A marathon innings effort from star batter Virat Kohli, who hit his first Test ton since November 2019 and his 162-run partnership with Axar Patel helped India end the fourth day of fourth and final Test against Australia with a lead of 88 runs in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
At the end of the final session on day 4, Australia was at 3/0, with Matt Kuhnemann (0*) and Travis Head (3*) unbeaten on the crease. Australia trail by 88 runs. India started the final session at 472/5 with Kohli (135*), Patel (38*) unbeaten at the crease. Kohli smashed Cameron Green for two consecutive boundaries to bring up his 150 in 313 balls.
Axar continued to perform the duty for which he was sent, to get some quick runs. He brought up his fourth half-century in Tests, third in this series in 95 balls. India brought up their 500-run mark in 163.5 overs.
Axar continued with his aggressive batting, hitting Kuhnemann for three sixes, including two sixes in a single over.
But Mitchell Starc’s pace got the last laugh as he dismissed Axar for 79 off 113 balls, consisting of five fours and four sixes. An inside edge rattled Axar’s stumps. India was 555/6 at that point.
Australia continued to make a short comeback into the match, dismissing Ravichandran Ashwin (7) and Umesh Yadav (0) before they could build a solid partnership with Virat. Ashwin became Lyon’s third wicket after being caught by Matt Kuhnemann at deep-midwicket while Umesh was run out. India was 569/8.
Todd Murphy got Virat Kohli for the fourth time in the series, dismissing him for 186 off 364 balls, consisting of 15 boundaries. With Shreyas Iyer not batting due to a back injury, India ended their innings at 571 in 178.5 overs. Murphy (3/113) and Lyon (3/151) were the pick of the bowlers for Australia. Starc and Kuhnemann got a wicket each. India ended their innings with a lead of 91 runs in their hand.
Australia came out to bat with Matt Kunhemann as one of the openers with Travis Head. The spin duo of Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja tried to test the batters but failed to produce a wicket. Mohammed Shami also bowled a single over, in which he gave away one run. Kuhnemann-Head took Aussies through the remainder of the day without any damage.
Earlier, Virat Kohli finally ended his Test century drought as he slammed an outstanding ton to put India in a commanding position on Day 4 of the ongoing fourth Test match against Australia here at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
Brief Scores- India: 571 (Kohli 186, Gill 128, Murphy 3/113) vs Australia: 480 and 3/0 (Head 3*,
Kuhnemann 0*)