeja succumbed to Nathan Lyon and had to leave the crease in the 65th over for 17 runs. Washington Sundar replaced the India all-rounder.
In the final 10 overs of the first session on Day 03, India smashed 30 runs. While Australia managed to get one wicket.
Brief Scores: Australia: 474 (Steve Smith 140, Marnus Labuschagne 72, Jasprit Bumrah 4/99) vs India: 326/7 (Washington Sundar 40*, Nitish Kumar Reddy 85*, Scott Boland 3/49). (ANI)