As impressive as Head’s clear-headed aggression has been,he also left a mark with calm and sturdy defensive play when the moment required;not least on the fourth evening of this match,or in the early overs of a small chase in Indore.
Labuschagne,meanwhile,soaked up many more deliveries in defence,as he tried to atone for a series in which he had made plenty of starts without once going on to a match-defining score.
The tourists were concerned enough about their capacity to bat through the day against Ravichandran Ashwin,Ravindra Jadeja and company to have Khawaja testing his leg and freedom of movement in the nets before play,watched by head coach Andrew McDonald.
Due to his time off the field,Khawaja would not have been permitted to bat until after the lunch interval,but as it was,Head and Labuschagne forged through the morning and afternoon without too many alarms.
It had looked from quite early on as though the Australians needed only to concentrate hard and play straight to force a draw,as the night watcher Matt Kuhnemann was able to negotiate 35 balls before he was given lbw to Ashwin.
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Kuhnemann,suspecting the ball was sliding past leg stump,paused to ponder a review with Head,before it was decided that Australia’s No. 11 was not entitled to try one. As it turned out,he should have - the ball was indeed fading down leg.
Labuschagne walked in to join Head for the same union that had accrued the 76 testy runs required to win the third Test a week ago,in vastly more difficult conditions than these.
Like Khawaja,Green and Virat Kohli,Head and Labuschagne found that they were quite safe in trusting their defences,and there was no undue haste to reel in the 91-run first innings deficit and thus force India to bat again.
Labuschagne advanced a couple of times to flick cleanly over mid-on,while Head interspersed some trademark cut shots with straight sixes that recalled some of his most decisive work in Indore.
The news of New Zealand’s win in Christchurch,knocking out Sri Lanka in the process,arrived soon after the afternoon resumption,not that it had looked like India would be likely to conjure a rush of wickets in any case.
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For the most part,Ashwin and Jadeja looked a couple of tired operators after their exertions in early matches and innings.
Given some of his longest bowling stints of the series,meanwhile,Axar Patel was able to find a rough patch from which to bowl Head through the gate as the left-hander sought to drive through the covers. It was just his third wicket of the series.
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