First of all, you have to say fair play to Australia because they made a good game out of it. Given the weather forecast, it was already inevitable that some time would be lost on day five of the Brisbane Test. But when most of the first session was canceled due to lightning protection measures and then rain, it seemed certain that any hope of competition had also disappeared. Instead, Australia came back from an early lunch break and looked to score quick runs, then set India 275 to win in 54 overs. It was great preparation until the rain returned and ended the fourth inning shortly after it began.

Looking beyond this audacity, however, it is hard to escape the feeling that Australia’s scrappy second innings was a blessing in disguise for India. Alongside the names of Australia’s specialist batsmen, another string of wickets for the away team’s bowlers and one more miss per player were noted.

You can give the context, and Australia will, that the wickets fell because they threw the bat. However, this isn’t a scan when you compare it to what happened on the ground, rather than the scorecard. While Australia’s top team tried to score with other balls, they followed their form lines when sending offs occurred in this series.

Usman Khawaja’s fall was again against Jasprit Bumrah, again around the wicket and towards him again. In this series, Khawaja was caught hopping, on his toes or in the air while trying to play the ball. Not surprisingly, the player on the ground has less control. Here the serration of the seam guided the ball past his bat and towards the stumps.

Marnus Labuschagne was chasing width in the first innings in Adelaide and here. Second innings, same thing again, no bounce of Bumrah’s new ball. Nathan McSweeney struggled as a makeshift opener and looked unsure of his approach. He was out, similar to Labuschagne, hitting the wrong ball. Mitchell Marsh played a half-hearted jab with a straight bat and nodded it. And Steve Smith, the last of the top five, did what he had done so often lately by straightening up, finishing and pulling the leg side down.

Only after collapsing to 33 for 5 did an attacking approach bring wickets, with Travis Head fluttering up a short ball to catch near gully and Pat Cummins firing to mid-field. They were on the rise. The rest, not so much. But by then Bumrah had three more wickets. Akash Deep had shaken off his frustrations with two hits in the first innings and Siraj also had two. Rishabh Pant had taken five catches. India could end this game with a good feeling.

Australia, meanwhile, have raised further questions about their batting weaknesses. Khawaja; start there. Last Australian summer he had a few good scores between 40 and 90, although he always scored above 100. The last time he did that was a year and a half ago at Edgbaston in the first Ashes Test. From the New Zealand trip last March, 10 innings with a top score of 33. He has said he wants to play another year but today is his 38th birthday. Before this series comes out, there will certainly have to be requirements. So far he has 8, 4, 13, 9 not out and 8 made.

Labuschagne, under scrutiny in Perth, responded with a half-century and a more positive approach in Adelaide. But No. 3 in the Order has more than fifty years to contend with. Add a score of 1 to his 2, 3, 64 and 12 in this series today.

McSweeney, who has been in the limelight since his debut as a stopgap candidate at the top of the order, is battling Bumrah’s early threat as much as anyone. He does his best but can’t get 10, 0, 39, 10, 9 and now 4.

Selected as an all-rounder, Marsh was designated as such by his captain, but was clearly unfit to bowl, sending two overs even after Australia lost Josh Hazlewood to injury. If he can’t do that job, he’ll have to offer returns with the bat like he did last season. This series: 6, 47, 9, 5 and today a score of 2 when the occasion suited him.

And Smith, a century in the first innings, breaking a long drought in that metric, and a player with so much work behind him. But even champions fall into question if they continue to get away with it the same way. The luck of the game can go against everyone for a while, but when the opponent’s plan works in most cases, the problem is more than just probability.

During Bumrah’s rapid-fire outings at the start of each innings in Perth, it was easy to feel sympathy for Australia’s top order failing to cope. That was not what this inning was. It was a procession of players going to bowl that was more decent than irresistible. It was unimaginative to begin with and tended to become embarrassing with five setbacks.

With the score at 1-1 in Melbourne, this collapse may not have helped the batters feel any better and another low score adds to the pressure. It will have put air in the tires of the Indian bowlers they got. The only thing Australia could deny Bumrah was his first 10-wicket Test, the statement coming when the pace bowler had nine in the bag and the ball in hand. Australia, who gave themselves a chance in the game, came close to their opponents in the end. The Test was a draw but the final day was an Indian victory.