Australia v India Fourth Test In-play Tips: Time to lay the draw

Australia v India
Saturday 28 December, 23:30
TV: live on TNT Sports

Australia v India Fourth Test in-play match prediction

Despite what you might have read via social media and the web, Australia remain in control of this fourth Test with two days to play at the MCG. They lead by 116 runs and remain favourites for a 2-1 advantage.

Words like 'gloom' and 'doubt' have characterised post-day three analysis about the home team's performance. And although they squandered a golden chance to wrap the match when India were reduced to 221 for seven, they can quickly put the tourists back under pressure.

India's recovery to 358 for nine was the glory of the game. It was the ebb and flow of Test cricket to which we are all enthralled. Not some mini crisis or harbinger of misery for the home side. The Australian media or fanboys seem to be more insecure than ever these days about the men in Baggy Green. Perhaps this is normal for a looming Ashes contest.

The opposition are allowed to stick at it, you know. And in Nitish Kumar Reddy's century we had one of the great rearguard actions. His unbeaten 105 establishes his spot in the XI for many a year while Washington Sundar's half-century suggests he can fulfil long-held promise.

We would still expect Australia to go and win this game. Barring a Jasprit Bumrah-inspired collapse anything approaching 300 should be enough. Don't forget the rest of this India attack looked powder-puff when Bumrah was resting in the shadows.

Sure, there have been fourth-innings chases at the 'G at big numbers but no team has got after anything more than 260 since 1961. Australia's chase of 231 in 2013 came against a demoralised England.

Not that we really need to worry about what Australia's batters or India's bowlers do on the next two days. The balance of power can be all deemed irrelevant as it is now time to lay the draw at a surprisingly short 2.3611/8.

Given both team's aggressive styles we're not entirely sure why the stalemate is so skinny. There is loads of time left in the game. Australia could afford to bat all day and still have enough overs to bowl out India. In an ideal world they would give themselves an hour late on day four for quick wickets.

There is no worry in terms of the weather forecast, either. Day four is set fair with no rain. Day five is slightly more overcast but no interruptions are expected.

Konstas faces trial by spin

Sam Konstas is the darling of Australia after a debut to remember. The 19-year-old opener personifies the ways of Down Under like few before him.

He smashed a half-century, outrageously ramped Bumrah three times, enjoyed argy-bargy with Virat Kohli and then orchestrated the jeering when Kohli was dismissed. Some would call it the sort of hubristic nonsense which this game has a habit of punishing. Others call it Australian culture .

Whichever it is, the nature of batting at this level means pride will always come before a fall. If Konstas tries the same trick against Bumrah, they will be ready. And if not, there might be a chink in his technique which makes him an attractive runs sell in-play. But we may have to wait for the spinners to come on.

Konstas hasn't seen much quality spin in domestic cricket but there are just hints that his feet movement needs work against the likes of Ravi Jadeja and Wadshington Sundar. He does look vulnerable to getting stuck on the crease, as Jadeja showed when trapping him lbw in the first innings.

In time Konstas will work to get more nimble and to make sure that he frees the bat and arms to get it in front of the pad. But for now we're looking to short at the first show of tweak.

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