MELBOURNE: India turned the tables on Australia to claim the second test within four days in Melbourne on Tuesday with an eight-wicket victory.
India needed only 70 runs for victory after bowling Australia out for 200 by lunch. Ppener Shubman Gill (35 not out) and stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane (27 not out) guided India to square the series 1-1 ahead of the third test.
Having bowled India out for 36 in the crushing eight-wicket win in Adelaide, Australia’s pacemen were repelled by a belligerent Gill, who enjoyed a fine test debut.
The match belonged to Rahane, however, who took over the captaincy after the debacle in Adelaide, with regular skipper Virat Kohli returning to India for the birth of his first child.
Rahane scored a brilliant 112 in India’s first innings 326 and was named Man of the Match. He struck the winning run off spinner Nathan Lyon before tea. India finished 70 for two.
India rattled through Australia for 195 in the first innings and restricted them to 200 in the second despite the loss of paceman Umesh Yadav, who managed only a handful of overs before hobbling off with a calf strain early on day three.
Seamer Mohammed Siraj filled the breach superbly, taking 3-37 in the second innings and five wickets overall in a stellar test debut.
All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja also chipped in with three wickets in the test, with 2-28 in the second innings, after contributing 57 with the bat. Wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant scored a valuable 29 in partnership with his captain to help lift India out of peril on day two.
Australia’s selectors will be hoping regular opener David Warner is fit to play after Joe Burns’s (0 and 4) twin failures with the bat.
Tail-enders Starc (14 not out), Pat Cummins (22) and Hazlewood (10) showed stiffer resistance than a number of their batting team mates to push Australia to 200 for the first time in the series.
Reduced to 99 for six on day three, Australia’s faint hopes of setting India a proper chase were snuffed out when young all-rounder Cameron Green heaved at a Siraj short ball and was caught by Jadeja for 45.
Australia captain Tim Paine said he was “very disappointed” with his team’s performance and lamented their poor batting displays.
