BRISBANE, Australia, Dec 18 (AFP): The third Test between Australia and India in Brisbane ended in a draw after storms halted the hosts' bid for an unlikely win Wednesday to leave the series locked 1-1.
Early tea was taken on the final day at the Gabba because of bad light with India 8-0 having been set a target of 275 for victory, after Australia declared on 89-7.
But a big storm swept over the ground during the break and play was abandoned, with the five-Test series now heading to Melbourne and then Sydney.
The draw badly hurts India's chances of making the final of the World Test Championship at Lord's next year, with Australia now likely to defend their title against South Africa.
"Unfortunately a lot of rain, which you can't do anything about, but really happy with how the guys played," said Australia skipper Pat Cummins.
"To put 450 (first innings) on is a huge total and then felt like we're right ahead of the game for all of it."
With rain causing regular disruptions throughout the Test, the chance of a result other than a draw looked to have disappeared when India avoided the follow-on late on Tuesday.
"I mean, we'll take that obviously, to have interruptions like that wasn't great," said India skipper Rohit Sharma.
"But going to Melbourne with one-all pretty much gives us that confidence that we can go out there and try and
pull things towards us."
After losing most of the morning session, Australia began their second innings after lunch showing no signs of an attacking approach.
But once under-pressure openers Usman Khawaja and Nathan McSweeney fell, along with the equally out-of-form Marnus Labuschagne, the Australian approach seemed to change as the batsmen started to attack every ball.
Third Australia-India Test ends in draw after bad weather strikes
FE Team | Published: December 18, 2024 22:41:19
Third Australia-India Test ends in draw after bad weather strikes
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