India have come away with a match win, series win, and reclaimed the Border-Gavaskar trophy on Day 4 at Dharamsala, easily reaching the target 106 inside the first session.
The match was a relatively even one after two innings of play had passed, with Australia totalling 300 in their first dig, and India responding with 332.
Steve Smith was Australia’s hero with the bat, putting up yet another century on the subcontinent with a knock of 111. David Warner and Matthew Wade also contributed half-centuries to the cause.
» All the talking points from the India vs Australia series
» The Liebke Ratings
» How it happened: Day 4 live blog
India’s batsmen shared the load well when they took to the crease, with Ravindra Jadeja (63), Lokesh Rahul (60) and Cheteshwar Pujara (57) their most valuable contributors.
It was Nathan Lyon and Pat Cummins who kept Australia in the match – Lyon taking five wickets and doing wonders for the Australian sunglasses industry, while Cummins took three.
When Australia went back in to bat late on the third day, however, was when they dropped their bundle and any chance of winning or drawing the match, and therefore of retaining the Border-Gavaskar trophy.
Openers Renshaw and Warner were quickly gone for a combined 14 runs, and in the end Glenn Maxwell was Australia’s best with 45 – only four other batsmen reached double figures, and none made more than Matthew Wade’s 25.
Steve O’Keefe, Nathan Lyon and Josh Hazlewood all went for ducks as Australia recorded just 137, giving them a paltry lead of 105.
That was a position from which India’s win was never in doubt, and their second innings was little more than a formality.
Murali Vijay (8) and Pujara (0) were both dismissed but neither wicket had a significant impact on India’s chances.
Rahul put up 51 runs and stayed at the crease throughout the innings, reaching his half century and hitting the series-winning runs in one stroke. Stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane partnered Rahul for the closing stages of the chase, and at one point hit Pat Cummins for successive sixes.
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The Aussie needed every centimetre of his height and reach to reel that one in!
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