Australia has emphatically bounced back following the humiliating defeat in Perth, crushing India by ten wickets at Adelaide Oval to level the five-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy at 1-1.
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After rolling the tourists for 175 on Sunday morning, Australia chased down the 19-run target in just 20 deliveries to secure a resounding victory in less than seven sessions.
Captain Pat Cummins claimed a five-wicket haul, the 13th of his Test career, as Australia’s quicks steamed through the Indian tail on day three, with fellow seamer Scott Boland snaring three scalps. The Australian skipper finished with 5-57 from 14 overs, his best bowling figures at the venue in Tests, while all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy top-scored for India with a valiant 42.
Openers Nathan McSweeney (10*) and Usman Khawaja (9*) got the job done in less than four overs, with the Queenslander notching the winning runs with a pull shot through square leg.
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“Last week, we lost a Test match and we were apparently the worst Test team ever,” Australian batter Marnus Labuschagne quipped post-match on Fox Cricket.
“This week, we finish on day three with the series at 1-1.”
Cummins continued during the post-match presentation: “That was a great week. We knew we were far away from the team we wanted to be in Perth, but this is back to how we want to play.
“We know what a good unit we are.”
Resuming at 5-128 on Sunday afternoon, India’s chances of a miracle comeback rested heavily on Rishabh Pant, but the wicketkeeper couldn’t survive the first over of the day, edging a full delivery from Mitchell Starc that sailed towards the slips cordon. He trudged off for 28 having failed to add to his overnight tally.
Not long after, Ravichandran Ashwin couldn’t resist taking a swipe at a bouncer from Cummins, but only managed to glove the Kookaburra through to wicketkeeper Alex Carey for 7.
Australia’s quicks persisted with the bumper barrage to India’s tail, with Harshit Rana undergoing a concussion test after a short ball from Starc struck him on the helmet. The following over, Rana awkwardly fended at a vicious Cummins riser that ballooned towards gully, departing for a 12-ball duck.
Reddy, who top-scored for India in both innings of the day-night contest, ensured Australia would bat again by slapping seamer Scott Boland back over his head for a belligerent six. The Indian all-rounder smacked another maximum before steering a Cummins bouncer towards the boundary rider at deep third, becoming the Australian skipper’s fifth victim of the innings.
Indian tailender Mohammed Siraj, who become public enemy No. 1 for his antics the previous afternoon, was greeted by a chorus of boos as he walked out to bat. He should have returned to the sheds for a golden duck after nicking his first delivery against Cummins, but wicketkeeper Alex Carey dropped a regulation chance.
However, Siraj didn’t last long in the middle, top-edging a slog against Boland into the Adelaide skyline – and how appropriate that nemesis Travis Head settled underneath it, celebrating with a pointed fist bump.
“Disappointing week for us,” Indian captain Rohit Sharma said during the post-match presentation.
“We didn’t play well enough win the game, and Australia played better than us.
“There were times in the game where we could have grabbed those opportunities, and we didn’t do that, and that’s cost us the game.”
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Hometown hero Head, who smacked a counterpunching century in the first innings, was named player of the match.
“We knew if we rocked up this week and put in a good performance, nothing was ever guaranteed, but we thought we’d give them a good shake,” Head said.
“Nice momentum, and now we’ve got to move on with it.”
The third Test between Australia and India gets underway at the Gabba in Brisbane on Saturday.
Re-live all the biggest moments on Day 3 of the second Test in our blog below! Can’t see it? Click here!
