New Delhi: Australian batter Marnus Labuschagne has asked team bowlers to back to their strengths in order to bowl out India on the final day of the ongoing Boxing Day Test match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). Australia are currently leading by 333 runs after the stumps on the fourth day.
This didn’t come before the Indian bowlers gave a massive scare by reducing the hosts to 91 for 6 before Labuschagne and captain Pat Cummins resurrected the sinking ship with their 57-run partnership for the seventh wicket. Labuschagne made 70 off 139 balls before getting trapped before the wickets by Mohammed Siraj.
The last wicket pair of Nathan Lyon (41*) and Scott Boland (10*) put on a determined unbeaten 51-run stand as Australia ended the day at 228 for 9. With just one day left in the Test, all three results seem possible, and Labuschagne said that their bowlers will have to hold the belief that they can bowl out India on the last day.
“As the game has gone on, the bounce has got less, and more inconsistent. The way India bowled and put us under pressure, it was like let’s get as many runs as we can,” Labuschagne said in the press conference.
“That’s obviously creeping into a nice total but there was a time when it could have been 250, 270, or even less. We navigated well and the lower order deserves credit. We need to back ourselves and trust that we are going to bowl India out,” he added.
The famous Gabba Test is one of the memories that will remind the Aussies of the Indian lower-order’s abilities, but Marnus believes the conditions at the MCG are trickier #AUSvIND
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— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 29, 2024
Boxing-Day Test sets new record
The fourth day of the Boxing-Day Test saw 43,867 people in attendance at the MCG. This took the total attendance of the match to 299,329 across all four days to record the highest ever spectators in a Boxing-Day Test match. The previous best was 271,855 during the 2013 Ashes Test between Australia and England.
Australian batter Marnus Labuschagne has asked team bowlers to back to their strengths in order to bowl out India on the final day of the ongoing Boxing Day Test match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). Australia are currently leading by 333 runs after the stumps on the fourth day. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
