India defeated Australia by six wickets in the second Test to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the four-match series in another three-day finish here on Sunday.
A career-best seven-wicket haul from Ravindra Jadeja helped India clinch the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023.
India’s spinner dominated the proceedings in the first session, restricting Australia for 113. The hosts chased down the target with six wickets in hand.
With this feat, India takes a 2-0 lead in the four-match Test series and will retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy regardless of results over the final two Tests. The easy win sees India’s win-percentage improve to 64.06% in the World Test Championship standings. But their place in June’s decider at The Oval is still not locked in as they can still be overtaken by Sri Lanka should results go against them.
Australia started the day at a visible advantage, being 62 ahead with nine wickets in hand. However, they let it slip about 90 minutes into the first session.
Australia added another 20 runs before Steve Smith missed his sweep shot and fell leg-before to Ashwin. This started a procession as Australian batters fell to a mix of bad sweep shots and accurate deliveries which kept low, sliding from 85/2 to 113 all out.
Left-arm spinner Jadeja was the tormentor-in-chief with a career-best 7/42 in the second innings while his partner-in-crime Ashwin picked 3/59. After a dismal show in the first innings, India’s top-order put up a much better show in their second outing in the game.
After losing his partner KL Rahul in the second over, Rohit took the attack to Australia’s spinners. He hit three fours and two sixes in his 20-ball stay at the crease. He was unfortunate to be run out for 31 after a misunderstanding with Cheteshwar Pujara. This was the first time that Rohit was run out in Tests.
India batters continued to follow the same template as Rohit using their feet to counter the turn, while also trusting their defence. Virat Kohli and Pujara stitched together a crucial partnership of 30 runs for the third wicket, before the Delhi batter got stumped. This was the first time Kohli was stumped in Test cricket.
During his 20, Kohli passed 25,000 runs in international cricket. Kohli became the fastest player to achieve the feat. He took 549 innings to get to the landmark, ahead of Sachin Tendulkar (577 innings) and Ricky Ponting (588 innings).
Virat Kohli became the fastest (by innings) to get to 25,000 international runsVirat Kohli became the fastest (by innings) to get to 25,000 international runs
Featuring in his 100th Test, Pujara played the anchor, a role he is all too familiar with, scoring 31*. Intent-driven cameos by Shreyas Iyer (12 from 10) and Srikar Bharat (23* from 22), helped India overhaul the target in 26.4 overs. Pujara hit the winning runs.
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