Australia level series with crushing second Test victory

Australia have levelled the Test series with India at one match apiece, after a blistering second innings with the ball saw the visitors get rolled for 140 and steer the Aussies to a 146-run victory.

Coming to the fifth day of the Test needing five wickets to secure a badly-needed victory, the hosts got just the start they were after when Nathan Lyon got Hanuma Vihari to flick one Marcus Harris at midwicket.

Rishabh Pant did his best to keep the light flickering for his side, defending stoically and trying to keep his vulnerable partner off strike, but he too fell seven overs later after Peter Handscomb secured one of the catches of the summer off Lyon.

That saw the notoriously fragile Indian tail brought to the crease and, from that point onwards, it was one-way traffic.

Wickets fell thick and fast as the hosts wrapped up a very short day five with a 146-run victory.

Umesh Yadaz was the next to go with a very lazy shot off Mitchell Starc that was gobbled up by the bowler, while Ishant Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah both failed to trouble the scorers in woeful batting displays befitting of a tailender.

Sharma looked like a deer in the headlights in his five-ball stay at the crease, producing a comical swing and miss at a shorter delivery by Pat Cummins, before trying the same swing again on the very next ball and edging it to Tim Paine.

Bumrah’s stay was even briefer, with the youngster lasting just three balls before his attempted six landed safely in the hands of Cummins at the other end of the wicket.

All in all, the fifth day lasted barely more than an hour as Australia wrapped up a convincing win.

Earlier, Justin Langer’s side got off to an encouraging start with a score of 326 in the first innings.

Marcus Harris (70) and Travis Head (58) – both playing in just their second and fourth Tests, respectively – top-scored for the hosts.

But India’s captain and batting supremo threatened to wrest the momentum back in the visitors’ favour with a monumental 123-run knock in their first innings.

Five wickets to Nathan Lyon were able to reduce the damage, however, with just nine runs from the Indian tail seeing them finish their batting session 43 runs in arrears.

A magnificent spell from Mohammed Shami in the second innings looked to have put India in the box seat once more, with his six-wicket haul undoing much of the good early work done by Usman Khawaja.

But, again, the Australian bowlers were up to the task.

Mitchell Starc had KL Rahul castled before a run went up on the board, while the important wickets of Chesteshwar Pujara and Kohli fell soon after to leave the Indians reeling at 3/48.

The visitors eventually fell to 5/98, with a solid partnership between Vihari and Pant helping them reach the fifth day without further loss.

But all that did was set the scene for the fateful fifth-day collapse.

With the series now level at 1-1, all eyes will turn to the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne in eight days’ time.

Match summary

Australia 1st innings: 326 (108.3) [M.Harris 70, T.Head 58, I.Sharma 4/41]
India 1st innings: 283 (105.5) [V.Kohli 123, A.Rahane 51, N.Lyon 5/67]
Australia 2nd innings: 243 (93.2) [U.Khawaja 72, M.Shami 6/56, J.Bumrah 3/39]
India 2nd innings: 140 (55.6) [A.Rahane 30, R.Pant 30, Lyon 3/39, Starc 3/46]

Australia defeat India by 146 runs to level the series at 1-1