The Indian batters as they posted a mammoth total of 571 runs in the first innings against Australia during the fourth day of the 4th Test match played at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on 12 March 2023.
Virat Kohli looked impressive right from ball one today along with other Indian batters putting on superb partnerships to help India on the front foot and make life tough for the Australian bowlers.
Here we look at the top 5 moments of the 4th Day of the 4th Test match
- Early fall of Ravindra Jadeja’s wicket
Starting on the overnight score of 259 for 3, Ravindra Jadeja and Virat Kohli started cautiously against disciplined Australian bowling especially Nathan Lyon and Todd Murphy.
Ravindra Jadeja looked edgy against Todd Murphy hitting a boundary before trying to hit another big shot but fell short of the fielder. He tried the next ball and provided a simple catch to Usman Khawaja at mid-on. Jadeja looked impressive initially but in an attempt hit a big shot could not go past Khawaja. Jadeja and Kohli added 64 runs for the 4th wicket.
- Virat Kohli’s century after November 2019
Virat Kohli began the day on 59 and looked solid against disciplined Australian bowling initially. After the wicket of Jadeja, Kohli remained solid along with KS Bharat. Kohli remained solid enough keeping the scoreboard ticking and keeping the momentum going.
After the lunch break, Kohli again showed solid defense and hit the bad deliveries away for boundaries. KS Bharat fell after a quickfire knock caught at short leg. Kohli was superb with his running and completed his first century since November 2019 against Bangladesh in the day-night Test match at Eden Gardens, Kolkata.
He completed century off 241 deliveries in the second session and made the batting look easy keeping pressure on Australian bowlers.
- Axar Patel’s valuable knock
Axar Patel played another valuable knock to help India take the lead along with Virat Kohli. The left-handed batter showed intent with some lovely strokes before the tea break.
He completed his century off 95 deliveries and then displayed big-hitting abilities against Matt Kuhemman and Todd Murphy keeping the scoreboard ticking.
Patel reached his third half-century this series and was eventually dismissed by Mitchell Starc taking inside edge onto the stumps for 79 off 113 deliveries to help Team India dominate the Australian bowlers.
- Important partnerships from Indian batters
The Indian batters put on important partnerships on day 4 keeping the momentum going. Ravindra Jadeja and Kohli added 64 runs for the 4th wicket. KS Bharat and Kohli added another important partnership with Bharat showing intent not to allow them to settle.
KS Bharat and Kohli added 84 runs for the 5th wicket. Axar Patel joined along with Virat Kohli keeping the momentum going. After Kohli completed his 100, he upped the tempo putting pressure on Australian bowlers. Axar and Kohli added 162 runs for the 6th wicket to help India take the lead.
The Indian batting line-up put on 571 runs in the first innings with a lead of 91 runs. Virat Kohli was the last batter to be dismissed for 186.
- Australian openers survived tricky period.
The left-arm spinner Matt Kuhemman was asked to open the innings with Travis Head. Usman Khawaja did not bat due to an injury he suffered while fielding at the boundary.
Kuhemman survived some anxious moments against Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. He was dropped by Srikar Bharat and fell short of short-leg fielder Pujara in the last over of the day.
He and Head survived as Australia ended the fourth day at 3 for 0 still trailing by 88 runs. Kuhemman remained not out on 0 off 18 deliveries.
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