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Adelaide heroics set stage for Marsh

Australia's veteran left-hander has a fond, recent memory of a run-chase in Adelaide that could prove pivotal on day five

There were myriad reasons why India’s cricketers might have missed cricket.com.au’s live stream of the South Australia-Western Australia JLT Sheffield Shield match as it reached its conclusion three weeks ago.

Virat Kohli’s men had only just arrived, on various flights from multiple embarkation points, in Brisbane where their two-month tour of Australia was about to begin with a T20 international against the host nation at the Gabba.

Had they logged on to the free coverage, they would have witnessed WA’s Shaun Marsh compiling a flawless and undefeated 163 on a final-day Adelaide Oval pitch as the Warriors cruised to their 313-run victory target, five wickets down.

Having begun that final day staring at an eerily similar scenario to that which awaits the first Test’s conclusion tomorrow.

Marsh cracks sublime 163 in WA victory

Three weeks ago, WA ended the penultimate day 4-146 needing an additional 167 to win, with Marsh unconquered on 72.

Tomorrow’s assignment is 219 runs with six wickets remaining, and the left-hander has already survived 92 balls in scoring an unbeaten 31.

The fact that WA sauntered to victory for the loss of a solitary wicket on that final day is barely relevant, given the heightened consequence of a Test match and the reality that SA’s attack was hardly Ravi Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Shami.

However, by effectively throwing away the latter half of their batting innings after expending so much effort to seize the ascendancy, India revealed they either did not know of recent last-day batting feats on an Adelaide pitch that seemingly ages better than Barossa shiraz.

Or, if they were cognisant of that occurrence, they did not care because they doubted Australia’s fragile batting line-up was capable of chasing down a target beyond 300.

Come yesterday’s lunch break, the visitors, who are chasing their first series win in Australia after seven decades of fruitless trying, were 275 runs in front and with five second-innings wickets – including specialist batter Ajinkya Rahane not out 57 – up their sleeves.

While that lead did not translate as unassailable, the way that Pant and the subsequent lower-order heaved away in kamikaze urgency at Australia’s bowling suggested it had been decided over the midday buffet that they had their fill of runs.

India’s assistant coach Sanjay Bangar begged to differ at day’s end, noting that it was hoped that India tail might have added an additional 25-30 runs which would have also soaked up an extra hour or so.

Thereby meaning Australia had less time and fewer overs in which to plot their pursuit, which the home team continues to believe is within their reach.

Ponting has 'no doubt' over Starc

Yet, if more runs and additional time at the crease was India’s plan it’s difficult to explain Pant’s ambitious heave that saw him caught in the deep, Rahane’s needless reverse sweep that cost his wicket, and Shami’s first-ball slog that yielded a golden duck.

In surrendering their final five wickets for 25 runs – the last four tumbling without the addition of a run scored off the bat – India did more than blow a welcome breeze through a contest that had been waged as a war of attrition for most of the preceding three days.

They also showed a preparedness to lose a game in search of a win, rather than take the approach of so many teams and ensure they’ve reached safe harbour from where they can’t lose before casting out in search of victory.

Of course, India captain Virat Kohli understands that, for Australia to contemplate success, their batting would need to find the sort of innings that has looked beyond them as a collective in this Test to date.

And by fast-tracking the end of their innings, India effectively removed the prospect of a drawn finish from the table, given that Australia will surely reach their target if they have the wherewithal to survive the minimum 90 overs available to them tomorrow.

That outcome seemed fanciful when the hosts slipped to 3-60, and then 4-84 as India’s bowlers tightened the noose this afternoon.

But a mitigating asterisk can be applied by noting that WA found themselves 4-113 early in their recent chase, and that the person next-best placed (after Marsh) to achieve that unlikely result is the batting partner with whom he resumes tomorrow morning.

That’s because Travis Head, Australia’s top-scorer in their first innings, has played a majority of his first-class cricket at Adelaide Oval and knows the conditions, and the limitations they therefore impose, better than anyone involved in this intriguing contest.

Head-strong Travis unbeaten at stumps

Following his first-innings failure, when he fell to India spinner Ravi Ashwin having scored just two, Marsh also sought advice from Australia’s own off-break bowler Nathan Lyon on how he should best combat finger spin on a wearing pitch.

Lyon, who confessed he rates Marsh as a "superstar" having bowled against him countless times in Australia’s domestic competitions, told him the secret is simply to believe.

It’s fair to assume that commodity has grown, in light of knowledge that Marsh averages around 60 at Test level once he has safely negotiated his way beyond a score of 10.

Through more than 130 years of Test cricket played at Adelaide Oval, the records reveal just 12 occasions when a team batting fourth has managed a total of 300 or more.

But instructively, two of those have happened in the five years since the historic black soil of the venue’s wicket block was dug out as part of the ground’s elaborate redevelopment, and drop-in pitches were installed.

Bringing with them a reputation for holding together against the ravages of time and foot traffic and, in numerous instances, defying tradition by evolving into a more benign batting surface as games progress.

Certainly Lyon claimed the surface has become progressively quicker as this Test has gone on, and that has also proved the case in the three Shield games played at Adelaide so far this summer.

In the first, South Australia held out against an international-strength New South Wales attack to secure a last-day draw, as did Queensland a week later when they posted 6-357 in the fourth innings, before Marsh then led WA to their triumph.

If history was the sole arbiter of future Test matches, then India would be expected to wrap-up this game in the hour after lunch tomorrow, and be on track for their inaugural series win on Australia’s patch over the ensuing month.

But as Shaun Marsh proved a few weeks ago, some long-held records are due for rewriting.

And he knows how that story goes.

Domain Test Series v India

Dec 6-10: First Test, Adelaide Oval

Dec 14-18: Second Test, Perth Stadium

Dec 26-30: Third Test, MCG

Jan 3-7: Fourth Test, SCG

Australia squad: Tim Paine (c, wk), Josh Hazlewood (vc), Mitch Marsh (vc), Pat Cummins, Aaron Finch, Peter Handscomb, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Peter Siddle, Mitchell Starc, Chris Tremain

India squad: Virat Kohli (c), Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Prithvi Shaw, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant (wk), Parthiv Patel (wk), Ravi Ashwin, Ravi Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar