Australia 445 (Head 152, Smith 101, Carey 70, Bumrah 6-76) and 89 for 7 Dec (Bumrah 3-18) moved along India 260 (Rahul 84, Jadeja 77, Cummins 4-81, Starc 3-83) and 8 for 0

Rain had the final say at the Gabba, as was widely expected, but only after Australia and India conjured up the most intriguing what-ifs in a possible 22 overs on day five of the third Border-Gavaskar Test match.

After taking the last India wicket into play with four overs to spare and securing a 185-run lead in the first innings, Australia made one last attempt at victory by running India’s bowling hard, losing quick wickets in the process, to reach 89 for 7 declared after 18 overs in the third innings. This gave India a target of 275 in theoretical 54 overs. Only 2.1 was possible as poor light drove players off the pitch before rain began to fall again, bringing an early end.

Given all the help with the new ball, Australia could have imagined eliminating India. Given the scope for run-scoring and the fact that Australia didn’t have any of their three fast bowlers, India could have imagined hoping for victory had they gotten through the early overs relatively unscathed. Coincidentally, the draw was perhaps the best result of the series going forward, with two Tests remaining and the teams drawing 1-1 on Boxing Day.

Australia’s declaration dated back to the 1950 Test at the same ground when England declared 68 for 7 and then Australia declared 32 for 7 as both teams tried to make the most of a sticky pitch after a spell of rain. Such events are extremely rare in the era of covered pitches, but something not too dissimilar happened on this day when Australia declared 89 for 7.

One man who was perhaps a little dissatisfied at this point was Bumrah; He had just returned for a new assignment and had sent off Cummins with a clever, slower ball. It was his ninth wicket of the game and he was close to scoring his first ten, one of the few achievements yet to come in his remarkable career.