4th Test: India 160/2 at tea, need 189 to win

Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 10 Januari 2015 | 21.25

SYDNEY: Murali Vijay struck his fourth half-century of the series to guide India to 160 for two at tea on the fifth and final day of the fourth cricket Test against Australia on Saturday.

At the break, Vijay was batting on unbeaten 71 that came off 156 balls with the help of five boundaries and two sixes, while giving him company was skipper Virat Kohli on 26 off 56 balls during which he hit two fours.

The duo had put on 56 runs for the third wicket with India still needing another 189 runs in the last session for victory after Australia had already pocketed the four-Test series 2-0.

Earlier, Australia had declared their second innings at the overnight score of 251 for six, thereby taking an overall lead of 348 runs and setting India an improbable 349 runs for win.

For Australia, Nathan Lyon (1/81) and Shane Watson (1/15) were the wicket-takers while Josh Hazlewood (0/6) bowled a brilliant spell of nine overs without any success.

Coming on to bat after lunch, Vijay and Rohit Sharma (39 runs, 90 balls, 2 fours, 2 sixes) looked to carry on their good work, but their partnership didn't last long.

Rohit came out positive but perished when he chose to guide one from Watson down past the slip cordon and Australia captain Steve Smith took a brilliant one-handed catch diving to his right to dismiss the batsman.

Vijay was then joined in the middle by Kohli and they batted with maturity, looking to pick up runs whenever the opportunity arrived.

The 100-run mark for India came up in the 37th over and then Vijay had a huge moment, when on 42, he was dropped by Shaun Marsh at short cover off Ryan Harris.

In the very next over, on 46, Vijay survived another LBW shout as umpire Richard Kettleborough was not convinced even though TV replays showed that he was out.

Vijay then went on to score his 10th Test fifty off 135 balls, bringing up the mark in the 52nd over.

Two overs later, India's 150-run mark came up while the 50-run stand for the third wicket between Vijay and Kohli came up in the 55th over.

As the players went into tea, India started entertaining thoughts of a mighty dash towards the finish-line.

Earlier, India produced a solid batting performance to reach 73 for at lunch.

The day started with Australia skipper Smith declaring at the overnight score and giving India 90 overs for their first win in this series.

Vijay and Lokesh Rahul then walked out to the crease, full of purpose, but they started slowly. They were both watchful against the new ball and hence the runs came in a trickle. Only nine runs came in the first seven overs, with Lyon being introduced into the attack as early as in the sixth over.

In the 10th over of the innings, Vijay broke the shackles as he hit Lyon for a four and a six to pick up 16 runs from that over.

But while he was looking good at the crease, Rahul was struggling and after adding 48 runs for the opening wicket with Vijay, he ended up gloving one off Lyon in the 14th over to David Warner at backward short leg.

Rahul's dismissal brought Rohit to the crease and he could have been out first ball, but survived a huge stumping chance by the narrowest of margins.

Thereafter, he took his time to settle down as there were no runs scored for 6.4 overs after the fall of Rahul. The 50-run mark came up when the Indians finally broke through the silence in the 20th over. Rohit then lashed out against Lyon hitting him for a four and a six in the 24th over, moving the scoreboard along to catch up for the lost time.

The two batsmen then saw off the little passage of play until lunch without much fuss.

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