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.
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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.
Match summary
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
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
It was all about the pitch. I've seen some people talking about how it was a great test pitch. I disagree. A great test pitch has something in it for bat and ball. This felt like it had nothing for either. What I mean is, if a batsman was happy to just stay in and not attempt to score any runs there was little the bowlers could do to get them out, but the pitch made it very difficult to play the majority of attacking strokes, so whenever batsmen who'd tried to be patient for ages decided to actually play an attacking stroke they regularly edged them behind. I much prefer the sort of pitch that has something in it for the bowlers that gives them the chance to produce a great ball to take a wicket, while at the same time coming nicely onto the bat so that it's possible for batsmen to actually score runs. On a pitch like Adelaide it all comes down to both batsman and bowler playing defensively and the one who cracks first (bad shot or bad ball) loses. On a pitch with something in it for bat and ball it can allow both bat and ball to go on the attack more.
Hari
Guest
While the standards of Indian bowling improved a bit and batting standards fell considerably, Aussie batting looks a mess. It's almost like fight of two mediocre batting sides aside from individual brilliance!
AREH
Roar Guru
Agree - barring injury/soreness etc, I don't think they will change anything.
Just Nuisance
Roar Rookie
Yes an absorbing game . Yes Aussie lower order showed some fight . Yes India won.
Brendon
Roar Rookie
Great? God awful batting by both sides. Australia couldn't even break 300 despite batting slower than a sleeping snail. Which begs the question of the Australian shot selection - why did they play so many bad shots when they were scoring sub 2.5 rpo? Neither batting team broke 3 runs per over though India's second innings was pretty decent. Just because a game was close doesn't mean the standard was good.
jamesb
Roar Guru
When you lose by just 31 runs, then it is very disappointing. The tail wagged and got Australia unexpectely closer. Our top order have done nothing. In the first innings, Australia was 6/127, and in the second dig, 6/156. You are not going to win too many tests with 6 for not many. After a loss, it's easy to be reactive and make changes. But I think we should go with an unchanged eleven. Over the years, the chopping and changing of this side hasn't been beneficial at all. Just ask Callum Ferguson. As for Nathan Lyon....he is a beauty.
Ronan O'Connell
Expert
What a thriller in the end, a very absorbing Test.
AREH
Roar Guru
Given the time still remaining when the fourth innings began, that total was always gettable. One conversion in the top order would've done it, incredibly frustrating. The application at the crease of the lower order leaves a lot to be desired about a few in the top six.
Damo
Guest
Great test - unfortunately as predicted our top 7 just didn't make enough runs. Most of it is just poor shot selection under pressure. I don't think the team should change for Perth. We need these players to be playing regularly, just stick with them.