In a first, India win opening Test Down Under
NEW DELHI/ADELAIDE: India walked off the scene of heartbreak on their last Test tour of Australia with their heads held high on Monday.
The dramatic, nailbiting 31-run win was only their sixth Test victory in Australia over 70 years, and their first ever in the opening match of a series. It ended when off spinner R Ashwin got last man Josh Hazlewood caught at slip off the penultimate delivery of the extended middle session on the final day. The team first rushed to him in celebration and then to collect the stumps as souvenirs, joy and relief in equal measure, after Australia’s lower order batsmen had raised hopes of an improbable fightback chasing a record 323.
At the Adelaide Oval in 2014-15, centuries in both innings from skipper Virat Kohli weren’t enough as the visitors fell agonisingly short after a heroic fourth-innings run chase at the start of a cricket series they eventually lost 2-0.
This time, India harked back to another glorious Adelaide evening from 2003, when the team — fuelled by a double century from Rahul Dravid and boosted by a spell of pace bowling from Ajit Agarkar — defeated the hosts by four wickets to win the second Test of what was finally a 1-1 series.
Cheteshwar Pujara, a player in the Dravid mould, struck obdurate knocks in both innings, top-scoring with 123 and 71 to be named man-of-the-match. Kohli hailed Pujara’s contribution as “priceless” . “His grit and determination brought us back in it. We did not let up for four days,” the skipper said.
But it was a team effort, with the four-man attack picking up the 20 wickets needed for victory. Over the two innings, the pace trio of Ishant Sharma (3/95), Jasprit Bumrah (6/115) and Mohammed Shami (5/123) shared the spoils, and Ashwin never eased the pressure on the Australian batsmen.
Young wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant was another bright spot, claiming 11 catches to equal the world record by a stumper in a Test match that was jointly held by England’s Jack Russell and South Africa’s AB de Villiers until now.
Going 1-0 up in the four-test series is a huge boost for Kohli’s side after defeats in the opening Tests in South Africa and England led to 1-2 and 1-4 series defeats respectively.
India are now firm favourites to win its first Test series in Australia in the absence of the banned Steve Smith and David Warner following a ball-tampering scandal early this year.
The second Test starts in Perth on Friday.
INDIA ARE NOW FIRM FAVOURITES TO WIN ITS FIRST TEST SERIES IN AUSTRALIA IN THE ABSENCE OF THE BANNED STEVE SMITH AND DAVID WARNER