WTC Final: Kohli-Rahane's unbeaten 71-run stand keeps India alive in 444 chase

Australia looked to be in a prime position to win the World Test Championship Final when they declared on 2708 as Alex Carey topscored with 66 not out and set India a daunting target of 444 at The Oval on SaturdayIn their pursuit of breaking the world record of 418 for the most successful fourth innings chase in a Test match Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane put together a solid unbeaten 71run partnership for the fourth wicket on yet another day of gripping action and take India to 1643 at stumps on Day FourOn a pitch that flattened out and was devoid of demons in terms of movement and bounce Kohli was in fantastic touch to be 44 not out off just 60 balls with Rahane unconquered on 20The duos efforts meant the match is set up towards an exciting finish as India are still alive in the chase with 280 runs needed while Australia will be aiming to get seven right balls to bowl them out quickly on day fiveIndia made a fast start as Rohit Sharma looked classy in pull and ondrive off Pat Cummins to pick two quick boundaries Shubman Gill joined the party with a gentle punch through cover and getting a thick edge wide of the gully for a brace of furs Rohits brilliant timing continued when he flicked Scott Boland for four and pulled Mitchell Starc over long leg for sixBut Gill fell when Boland extracted the outside edge off his defensive prod and the ball flew low to Cameron Greens left who took out his left hand for taking a onehanded screamer with the third umpire adjudging it as a clean catch and tea taken immediately as fans debated whether the batter was out or notCheteshwar Pujara began the final session by cracking a fierce cut through point off Boland for four while surviving an inside edge off him for another boundary Rohit continued to be in great touch pulling and driving beautifully off Starcto bring Indias fifty in just nine oversPujara followed it up by gently clipping and driving through midoff against Starc for boundaries followed by flicking off Cummins to pick another four Rohit was exquisite in cutting off Starc and pulling against Green to pick a brace of fours to raise fifty of the partnershipBut Australia bounced back by taking out the duo in quick succession Rohit tried to sweep against Nathan Lyon from around the wicket but the ball went under the bat to be trapped lbw Pujara meanwhile tried to uppercut against Cummins but got a thick toeedge behind to keeper Alex CareyKohli looked in zone from the time he arrived at the crease bringing his bottomhand and supple wrists into play to hit five boundaries off pacers in the arc from midon to backward square leg apart from a glorious offdrive against Starc for another boundaryRahane playing with an injured right index finger proved to be his perfect partner oozing pristine timing in his sweep steer and drive Kohli again brought out the bright offdrive against Starc for four and ended the day by glancing Lyon through fine leg for another fourEarlier Carey showed fine composure and muddled his shots well to hit eight fours in his unbeaten 105bal vigil to take Australias lead to 443 before the declaration arrived He found an able ally in Mitchell Starc who made a nice 41 while sharing a quick 93run stand for the seventh wicketIndia had a bright start to the day as Umesh Yadav had Marnus Labuschagne caught at first slip Umesh got the delivery to come in and swung away late to take the utside edge on Labuschagnes defence to first slip with the batter adding nothing to his overnight score of 41Green and Carey continued to add more to Australias big lead playing slowly while finding a couple of boundaries as the ball got older with the drives of the pacers being the standout shots Ravindra Jadeja broke the 43run partnership as he got the ball to spin in from over the wicket and ounce sharply hitting Greens gloves and lobbing to hit the stumpsCarey kept the reverse sweep which caused his downfall in the first innings completely away when facing Jadeja and went on to cut twice off Mohammed Siraj throughthe offside to take Australias lead to 350Starc took a four off Jadeja through a late cut to swell the lead followed by Carey driving a halfvolley from the leftarm spinner for another boundary The duo rotated strike to perfection on a weary pitch till lunch arrivedPost lunch Starc began by driving Jadeja through midoff for four followed by feasting on overpitched deliveries from Umesh to hit backtoback boundaries On the other hand Carey was lucky in getting an outside edge between first and second slip for four followed by reaching his fifty in 82 ballsCarey was lucky in getting a four through an outside edge off Jadeja while Starc dispatched Umesh over midon for a boundary After the new ball was taken there was no respite for India as Carey survived chopping on to his stumps with the ball going for fourStarc pulled and sliced Shami for backtoback fours before being caught at first slip breaking 93run stand Cummins lofted Siraj over midon for four before holing out to point off Shami with the declaration coming immediately from Australia who would take thee Indian wickets by the time day fours play endedBrief scoresAustralia 469 and 2708 decl in 843 overs Alex Carey 66 not out Mitchell Starc 41 Ravindra Jadeja 358 Mohammed Shami 239 lead India 296 and 1643 in 40 overs Virat Kohli 44 not out Rohit Sharma 43 Nathan Lyon 132 Scott Boland 138 by 280 runsAlso Read WTC Final Rohit amp Co on back foot as they lose three wickets chasing 444run targetThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever