Fine, but runs did not matter, wickets did, encourage the shot under pressure.
I've been trying to work out why Paine was made captain & realise that at the time, other than Lyon & a couple of bowlers
the rest of the team was quite nebulous & still is.
So was Paine made captain as CA saw him as the only player they considered long term enough, despite his inexperience.
The vice captain (s) do not make sense at all, the VC should be a future captain in the making & learning from the captain.
3 problems here, the captain doesn't know enough to pass on experience, Marsh's position is tenuous & Hazelwood will never progress to a captain.
Is this showing the total lack of progression by CA, in developing Australian cricket. In reality like him or not, none of the current team is a replacement for Paine,
as captain & we don't even have a quality VC.
For the people that know more than me in regards to Khawaja, is he VC material. I do not know enough of his background to say if he should be considered.

In out fields for a spinner are not new or controversial Jazyjim. The boundary riders.. if  have not misread the situation .. was to invite slog happy Pant to have a go. 

Look I agree, I watched that as well, force the error.
In the past our other Captains would have done so but they also had many good experienced fellow players around them whereas this team is fresh as.
A shame, I suppose chappeli was being kind.

I agree with you about the vice captain. Langer or CA made Hazlewood and Mitch Marsh v/cs before this series. Odd choice given Mitch Marsh had not cemented his spot and Haze has never been captain even in junior cricket to my knowledge. Mitch Marsh has.. captained before took the Aussies to  the 2010 U19  WC. plus he is current WA skipper.  So CA has evidently earmarked him as the heir apparent. So expect him back as soon as the Ashes. Ussie has skippered Qld .. never when he played for the Blues.

bumped
Ok guys state of play leading into the final day. Happily I am predicting an Aussie victory for a change. Is a good feeling. Still a stubborn partnership to break before we are into cricket's longest tail.. 182 runs to score. India need something very special to save this one. All over red rover by lunch.
I am now making the bold prediction we will regain the Border/Gavaskar Trophy. 

I'm really not sure Mitch will cement a place in the Ashes team neither...

Nathan "cub" Lyon has a ring to it... But a GOAT has no cubs...

To me it all depends on the team we select.
Same team, hot days & flat pitch to bat on, could see every match drawn = India retaining trophy.

Its not all Paine - despite Pant reg being caught on the boundary this and every time he plays, Lyon likes a long on by default - long off is for Pant... Lyon for a normal guy is saying hit me big inside out, but not with the turn...

Hazelwood is a hothead - I think they made him a VC to curb his "enthusiasm"...

You beauty - Vihari gone off Starc!

6-119.

Unusual dismissal. Inside edged into his pad and the ball spooned for a dolly to Harris..

Just hearing this will be our first Test win in 9 months.

Brew have you noticed that outside of the new ball the batting conditions have been kinder in the morning to mid sessions. The gremlins appear to surface in the second half of the day. Is this odd or usual in WA? 

Starc has used the short ball to better affect this Test.

Yadav nearly caught By Handscomb at bat pad off Lyon.

Baggers, hadn’t noticed your observation about the new ball, mate.

I just noticed an excellent diving catch by Handscomb at mid on, off Lyon to dismiss Pant though!

7-137.

Not long ago Cummins was used as the intimidator, not Starc.

Hazlewood must be champing at the bit to get the ball into his hand.

Handscomb is an excellent fielder. Obviously learnt the skills with the gloves. Now all he has to do is score some runs.

Yadav caught and bowled Starc!

It will be all over before most of the cricket posters get here!

Cummins got the pill instead. He can use a wicket. Has been below par in this game. To be honest Brew Cummins is a shadow of his former ferocious self.

Almost done and dusted. Cummins does get his first. Now finish em.

He does!!  

Great win Baggy Greens. We will now take the momentum into Boxing Day.

Harris: 7
Finch: 6
Khawaja: 7
Marsh: 5
Handscomb: 4
Head: 6
Paine: 7
Starc: 7
Cummins: 4
Lyon: 8
Hazlewood: 7

comments.

Such a ruthless win , most posters have missed it!

Good win by the boys. The first since Cape Town,

Baggers, I think I agree with all your appraisals of Australian players.

They say fools never differ, mate.

A good win for Australia. It's not often that a team has a batsman score a hundred and a bowler take 6 wickets and still lose. 

India are certainly bowling well enough to win this series but they aren't batting well enough. In hindsight they should have picked Jadeja (spinning all rounder) or Bhuvunshwar Kumar (a better bowler than Umesh Yadav and a handy bat). 

More concerning for them is that Murali Vijay and KL Rahul are both out of form opening the bat, and their injured substitute Privthi Shaw has now had to go home to recover from hsi ankle injury. 

India have added Aggarwal and Hardik Pandya to their squad and they'll be tempted to throw one of them in the team. 

Usual on a good WACA type wicket.
Roller flattens the cracks a bit & they open as the day goes on - just depends how bad they are to start with

Do you think they will go in with the same team ton boxing day, or what changes?

Brew I may have been a touch harsh on Cummins. I will add a point for his excellent double batting efforts. We often forget that tailenders contribute meaningful runs.

Justin Langer intimated that  both Handscomb and Finch will be in Melbourne. Has Marsh saved his place?  If Langer is being honest with himself then he has to admit Handscomb is what we all think.. a liability. He is playing back to balls he should be coming forward to because he camps himself deep in his crease. Madness. How can you play off the front foot when you are so far back? These Indian bowlers are no fools. They are experienced professionals who know how to sniff out a dud.The problem with dropping Handscomb is we are without one of only two r/hs in our top 6.

This is the batting 6  that should be picked. CA is unlikely to punish anyone for winning a Test match. So expect no changes.
Harris
Burns
Khawaja
Head
Patterson
??????
+ bowlers.

I agree with you, Baggers.

 A year ago I thought he was going to our be the best pace bowler of all, but losing an average elf 7kph per ball certainly takes his ferocity  away. Iyt isn coo-indicdende that he has taken few wicket this series. By his own very high  standards of a year ago in Asia and the start of the Ashes, he is innocuous.

His new future may be as an all rounder. All the pundits claim he is a talented better. Paddy should put more work into it and plan to be a future all rounder He could reinvent himself to be more of a stock bowler, bowling line and length  at 125 -135 kph per hour, to give the strike bowlers a rest. 

The pundits claim Paddy has bowled well - I don' t often do it, but I disagree. From the age of 18 he has been mooted as potentially one of our future greats, like Pattinson.

Bowlers like McGrath lost as much pace over just one winter, but he was just as effective 10 kph slower. Another whose pace peaked at 19, was Craig McDermott. He also lost pace very quickly, but was still successful at lower speeds.

The speed gun shows a lot.