At the start of Day 5, Team India faced a huge mountain ahead of them. With the score at 98/2,still 309 short of the target set with only 8 wickets remaining,India pulled off a great escape as the Third Test ended in a draw.
It was not the type of start they were hoping for,as they lost Captain Ajinkya Rahane quickly at the start of the Day 5. Nathan Lyon caught him with a spin delivery which Rahane failed to react as the ball went to Short Leg for a great catch by Matthew Wade. The score after his dismissal was 102/3.
Wicket Keeper Rishabh Pant who was substituted due to an injury yesterday, came out to bat and join Pujara down the middle. He came with an ambition which the Aussie bowler soon came to know about it especially Nathan Lyon.
Pant went after Lyon from the off and never looked back. He kept on firing from one end and Pujara kept on supporting from the other end. Soon it started to appear that India might just go on and win this game if both of them continued to play till the final ball.
It was however Nathan Lyon who got the last laugh in his battle with Pant. Pant having already smashed a boundary, tried to laid down another one but missed his timing and edged it Pat Cummins at Gully. Pant missed out the three figure mark by three runs. He scored an important knock of 97 runs from 118 balls which included 12 fours and 3 sixes.
Pujara was then joined by Hanuma Vihari on the Pujara was bowled out by Hazlewood at the score of 77 off 205 balls. With the dismissal of Pujara at the score of 272, India still needed 137 runs from around 42 overs with only 5 wickets in hand. Ashwin and Jadeja both were in doubt to come to bat due to the injuries they faced. However Ashwin came out to bat and support Vihari.
On the occasion of the birth anniversary of "Great Wall of India" or "The Wall" Rahul Dravid who has laid his mark in the history books as one of the toughest players of the longer format of the game, Vihari and Ashwin builded a partnership which came as a perfect give from him.
At one point Hanuma Vihari had scored just 7 runs of 122 balls. Sensible batting from the two of them with Ashwin staying unbeaten at a score of 39 from 128 balls and Vihari's knock of 23 runs of 161 balls helped India draw a game which seemed they had lost it from Day 2. The 4th test will be played at the Gabba in Brisbane.
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