Melbourne, Dec 29 (IANS): India were on the brink of victory in the third cricket Test with Australia toterring at 258/8 in their second innings, still 141 runs shy of the target at the end of the fourth day here on Saturday.

Pat Cummins came up with some heroic resistance lower don the order as the Australians battled desparately to somehow delay the by now inevitable defeat.

The pacer was unbeaten on a well made 61 when the day's play ended with Nathan Lyon batting on six at the other end.

Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja was the pick of the Indian bowlers with figures of 3/82 while fast bowlers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami claimed two wickets each. Pacer Ishant Sharma also got a wicket.

Earlier in the day, India declared their second innings at 106/8.

Brief Scores:

Australia: 151 & 258/8 (Pat Cummins 61 batting, Usman Khawaja 33; Ravindra Jadeja 3/82) vs India: 443/7(d) & 106/8(d) (Mayank Agarwal 42, Rishabh Pant 33; Pat Cummins 6/27) at stumps on Day 4.