Australia had put themselves in a commanding position after Mitchell Starc’s career-best Test scores of 6-48 on the first day and a brilliant 140 from Travis Head on the second day.

India’s hopes of giving themselves a chance of pulling off an unlikely victory largely depended on the mercurial Rishabh Pant.

The wicketkeeper, who was unbeaten on 28 overnight, has the potential to score quick runs and create momentum within a few hours at the crease.

When Pant was caught at slip by the left-arm Starc on the sixth ball of the day without adding to his score, India’s faint hopes faded even further.

Australia captain Cummins then showed his ruthless side and tried to get the job done in one session, using a short-ball strategy to destroy India’s lower order.

Ravichandran Ashwin was sent off for seven by Cummins when he gave Alex Carey an attempted pull behind the stumps for a rebound.

Then Harshit Rana faltered when he failed to fend off a nasty bump from Cummins and Khawaja took a routine catch at gully.

Indian all-rounder Reddy hit a Cummins bouncer for a six but had to go down for 42 on the next ball when he attempted another short-pitch delivery and was caught by McSweeney at deep third man.

In the three innings in which India have been bowled out so far in this series, Reddy has been the top scorer, proving that he has the strength to fight back when the going gets tough.

Boland completed India’s innings when Mohammed Siraj ran a ball and Head took a tumbling catch at mid-wicket.

McSweeney and Khawaja made light work of the total, with the former hitting Reddy for two fours in the third over before the latter scored the winner.