India have won just their second Test at the Adelaide Oval and sixth in Australia, taking a 31-run victory over Australia in the first Test at the Adelaide Oval.
Australia, who were set 323 in a little under 150 overs to win the match, ultimately fell short as the Indian bowlers did the job on a pitch which was never excellent for batsmen.
It came right down to the wire though, with Australia sneaking closer and closer during the final afternoon before the final wicket was taken right on the stroke of tea.
The Indians, after winning the toss and batting first, found themselves in all sorts of trouble during their first innings.
At one point, they had been reduced to 4 for 41 and 5 for 86, with the top order failing against a new ball which the Australian bowlers got to move around in the early going.
It would set the tone for the entire match, with the new ball doing plenty, then the quicks being playable although slow off the pitch, while the spinners did a majority of the bowling.
Man of the match Cheteswhar Pujara put his best foot forward, scoring a century and ending with 123 as he batted with the tail to take India to 250 when they were ultimately all out on the first ball of Day 2.
In reply, it was wickets at regular intervals for the hosts, who couldn’t get ahead in the match. Having to bat last on a pitch which was taking more and more turn the further the match went on, it was clear Australia needed a first innings lead.
Instead, they were rolled for 235, and even that only came about thanks to 72 from Travis Head, as Ravichandran Ashwin and Jasprit Bumrah bowled excellently.
With a 15-run first innings lead, India then set about building a target for the Australians, and at the end of Day 3 were looking in a strong position, but the wicket of Virat Kohli to the bowling of Nathan Lyon, who ended the second innings with six to his name, kept the match somewhat in the balance.
Ajinkya Rahane then joined up with Pujara on Day 4 though to push India’s lead up, the pair batting for two hours before a wicket finally fell with the score on 4 for 234 as Pujara was dismissed by some excellent Nathan Lyon bowling for 71.
The lead by that stage had reached 249, but India through away the start, eventually all out for 307, setting Australia 323 to win which is well below what was expected.
It was clear things were going to be tough going for the Aussies though, with Aaron Finch surviving an LBW shout in the first over from Ishant Sharma.
He was eventually the first man out on the stroke of tea for 11, while Marcus Harris departed shortly afterwards. The wickets of a bogged down Usman Khawaja and Peter Handscomb before stumps left Australia reeling at 4 for 104, still behind by over 200.
Shaun Marsh and Travis Head began Day 5 at the crease for Australia, but the bowling of Ashwin and the pace attack, with the wickets continually being shared around, kept the Aussies well behind where they needed to be.
When Tim Paine got out shortly after lunch with the score only on 187, Australia still needed 136 for victory with no recognised batsmen at the crease.
Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins then put on 41, but with Starc snicking one through to Rishabh Pant, it looked all over again, and while the final stand was 42 runs, India eventually held on for a famous and exciting victory in Adelaide.
India 1st innings: 10/250 (88) [C.Pujara 123, R.Sharma 37, J.Hazlewood 3/52]
Australia 1st innings: 10/235 (98.4) [T.Head 72, P.Handscomb 34, J.Bumrah 3/47, R.Ashwin 3/57]
India 2nd innings: 10/307 (106.5) [C.Pujara 71, A.Rahane 70, K.Rahul 44, V.Kohli 34, N.Lyon 6/122, M.Starc 3/40]
Australia 2nd innings: 10/291 (119.5) [S.Marsh 60, T.Paine 41, N.Lyon 38, M.Shami 3/65, J.Bumrah 3/68, R.Ashwin 3/92]
India defeat Australia by 31 runs to take a 1-0 series lead
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