Bad light stopped play early at a stormy SCG, but the lights had gone out for Australia’s batsmen long before as they toiled to 6-236 on a day when Test greats lamented a mistake-riddled performance.
New venue, same old story.
The desperate search for a batting anchorman remains a matter of urgent concern for selectors after the top order again teased but failed to produce the marathon innings that would at least confirm Australia is heading in the right direction.
That Marcus Harris’ 79 on day three was the highest score by an Australian batsman this series stands out as a telling statistic given India have made seven scores higher, including five hundreds.
Bad light stopped play early at a stormy SCG, but the lights had gone out for Australia’s batsmen long before, as they struggled to 6-236 – and still an overwhelming 386 runs behind on the first innings.
Peter Handscomb will resume on 28 not out and has earned the chance to prove his critics wrong on day four after the under-pressure right-hander gutsed it out for 91 balls alongside the ever-impressive Pat Cummins (25 not out).
Australia’s senior batsmen Usman Khawaja (27) and Shaun Marsh (8) were again cruelly outpointed by their Indian counterparts as Fox Cricket expert Mark Waugh bemoaned the fact all wickets to fall had been thrown away.
Fellow Test great Ricky Ponting also highlighted the high error rate from Australian batsmen who he says have been guilty of too many simple mistakes this series.
“I got a start, a few of us got a start but none of us went on for a big score,” said Marcus Harris post-match.
“So it’s pretty simple to work out what went wrong. We’re still fighting.”
There is a feeling in the Australian camp that the return of Steve Smith and David Warner in three months’ time can restore experience and inspiration to the dressing room, but Waugh was concerned about the here and now.
“Five dismissals, and none of them have been deliveries that deserved a wicket,” said Waugh before Australian skipper Tim Paine was hoodwinked by a wrong’un from Kuldeep Yadav.
“Yes, there’s pressure and little things happening. But overall, each batsman would look at them and go, ‘that’s not good enough.’”
Marnus Labuschagne showed his character, coming out in the face of much criticism to make a solid 38 in the pressure-cooker spot of No.3.
However, his dismissal was just another Australian departure in between the 20-40 run mark – a barrier the Cricket Australia high performance unit had set as a goal for batsmen in October last year, but not where the coaching staff want the bar set.
Batting coach Graeme Hick offered no excuses in an interview on Channel 7.
“You’ve got to do it for long periods of time. Pujara is a prime example of that, someone who has gone out there and stuck to a very simple game plan but has been very difficult to remove,” said Hick.
“Losing wickets in and out of sessions or breaks in play. All these little things are all discussed.
“Players need to get better at those little things. In terms of dismissals once we’re in, guys just need to learn to pay more attention wanting to spend more time out there.
“Today is maybe the best wicket we’ve had all series to bat on and we’ve lost five wickets in that middle session. And you can’t say any of them to really good deliveries. That’s pretty disappointing.
“But in a way it sums up a lot of the issues we’re facing at the moment and we need to get better at it.”
There has been some lamenting from the Australian camp about the style of pitches this summer largely suiting India, but Ponting said batsmen were in control of their own destiny.
“As far as I'm concerned, this batting group through this series has made way too many mistakes," Ponting told cricket.com.au.
"Technical, mental, whatever those mistakes may be, they’ve made a lot of mistakes.
"It hasn't necessarily been the first mistake they've made either that's led to them getting out.
"They've made a lot of mistakes then eventually got out.”
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We'll be back again tomorrow morning, with an early start thanks to this afternoon's rain – things will get underway from 10am, but we'll be on deck well before that of course bringing you all the overnight news and information from 8.30am.
Cheers for joining in the fun.
And that is that – the rain has set in, and the players have retreated deep inside the dressing room.
We're done for the day.
Australia finishes day three teetering at 6-236, with Pat Cummins on 25 and Peter Handscomb on 28.
Australia trail by 386, and need to reach 423 to avoid the follow on and force India to bat again – although it's unclear whether Virat Kohli would choose to enforce the follow on anyway.
Kuldeep Yadav was the dangerman on Saturday, taking three wickets, but it was Australia's reckless batting which was the story of the day.
Mark Waugh was unimpressed with the manner in which the first five wickets fell.
"Five dismissals, and none of them have been deliveries that deserved a wicket," Waugh said.
"Yes, there's pressure before them and little things happening.
"But overall each batsmen would look at them and go 'that's not good enough'."
And that is that – the rain has set in, and the players have retreated deep inside the dressing room.
We're done for the day.
Australia finishes day three teetering at 6-236, with Pat Cummins on 25 and Peter Handscomb on 28.
Australia trail by 386, and need to reach 423 to avoid the follow on and force India to bat again – although it's unclear whether Virat Kohli would choose to enforce the follow on anyway.
Kuldeep Yadav was the dangerman on Saturday, taking three wickets, but it was Australia's reckless batting which was the story of the day.
Mark Waugh was unimpressed with the manner in which the first five wickets fell.
"Five dismissals, and none of them have been deliveries that deserved a wicket," Waugh said.
"Yes, there's pressure before them and little things happening.
"But overall each batsmen would look at them and go 'that's not good enough'."
It's not looking great here at the SCG – the big heavy-duty cover is on in, and the rain has started to fall pretty steadily.
India still has 16.3 overs to get through to finish the day, but it seems unlikely that they'll be able to do that.
In fact, they might not get back out in the middle at all today with the rain seemingly set in and the light not getting any better.
We'll keep you posted on how things play out!
It isn't raining… yet, but the groundstaff has sent word out to the umpires that it's about to hit.
So the covers are coming out to get ahead of things.
Not exactly sure what sort of a delay we're looking at here. It's very dark at the SCG, even with the lights on.
Australia lost wickets either side of tea to plunge deep into the mire, but Pat Cummins (25 not out) and Peter Handscomb (28 not out) have dug in to extend the Australian innings.
Once again, it has taken No.8 Cummins to show much of the top six what it means to put a price on your wicket.
Peter Handscomb survives an LBW shout, as India go up with a huge appeal – and they want to send it upstairs.
Not exactly sure why… because that's hitting outside the line OF LEG STUMP!
"Frivolous," says Shane Warne.
Fair enough, too. But when you still still lead by 386…. you can take a risk or two like that.
The new ball has been available for an over, but India won't be allowed to take it – because it's getting too dark as the stormy clouds take over the SCG.
With visibility becoming increasingly tough for batsmen, the umpires have explained to Virat Kohli and his quicks that it is too dangerous for the fast bowlers to be reintroduced to the attack.
"You can take it you want, but we'll go off," umpire Ian Gould says to Mohammad Shami, who has inquired if he can bowl.
That means it is A-OK for Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav to operate in tandem.
But there will be no tossing of the ball to Shami or Jasprit Bumrah. So there's no advantage to taking the new ball, hence why it's been declined so far.
Australia spends more time than most nations in a desperate bid for an all-rounder.
Spoiled for many years by the underrated Shane Watson, who carried a heavy workload and wore a lot of criticism despite his impressive record, Australia continues the search.
In recent years it has led to Mitchell Marsh being given more than a handful of chances, while Marnus Labuschagne is filling the role currently at the SCG – and others, like Glenn Maxwell, Hilton Cartwright and Ashton Agar, have also been tried.
But Pat Cummins is quickly reminding selectors who the best all-round cricketer in the country is.
He's a fast-bowling superstar, good enough to share the new ball, with arguably the most sound batting technique in the team.
Currently 17 not out, Cummins has pumped the breaks on the Australian collapse – again.
He averages 20.95 in Test cricket but it's a record which could yet rise.
In 2018 Cummins hit two half-centuries – the same numbers as a handful of more credentialed teammates higher up the order, even though he scored at a lower average than in 2017.
Just as an indicator of how big Sydney is – or perhaps how close the rain might be – there's a game of cricket that has been stopped by a sudden downpour.
But it's not the fourth Test, where India continue to go for the throat – and Pat Cummins continues to scrap like the genuine superstar he has become.
No, this is the WBBL match between the Melbourne Stars and the Sydney Thunder in Blacktown, where the rain has HIT in a big way.
Just as an indicator of how big Sydney is – or perhaps how close the rain might be – there's a game of cricket that has been stopped by a sudden downpour.
But it's not the fourth Test, where India continue to go for the throat – and Pat Cummins continues to scrap like the genuine superstar he has become.
No, this is the WBBL match between the Melbourne Stars and the Sydney Thunder in Blacktown, where the rain has HIT in a big way.
David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne both posted unbeaten centuries as the tourists had no answer to their relentless accumulation of runs across a rain affected first day and night in Adelaide, with only one result now likely.
Steve Smith has apologised to his Australian teammates ahead of the first Test, after a behavioural lapse against Western Australia saw him fined for dissent.