Last Updated:December 29, 2024, 10:36 IST

No team has chased more than 250 runs in the final innings of a Test at the MCG in this century.

Indian vice-captain Jasprit Bumrah once again upended what looked like a certain draw at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in the fourth Test of the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy till Saturday. His spell of four wickets for less than 30 runs before Tea on Sunday meant India could threaten to get Australia under a chaseable target.

However, as the match goes on, what is a chaseable target at the MCG? The highest successful Test run-chase here is 332, which came exactly 96 years ago from Sunday, on December 29, 1928. England beat Australia by three wickets to win that match.

Apart from that, only on six more occasions have runs upward of 250 been chased in the fourth innings of Tests. The last such instance came on February 10, 1961, when Richie Benaud’s Australia shot down 258 against the Frank Worrell-led West Indies.

The highest fourth-innings run-chase of this century came in 2013 when Australia won the Boxing Day Test of that year’s Ashes. They chased 231 runs in the final essay with the loss of just two wickets, led by a 116 from Chris Rogers and Shane Watson’s 83.

In the years before 2015, the MCG used to be a truer pitch, with significant help for bowlers. For a few years, it became one of the flattest and most mundane tracks in the world, which made it easy for batting.

However, the same cannot be said about the ongoing Test. Although it isn’t a minefield, occasional variable bounce, consistent seam movement and a bit of help for the spinners make it a difficult pitch to bat on — one where India won’t want to chase anything above 300.

After the day’s play on Saturday, young spinner Washington Sundar was asked what target his team would be comfortable in going after.

“Honestly, every session would be important, you know, starting from the first session tomorrow. I guess if you could bowl well and if you could pick wickets, we should be able to get them all out for about 150. And you know, if you can, I’m sure we’ll be able to get anywhere between 250 to 325,” Sundar told the press.

Australia would know that anything around 350 would be almost impossible for the visitors. India would hope to keep them under it and use their extra long batting lineup with three all-rouders to do the job.

Location :

Melbourne, Australia