AUSTRALIA. Melbourne: India beat Australia by 8 wickets at Melbourne Cricket Ground on the fourth day of the second test match of the Vodafone India Vs Australia test series. This win is special for India as it comes in the absence of Virat Kohli, Mohamad Shami, and Rohit Sharma along with an injured bowler. The last time India had won a Test match while chasing away from home was against Sri Lanka in Colombo back in 2010. Interestingly, this is also India’s first test win while chasing away from home in a decade.
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The win proves the strong mindset of the Indian team. This is the same team that a few days back was bundled out to their lowest total. The inspiring and calming demeanor of Ajinkya Rahane has inspired the whole team to win the test against the team that is always considered as the toughest challenge down under. Now, the four-match series is drawn 1-1 with two tests to be played at Sydney and Brisbane.
Australian tail’s resistance
The day started with Australia resuming their overnight score of 133 for 6. The pair of Cameroon Green and Pat Cummins offered some resistance in the beginning. The batting duo added 57 runs and kept the Indian bowlers at a bay for almost 35 odd overs.
Finally, the resistance came to an end when Cummins was out by the short-pitched bouncer of Mohammad Siraj. Cummins made only 22 runs from 103 deliveries.
After Cummins’ departure, Green showed sheer determination and stayed on the crease. Green was the top scorer for Australia. But soon he had to join his teammate when he tried to pull Siraj and was held by Jadeja at mid-wicket. When Ashwin clean bowled Josh Hazelwood, the Australian score reached 200 for the first time in this series. But to score those runs, Australian batsmen consumed 103.1 overs at 1.96 runs per over, which is quite uncharacteristic for Australia. The Australian tail wagged a bit more to stretch the score to 200.
India’s chase
With 70 runs to win, India lost two quick wickets of Mayank Aggarwal and Cheteshwar Pujara. India was on the spot of bother as the score read 19 for 2. But, the calming influence of captain Rahane supported by flamboyant Shubhman Gill crossed the winning mark quite comfortably. Gill was very fluent in his drives and pulls. His 35 of 36 balls studded with 7 hits to the fence showed his mental strength against one of the best bowling attacks in the world.
Rahane contributed 27 runs with 3 hits to the boundary. He was awarded the player-of-the-match for his classic knock of a century and an astute captainship.
