Australia vs India: Virat Kohli in fiery exchange with debutant Sam Konstas as hosts on top in Boxing Day Test – Sky Sports

Cricket
Virat Kohli and Sam Konstas got into a heated exchange during the 10th over; Australia’s teenage debutant Konstas hit a brilliant 60 during the Boxing Day Test; hosts were 311-6 at close of play with the series levelled at 1-1
Thursday 26 December 2024 08:13, UK
Teenager Sam Konstas hit the third-quickest half-century by an Australian Test debutant during day one of the fourth Test on Boxing Day at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Konstas (60 off 65) also got into a heated exchange with Virat Kohli after the pair bumped shoulders at the end of the 10th over with umpire Michael Gough and Usman Khawaja having to step in to calm things down before the 19-year-old was trapped leg-before by Ravindra Jadeja (1-54).
Khawaja (57), Marnus Labuschagne (72), and Steve Smith (68 not out) all made half-centuries in front of a crowd of 87,242 after skipper Pat Cummins chose to bat, reaching 311-6 at close, with India’s pacer Jasprit Bumrah (3-75) being the pick of the bowlers.
Khawaja scored his first half-century of the series before Bumrah struck at 154-2 when the left-hander chipped a catch to KL Rahul at mid-wicket.
Labuschagne then added 83 runs for the third wicket with Smith to bring Australia to 237-2 but the hosts lost momentum when the former was caught at mid-off by spinner Washington Sundar (1-37).
Travis Head, the leading run-scorer in the series, was bowled for a duck by Bumrah in what was a crucial breakthrough for the tourists three runs later.
Bumrah then removed Mitchell Marsh (4) cheaply as Australia suffered a middle-order collapse, losing three wickets for nine runs.
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Seamer Akash Deep (1-59) also contributed by removing Alex Carey (31) with the new ball to break a 53-run partnership with Smith, leaving Cummins (8no) at the crease to provide support.
The five-match series is level at 1-1 after a rainy draw at Brisbane with the final Test scheduled to start on January 3 at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
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