7/42, Ravindra Jadeja wrecks Aussies, helps India retain trophy

New Delhi, February 19

Ravindra Jadeja demolished Australia with a seven-wicket haul and the visitors lost eight wickets for 28 runs in a shocking batting performance on Sunday morning, as India won the second Test by six wickets to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Man of the Match

Jadeja, declared the Man of the Match for the second Test in a row, claims a career-best 7/42 and ends up with a match haul of 10/110

Jadeja claimed a career-best 7/42 as Australia, beginning Day 3 at 61/1, folded up for 113, with Ravichandran Ashwin taking three wickets for 59. Jadeja, declared the Man of the Match for the second Test in a row, ended up with a match haul of 10/110.

As India chased a tricky target of 115 for victory, there was a bit of a wobble when two wickets were down with 39 on the board. However, a few lusty blows from Rohit Sharma (31 off 20 balls), Virat Kohli (20 off 31) and Srikar Bharat (23 not out off 22) ensured that the paltry target did not really trouble the team, while Cheteshwar Pujara played a steady hand with 31 not out off 74 balls.

Six Australian batters were dismissed while sweeping or reverse-sweeping, and five of Jadeja’s victims were clean-bowled. The left-arm spinner later said using the sweep shot against him on such a wicket, with variable bounce, was a bad idea. “Don’t think a sweep is a good option against me on this kind of wicket,” he said.

India, 2-0 up in the series, have all but qualified for the ICC World Test Championship Final, to be held in London in June.

Australia and India are the top two teams in the World Test Championship standings and are set to compete for the biggest prize in Test cricket.

ICC’s ranking system places Australia at top with 66.67 percentage points while India have 64.06 percentage points. To be absolutely sure of a place in the final, India must notch up another win in the current series.

Among the other teams, only Sri Lanka, who have to play two Tests away from home against New Zealand, have a chance to edge out Australia or India.

Sri Lanka have 53.33 percentage points and if India win the remaining Tests against Australia, Sri Lanka could make it to the WTC final provided they beat New Zealand 2-0.