Rahane, Kohli tons as India close on Australia
December 28, 2014
Kohli savaged the Australian bowlers while Rahane hit his highest Test score of 147. The pair piled on 262 runs for the fourth wicket, a record for the fourth wicket by any pair at the MCG. It eclipsed Michael Clarke and Shane Watson´s 194 against Sri Lanka two years ago.
Kohli was out in the last over of the day, brilliantly snapped up by Brad Haddin off Johnson for 169 in 380 minutes off 272 balls with 18 fours.
At the close India were 462 for eight, trailing by 68 runs with two days remaining. Mohammed Shami was nine not out.
The last time India put on a 250-plus stand in an overseas Test was the 353 by Sachin Tendulkar and V.V.S. Laxman for the fourth wicket in Sydney in 2004.
Rahane was finally out leg before wicket to Nathan Lyon for 147 in the 108th over. He batted for four hours and faced 171 balls with 21 fours.
Rahane raised his highest Test score with a cross-bat four off Johnson, bettering his 118 against New Zealand in Wellington in February.
Substitute fielder Peter Siddle dropped a two-handed chance off Lokesh Rahul. But the debutant was out off Lyon´s next ball, caught by Josh Hazlewood for three.
The ragged Australian fielding was in contrast to the morning session when Brad Haddin took a stunning catch to dismiss Cheteshwar Pujara off the second ball of the day.
The veteran wicketkeeper pulled off one of the catches of the series, flinging himself to his right to take a spectacular catch as the batsman failed to add to his overnight 25.
Skipper M.S. Dhoni was out late in the day, caught behind off Harris for 11, and the lion-hearted Harris took a tumbling caught and bowled to dismiss Ravi Ashwin for a duck.
There was a chilling moment as Murali Vijay on 63 turned his head to avoid a searing Johnson bouncer and took a blow on the side of his helmet early in the day.
Vijay batted on but was out five runs later when he was caught by Shaun Marsh at first slip off Watson.
India, trailing 2-0, are striving to win the Melbourne Test to stay alive in the four-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy series. But they have not won at the MCG for 33 years. (AFP)
