Adelaide, December 16
India added an inspiring chapter to their cricketing almanac by conquering the invincible Australians in their own backyard to record a historic victory in the second cricket Test here today. Chasing a target of 230 on a deteriorating fifth day track, The Indian batsmen held their nerves to not only script a thrilling four-wicket victory but take a 1-0 lead in the four-Test series.
The double centurion of the first innings Rahul Dravid (72 not out) provided the finishing touches to a great come-from-behind triumph to tame the world champions and give the visitors their first victory on Australian soil in 23 years.
Dravid hit the winning shot with a square drive to the point region off Stuart MacGill to send the handful of Indian supporters into a frenzy, bringing the curtains down on a pulsating Test match which saw fortune fluctuating from one team to the other till the very end.
The Karnataka batsman held his bat aloft and kissed the Indian emblem on his cap after hitting the winning shot as his team-mates exchanged hugs in the dressing room.
The Australians had themselves to blame for the debacle as they allowed the visitors to bounce back by playing some poor shots to be bundled out for 196 in their second innings.
India’s last victory Down Under came under the captaincy of Sunil Gavaskar in 1980-81 at Melbourne when Kapil Dev scalped five wickets on the last day to beat Greg Chappell’s Australia and square the three-Test series 1-1.
For Australia, this is the third defeat this year after losing to England in the last Test of the previous home series and then to the West Indies in the Caribbean.
India have now won three of their four Tests against Australia since winning the three-Test rubber at home two years ago.
Dravid and V V S Laxman (32) once again proved to be the thorn in Aussies’ flesh as their 51-run partnership for the fifth wicket proved to be decisive.
The tourists were at once stage 170 for four and feeling edgy having lost Sachin Tendulkar and captain Saurav Ganguly.
But first innings centurion Laxman took the match away from the hosts with his domineering 34-ball 32 which decimated the Aussie slow bowling attack.
Laxman hit three fours of the very first over he faced against Stuart MacGill and then struck two more boundaries off the same bowler and Simon Katich to put India on the road to victory.
When the stylish Hyderabadi fell pulling Katich to Andy Bichel at midwicket, India were comfortably placed at 221.
Resuming at 37 for no loss, India lost Aakash Chopra in the sixth over of the day, Jason Gillespie having him leg before wicket for 20.
But Australia suffered a severe blow when Gillespie pulled his hamstring and walked off the field
without completing his 11th over. Dravid, with a career best 233 from the first innings behind him, looked weary from the marathon innings and was regularly beaten outside the off stump against the seamers.
He was lucky when his edge off Brad Williams popped out of wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist’s gloves when on nine.
Sehwag (47) at the other end was striking the ball fluently. He flicked Bichel to long leg and drove Gillespie through the cover.
He then clouted Stuart MacGill for a boundary to long off. But, two balls later, the right hander stepped out to loft the leg-spinner and was stumped after completely missing the ball with a wild heave.
Tendulkar (37) adopted the paddle sweep to thwart MacGill exploiting the rough from round the wicket. He first slapped him to fine leg fence and then cut him on the back foot to cover. He then ran a four to long off to bring up India’s 100 in the 34th over.
But the maestro was plumb in front when he offered no shot to the leg-spinner bowling over the wicket.
Ganguly did not last long and perished when he made a tentative push at Andy Bichel and was caught at short gully by Simon Katich.
Meanwhile, Dravid had dug in his heels and was gradually getting into his groove. On the way to his half century, Dravid also became the fourth highest run-getter for India in Tests.
Man-of-the-match Dravid played the match of his life, being on the field all five days except for two hours, scoring 302 runs in both the innings and picking two outstanding catches in the slips.
Tendulkar shared a crucial third wicket stand of 70 runs. His 37 came from 59 balls with five fours before he showed poor judgment in padding up to MacGill.
Another 21 were added to the scoreboard before Ganguly departed. But the arrival of Laxman, with whom Dravid had added 303 in the first innings, changed the complexion of the game.
MacGill, despite scalping the two strokemakers Sehwag and Tendulkar, bowled too many loose deliveries to sustain the pressure on the Indians. —
PTI
Scoreboard
Australia (1st Innings): 556
India (1st Innings): 523
Australia (2nd Innings): 196
India (2nd Innings)
Chopra lbw b Gillespie 20
Sehwag st Gilchrist
b MacGill 47
Dravid not out 72
Tendulkar lbw b MacGill 37
Ganguly c Katich b Bichel 12
Laxman c Bichel b Katich 32
Patel b Katich 3
Agarkar not out 0
Extras (b-3, lb-6, w-1) 10
Total (for six wickets in 72.4 overs) 233
Fall of wickets: 1-48, 2-79, 3-149, 4-170, 5-221, 6-229.
Bowling: Jason Gillespie 10.2-2-22-1, Brad Williams
14-6-34-0, Stuart MacGill 24.4-3-101-2, Andy Bichel 11.4-2-35-1, Simon Katich 8-1-22-2, Steve Waugh 4-0-10-0.
