India clinched a six-wicket dominant test victory and retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy on the third afternoon of the Delhi Test, thanks to a dramatic batting collapse by the Australian team that completely changed the course of the game.
In just 87 minutes of play during the Delhi Test, Australia’s dreams of winning back the Border Gavaskar Trophy were completely shattered, leaving their promising efforts in ruins.
(Photo credits: cricket.com.au)
At the start of the day, the visiting team had a 62-run advantage over India and were confident that they could level the series. However, the tables turned quickly and India secured their second three-day win in two weeks, with the match ending in the early afternoon.
Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin, the well-known spin bowlers, made the remarkable turnaround possible with their superb performance. They bowled without interruption on Sunday morning and caused a stunning batting collapse of 8-28 in just 74 balls.
It was almost impossible to comprehend the magnitude and rapidity of Australia’s collapse.
Australia’s hopes of setting India a challenging target in the third Test match were crushed by India’s expert bowlers Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin. Australia was rolled for 113 runs in just half-an-hour before lunch with only two batsmen, Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne, batting for more than 30 minutes. Jadeja claimed seven wickets for 42 runs, achieving career-best figures of 10-110 for the Test. Ashwin also contributed with three wickets for 59 runs in Australia’s second innings. With 31 out of 40 Australian wickets in the series so far, Jadeja and Ashwin proved to be the heroes of the Indian team.
Dominant Test Victory Result
Chasing a small target of 115, India was guided to an easy six-wicket victory by Cheteshwar Pujara, who scored an unbeaten 31 runs, and newcomer KS Bharat, who scored 23 runs. With this win, India took a 2-0 lead in the four-Test series. Even if Australia wins the remaining matches in Indore and Ahmedabad, India will retain the Trophy they famously won at the Gabba in 2020-21.
(Photo credits: Times Of India)
Australia will be left wondering how they lost the game so easily, as they had a realistic hope of setting their hosts a target of at least 200 runs. However, a mad-cap procession of dismissals against Jadeja and Ashwin washed those chances away. Head’s aggression rattled his opponents late on day two, but he was dismissed in the first over of the day by Ashwin. Labuschagne’s exit soon after proved to be instrumental, as the Aussies lost four wickets in just 11 balls with the score frozen on 95.
Ashwin’s switch from around to over the wicket turned out to be crucial, as he had two strong LBW shouts against Labuschagne, one of which was unsuccessfully reviewed. Smith aimed a sweep and was shocked when the on-field umpire’s out decision was validated by ball-tracking. After Labuschagne’s dismissal, the Aussies lost their last five wickets to Jadeja, four of which were bowled.
In the second innings, Lyon found his fortune following him when he opened the bowling, as KL Rahul glanced his first ball into the body of Handscomb at short-leg, who then caught the ball. Handscomb and Carey combined again when Rohit was run-out by the length of the pitch. Although Kohli and Iyer were dismissed, Pujara and Bharat guided India to a comfortable victory.
