On Sunday, India seemed to be in control at stumps on Day 4 of the third Test, for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG). India is chasing a target of 207 and is currently 309 runs behind. Meanwhile, the day saw some records being scripted, as we take a look at them.
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Marnus Labuschagne-Steve Smith joins a particular list: Labuschagne and Smith's pair produced another 100-run stand for the third wicket. Consequently, they became the third pair to have twin 100-run stands in a Test against India. The other two happen to be R Dias-D Mendis and Younis Khan-Mohammad Yousuf.
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Smith joins an impressive list: Smith played another commendable knock of 81 in the second innings. With this, he became the joint fifth to score 50-plus runs on most occasions in both the innings. It was Smith's 11th instance, along with Inzamam-ul-Haq and Shivnarine Chanderpaul. The record for the same lies with Ricky Ponting (15). He also scored a century and a 50 on most occasions in a Test (10), going past the previous best of nine by Jacques Kallis. He has also scored 50-plus against India in both innings of a home Test on joint-most instances (3), with the others Ponting and Chris Rogers, besides being the joint-most occasion of scoring a century and 50 in the same Test (11), along with Kallis.
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India scripts some firsts: Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill contributed to a 71-run stand for the opening wicket. Incidentally, it was India's first 50-plus opening stand in the fourth innings of an away Test since 2006, when Wasim Jaffer and Virender Sehwag had scored 109 against the Windies. It was also the first time since 2004-05 that Indian openers had batted more than 20 overs in both the innings of a Test. The last time was between Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, against Pakistan. It is also the first since 2018 that the Indian openers have had 50-plus stands in both innings of an away Test, with the last time being KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan against England. The pair is the third from the subcontinent to do the same in both the innings of a Test in Australia, after India's Abid Ali & Farokh Engineer (SCG 1968) and Sri Lanka's C Hathurusingha & Sanath Jayasuriya (Adelaide 1996).
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Match summary: Electing to bat, Australia was dismissed for 338 in the opening innings, while India could manage 244, thus giving away the host a lead of 94. Meanwhile, Smith, Labuschagne and Cameron Green's half-centuries extended Australia's lead to 406, as India is currently 309 runs behind, with a day to go and eight wickets in hand.Brief scores: Australia 338 and 3126 dec (Labuschagne 73, Smith 81, Green 84; Saini 254, Ashwin 295) leads India 244 and 982 (Rohit 52; Hazlewood 111) by 309 runs.
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