Marnus Labuschagne, who top scored for Australia with a chancy but valuable 70, explained that his team gave up on the idea of bowling on the fourth evening because they did not think they had “earned the right” to do so by scoring enough runs.

But what that decision also said is that Australia are at this point trying to preserve dwindling resources as much as possible. Statistics about their declining individual performances over long matches and series would bear this out, as do their records as a collective.

In recent years, perhaps only the three-match marathon in Pakistan – where Pat Cummins inspired a 1-0 series victory on the final day of 15 in Lahore – has seen the Test team genuinely outlast the opposition.

Here and now, the Australians have a trio of headaches about their bowling line-up.

First and foremost, Mitchell Starc is sore, carrying a back or side niggle, that exacerbates what is already a poor record at the back end of a series: coming into this match, he averaged 40 runs per wicket in fourth or fifth Tests.

It may well be the case that Starc, should he go all out to try to win this Test match on day five, may sacrifice the chance to be fit for the final game at the SCG. While it is his home venue, Starc has a paltry 24 wickets at 44.16 from nine Tests in Sydney.

Then there is Mitchell Marsh, who has carried back and ankle trouble through the series to his obvious detriment. He has been a non-factor with the bat and the ball, and cannot be expected to be a partnership breaker or stock bowler on day five.

Third and perhaps most worryingly, Nathan Lyon has not had much of an impact on the series. India have played him smartly so far by milking Lyon for runs without taking too many risks. When he coaxed Washington Sundar into an edge on day three it was one of just six wickets for the series – 23 behind the irrepressible Bumrah.

Cummins, then, may need to do the lion’s share of the work himself, alongside the MCG specialist Boland. In that context, defending a target of 334 from 98 overs looks a lot more reasonable than the 270 from 115 that it may have been.

“The couple of home series I’ve played against India, there’s always an element of attrition to them,” Cummins predicated before the summer.

“The last series came down to the Gabba and the last session, and I think that’s always a good thing to keep in mind. It is a long series, and it might be tightly held until the last game. So you’ve got to manage your resources.”

India, though, do not have to win this match. A draw in Melbourne and another stalemate in rain-blighted Sydney would keep the Border-Gavaskar trophy in their possession, and leave Sri Lanka with the chance to keep the Australians out of the World Test Championship final in their series in late January and early February.

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That’s why, when the game reaches its closing stages in front of what may now be another significant MCG crowd on the final day, Cummins may think back to the last half an hour of this evening.

He may wonder, then, whether it was worth trying again for that wonder-ball he bowled to Root at Manchester.

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