Having finished Day 2 at the score of 96/2 and trailing by 242 runs, India came to bat on Day 3 hoping to keep add some momentum to their inning and get a grip in the game.
India lost Skipper Ajinkya Rahane quickly in Day 3. He was dismissed in a sloppy way. He tried to place a short ball down the third man but mistimed it and the ball ended up getting a big inside edge and went on to hit the stumps.
Pujara on the other end kept on playing sensible shots along with Hanuma Vihari. On the 32nd ball which Vihari faced, he tried to go for a single but was slow in his run up and was caught off guard by stunning Fielding from Josh Hazlewood as his direct hit got the batter of Vihari. When the replays rolled in, Vihari was not even in the frame of the replay, showing Hazlewood great fielding effort.
Pujara was then joined by Rishabh Pant in the middle as the duo tried to rally back the ship. The duo added 38 runs after that wicket as India ended the first session with the score at 180/4.
The turning point of game perhaps even the series,came in the 2nd session of the day. After Pujara scored his half Century, India were at a score of 195/4. Pant who has playing good at 38 when he tried to go for a cover drive only for it to be edged behind the slip and caught by David Warner.
In the very next over Pat Cummins got the massive massive wicket of Cheteshwar Pujara who tried to play it safe ended up with the ball hitting his hand and getting caught behind by Wicket Keeper Tim Paine. He managed to score 50 off 176 balls.
India lost 3 more wickets quickly, two of which were run outs. Ashwin was the first one to be runned out. There was no one else except him to be blamed for that wicket as he was very poor in his running. Bumrah was the third one who was runned out, this time another direct hit from the Aussies. India were reduced to 216/9. They had lost 5 wickets in 21 runs(Shades of the First Test of Ashes 2005 when England were reduced to 21/5 by Glenn McGrath).
Ravindra Jadeja managed to cut the Australian lead a little short and managed to stayed unbeaten at the other end as India were dismissed for 244 runs with Australia having a 94 run lead.
Depsite losing openers David Warner and Will Pucovski quickly, Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith played some clever shots and ensured Australia didn't lose any more wickets. Australia finished the Day at a score of 103/2 with a lead of 197 runs with Labuschagne at 47 and Smith at 29. The Hosts are now in a commanding position in this match and would like to wrap up the game as quickly as possible.
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