Brisbane : Rain continued to make its presence felt in Brisbane, restricting the first session to just 24 balls on Day 5 of the third Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy between India and Australia on Wednesday.
India folded on 260 following Akash Deep's dismissal, and Australia were supposed to begin their innings, but the rain had other plans.
Fans waited patiently for the opening duo of Usman Khawaja and Nathan McSweeney to take the crease, but the moment never arrived.
The waiting game began when bad weather didn't allow the game to resume. But the conditions worsened after rain arrived at The Gabba, limiting the session to just 24 balls.
Before the intervention of the weather gods, Akash and Jasprit Bumrah continued to churn out runs for India, adding to Australia's misery.
The Australian bowling unit had to be patient in their attempts to find a breakthrough. While Nathan Lyon tried to create pressure from one end, Travis Head tried to exploit the tail end from the other.
Head, who starred for Australia with his 152-run blitzkrieg, eventually got the breakthrough. He invited Akash forward, got past him with a slider, and Alex Carey removed the bails at lightning pace. The replay showed Akash had nothing behind the crease with his foot on the line at the moment Carey dislodged the bails.
The superb cameo from Akash came to an end as he walked back with figures of 31(44). Jasprit Bumrah and the rest of the bowling unit appeared on the field to warm up after the rain stopped.
The 47-run partnership probably defined the game for India as they stood on the verge of facing a follow-on on Day 4. The duo batted with caution to ensure that India avoided such a situation.
Akash slapped the ball away for four, which led to some memorable reactions from head coach Gautam Gambhir and stalwarts Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in the dressing room.