Rain washes out first session of Day 5, India 2 wickets away from victory

Lunch on Day 5 was taken at 12:15 local time (6:15 am IST) instead of the scheduled 12:30 AM.

Rain forced the umpires to take lunch 15 minutes before the scheduled time on Day 5 of third India vs Australia Test match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday, making India’s wait for the final 2 Australian wickets and 2-1 up in the four-match series longer.

Lunch on Day 5 was taken at 12:15 local time (6:45 am IST) instead of the scheduled 12:30 AM.

It has been raining since morning forcing the groundstaff to keep the covers on for the better part of the first session. The covers did come off for a brief period when umpires decided to start play at 11 AM local time (5.30 AM IST) but the rain returned again and this time with great force.

Having said all this, the gloomy scenes on Sunday morning was not entirely surprising. There were forecasts of showers with thunderstorm throughout the early part of the day. But there is hope for India as the weather is expected to clear out after the first session with very slim chance of the rain making a comeback.

Australia somehow managed to stretch the match to Day 5 mainly because of some rearguard action from Pat Cummins, who scored his maiden Test half-century. They were at 258 for 8 at stumps on Day 4, still, 141 run away from victory. For India, Ravindra Jadeja picked up three wickets for 82 runs but the onus will be on the seamers, Jasprit Bumrah in particular, who has taken 8 wickets in the match so far, to get the final two Australian wickets and give India an unassailable lead in the series.