These two are patiently building a meaningful partnership. Need them to be here at stumps.

We are 3 down for 160 in front, yet India seem right on top.

After tha wild Head slash/ cut, we are 4 down for 163 in front!

We are going to lose a match we should’ve won the way we are batting.

That's just a pressure wicket. Bumrah was putting so much pressure on that Head had a swipe at the first ball from a new bowler. Absolutely fantastic bowling from India. 

Hopefully, these two can take a few singles to upset the Indian rhythm.

They have to keep changing the field with a right and left hand batting combination. And, keep changing the field with different game plans.

I hope I don’t speak too soon, but Paine looks more composed than the other Aussie right handers, Finch and Handscomb.

Usman dropped at slip, resulting in an undeserved four!

Poor shot selection with a cut too close to the body.

Now Usman plays with one hand on the bat after playing with soft hands and playing late most of the time.

Another perishes to a poor cut shot. How many is that in the match?

Quite a few.

They've rarely bowled like they have in this Test in Australia.

Credit to them.

They've never had a bowler like Bumrah in Australia before. He really is high quality - he has pace, bounce and accuracy. Ishant had to drop his pace from previous tours to increase his accuracy. He is much improved, but he's not the ace... 

 They missed a trick imo by picking Yadav over Kumar, though. Kumar is much more accurate than Yadav. And as you said before, Yadav is well down on pace...

But Bumrah is the difference for the Indian attack in Australia... 

australia still on top especially since finch can bat

Hope we can get 600 for the test

good job khawaja batting time in first two tests he is cashing in now when we need him

The records keep falling for Nathan Lyon.

The most significant for myself would be that his 5/67 is the best bowling by an Australian spinner in a first innings in Perth. The only other time an Australian spinner has taken 5 wickets in the first innings was Bruce Yardley with 5/107 in 1982. Other 5 wicket hauls by spinners in Perth were Yardley with 6/84 in the second innings 1981 and G Dymock 6/34 in the 2nd innings 1979.

So the first 5 wicket haul by a spinner in Perth in 36 years. Not even Shane Warne took a 5 for in Perth. How good are our pace attack going?

For the record best match bowling in Perth by an Australian spinner is Dymock 1979 with 9/86, then, Yardley in 1982 with 8/208. 

Mike R

I checked records last night. Lyon is the 25th highest wicket taker in Test history and 4th Aussie overall.

At 31 he is still improving. Whereas Cummins could already be past his best at only 25 for those who saw him bowl in Asia last year.

Lyon has had such minimal media attention for a bowler who has averaged over 4 wickets per Test in his 81 appearances.

He is also the 7th ranked spinner of all time behind Murali, Warne, Kumble, Harbajhan Singh, Herath and Ashwin.

Like Warne, he has also bowled on less helpful wickets than the Asian spinners who have taken more wickets.

cummins pace improved slightly yesterday

grazor did Kohli lite the powder keg yesterday with his petulant tirade against Tim Paine?

A couple of former test stars have been scathing  saying Kohlis  on-field behaviour "is getting out of control" 
Kohli was at his sledging best on Sunday, taking some digs at our batsmen as his bowlers delivered a series of bruising bouncers in the second Test at Perth Stadium.The Indian skipper even spent some time trying to pump up the crowd as the on- field tension rose dramatically.

 This has to date been a series played in good spirits. Keep it that way Virat. 

 All Kohli said was "if he messes it up its 2-0", to which Paine replied "you've still got to bat first big head".

They gave each other a thumbs up at the close of play. 

There were no threats of broken arms or the like.

It also has to be remembered that simply because Australia now want to cease with their "mental disintegration tag" - that that does not mean India or any further nation is not happily prepared to be the new 'bad boys' of world cricket.

I am beginning to warm to Lyon. Never used to rate him. Was accurate but not penetrative. To call him the GOAT was a joke. Michael Phelps is a GOAT. Juan Fangio is a GOAT, Bjorn Borg is a GOAT, Pele is a GOAT. Nathan Lyon is not a GOAT.. Shane Warne is Australia's GOAT imho. But what is undeniable is Lyon is fast building a compelling spinning reputation with his immense improvement over the past two years. The confidence with which the balding tweaker has bowled in this series on decks that do not suit him has been infectious and inspirational. 

honestly I'm not too worried about their sledging or our sledging

as long as there is no racism (monkeygate) etc or physical threats (michael clarkes "get ready for a #$%%$^ broken arm) its ok by me

quite frankly lip about how you are scared of losing, "have no idea" about what a spinner will do next or are scared of a fast bowlers bouncer is part of the game. It doesn't just help you focus when you say it and gee up your team mates (its otherwise hard to give 100% for 5 days. Cricket is a long game!) Its also enjoyable to receive

Nothing better than someone telling you you're scared of a fast bowler have them waste huge amount effort and you diffuse the energy of 11 people around you as you drop the ball at your feet and sneak a quick single

Alternatively, there is nothing better than creating a theatre of threat when the ball isn't turning saying the batsmen can't pick you and has no idea every time they harmlessly leave a ball, drawing them into a silly slog "trying to prove you wrong" throwing away their wicket in the process

Yeh. Certainly is a place in our game for sledging if it stays above the belt. Kohli's kind tho has inflamed our cricketers in the past and we have bitten. Or vica versa. Resulting in bad blood and a stain on the good name of our sport. We have to avoid this to win back our supporter base and prove to the world that Australia intends to maintain their intent and passion but will not revert to the bad old days.

Ok InsideSporters what do you see as the state of play as we head into the penultimate day of this enthralling match. 

Can Australia win it from here? Yes if our pace cartel crack open their middle order early for Lyon to then work his magic. 

We presently have a 175 run lead. Khawaja and Paine plus the tail have to eke out a minimum 100 more runs.. you would think given the dr jekyll/mr hyde nature of this pitch. 

the goal of sledging is to get you to do something you aren't comfortable with

if your sledging a player like warner or pant you tell them they are a 20-20 player, a slogger who lacks discipline and temperament to try and get them to bat defensive to prove you wrong.

you tell people they are scared of a bowler to get them playing hook shots to balls that are too short or pitching on off
you tell people they aren't picking a spinner to try and get them to slog

because ultimately even if they change their game well, they will never play as well that way as they will playing like themselves

so based on that india calling us bad boys was the ultimate sledge because you could argue its made us change our game to prove people wrong (while they still sledge :D)

I think India is in trouble this match. I don't see many runs in Rahul and Vijay, their #3,4,5 are fine but they have a long tail.

They stufffed up with Yadav over Kumar, and Dhawan probably should have got a repreieve over Rahul despite Shaw's injury.

I think at 220- 280 - the game is going to be a contest, if Aus gets that lead to 300... its just too much about India's middle order firing on a variable pitch.

I like India at 220 - Aus have to be favourites at 280... I just don't see India mopping through Australia for only 45 more runs - the Aus tail is too good.

I rate us around 70% win 10% draw

In juniors we were always told to never play the opposition always compete against yourself and set benchmarks. The national team used to set a goal of 600 runs per test

We should continue that and in the post game synopsis treat it as a failure if we get less than our benchmarks or a success if we get higher than our benchmarks regardless of the result

600 is only a fraction ahead of the international wicket average for the year which is at a 50 year low... which is at 29 something at the moment...

I'd take it pitch by pitch...

be curious how many times a team has lost getting 600 in the last 2 years
reckon it would be less than a quarter of the time

I think it would be much more than that if minnows and draws are excluded.

I will try and see if I can cricinfo it...

bangladesh are now a grey area when counting minnows

tails have gotten better which makes me wonder if the 600 benchmark is out of date. I'd be interested in your results

We have fallen well below that benchmark in the recent past.. This is our first 300 + score in [past 10 tests if not mistaken. That is woeful. Back in the glory days we regularly posted 500+ innings scores.