Australia -India Border Gavaskar Vodaphone Test Series 
Boxing Day Test at MCG Played 26-30 December 2020 
Brief Scorecard at stumps on Day Three
Australia 1st Innings 195 All Out in 73.2 Overs (Marnus Labuchagne 48, Travis Head 38, Matthew Wade 30, Jasprit Bumrah 4/56, Ravindra Jadeja 3/35, Mohammed Siraj 2/40) 
Australia 2nd Innings 133/6 in 66 Overs (Matthew Wade 40, Marnus Labuchagne 28, Cameroon Green 17*, Pat Cummins 15*, Ravindra Jadeja 2/35, Umesh Yadav 1/5) 
India 1st Innings 326 All Out in 115.1 Overs (Ajinka Rahane 112, Shuvman Gill 45, Ravindra Jadeja 57, Rishab Pant 29, Mitchel Starc 3/78, Nathan Lyon 3/272, Pat Cummins 2/80) 
Australia lead by 2 runs with 4 second Innings wickets at hand 

Showing great character, grit and determination Team India bounced back brilliantly at MCG. A team getting shocked and awed getting all out for the lowest ever total of 36 turning around in brilliant fashion only a few days afterwards brought the same opposition down on their knees. India got up to match defining 131 first innings lead. Bowling and fielding brilliantly yet again India reduced Australia to 133/6 at stumps on day three. With slender 2 runs over all lead the fate of the match may be decided by the end of first session tomorrow. Strange things can happen. If Cameroon Green with Australian tail can somehow manage a150 plus lead one never knows. But that will be consternation. Australian tail enders will have to bat out of their skins. India is very much on the driver's seat. We will be extremely surprised if India does not win from here.
 
India resumed the day at 275/5. The excellent 6th wicket partnership of Rahane and Jadeja was only broken when Rahane got run out after scoring 112. Jadeja did not stay long enough. However, finishing innings at 326 earned very useful 131 runs lead.

Batting second Australian top order again failed to deal with quality Indian attack. Joe Burns perhaps played his last innings for Australia. Wade and Labuchagne got start but could not get going. Smith again fell cheaply this time getting cleaned up by Bumrah. Pain possibly got a controversial decision. Otherwise, Australians batted very poorly. Finishing the day at 133/6 Australia just avoided the humiliation of an embarrassing Innings defeat. With wicket still doing a bit we are unsure that Australia can set up a good enough target for India to challenge.
 
If India wins the series will be level 1-1. The third and the fourth test of the two evenly matched teams will witness mouth-watering contest. What a sweet revenge it would be for a team getting slaughtered in the first test only the other week?

BDST: 1950 HRS, DEC 28, 2020
AP