The Boxing Day Test has fulfilled its promise of being one of the most high-octane clashes. On the last day of the Test match, all three (or possibly four) outcomes are feasible following four days of fierce back-and-forth activity. Similar to how the series has unfolded down under, the two sides launched punches at one another on Day 4 in Melbourne, with nothing standing between them. Although Day 4's session pie may indicate that Australia and India shared honours, India would know deep down that they missed a chance to completely dominate Australia. In the second session, Australia was struggling at 91 for 6, but their unwavering perseverance paid off as they finished with 228 for 9, leading by 333 runs.
Lyon-Boland's fifty stand changes the tide of the match
What turned out to be a hard-to-swallow pill for the Indian team was that Nathan Lyon and Scott Boland joined a 55-run partnership and changed the course of the match completely. Australia are now leading by 333 runs at stumps day 4. Now to win this match, India will have to break all previous records and create history. However, India's batting has not been promising in the series so far which means that chasing this will be an extremely hard task. Both Lyon and Boland will resume the play on Day 5.
The Aussie duo recreate 63-year-old record
This is the second-only instance that a pair batting for the 10th wicket has joined partnerships that lasted for more than 50 balls across both innings. The first instance was between Afaq Hussain and Haseeb Ahsan from Pakistan. The duo batted for 9.2 overs in the first innings and then 18.1 overs in the second against England in Lahore back in 1961. Now Nathan Lyon and Scott Boland have none the same, they batted for 8.3 overs in the first and then a game-changing 17.4 overs in the second.
Jasprit Bumrah put on another captivating display, bringing his series total to 29 wickets and hitting the 200-wicket mark in his career on a day when Virat Kohli inspired the squad by taking charge as a leader and inspiring nostalgia. Although Mohammed Siraj recovered with a stronger showing as well, India was unable to muster the resolve required to end the Australian innings.
Nathan Lyon was caught in the slip cordon by Jasprit Bumrah in the day's last over, but it was declared a no-ball. In a move reminiscent of Virat Kohli, Lyon replied by flicking the very next delivery off his pads, symbolizing India's mixed fortunes in the previous session.
India now need to get that final wicket on day 5 as early as possible and then they will have the uphill task to complete the chase in the limited overs they have. Then considering their underwhelming batting in the series, they will be needing a miracle in MCG tomorrow.