India dominated the first two matches of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, where they registered commanding victories to make it 2-0 up in the series. They were expected to humble the Aussies in a similar way in the third Test match in Indore. However, the visitors made a strong comeback as they won the match by nine wickets in just two-and-a-half days.
Traditionally, the track in Indore has always been a batting one, but this one turned out to be a rank turner from the very first day. As a result, India’s decision to bat first didn’t turn out to be fruitful as they got bowled out for a paltry total of 109. Virat Kohli was the highest scorer with a score of 22 to his name, and that sums up how bad their batting performance was.
Left-arm spinner Matthew Kuhnemann claimed five wickets in the innings, whereas veteran off-spinner Nathan Lyon picked up three wickets as well. Australia responded much better, scoring 108 for the loss of just one wicket, but they underwent a collapse once again, losing nine wickets for just 89 runs.
Australia finally got bowled out for 197, with Usman Khawaja top scoring with 60. Marnus Labuschagne also batted well for 31, while Steve Smith scored 26. From the Indian bowling front, Ravindra Jadeja claimed four wickets, whereas Ravichandran Ashwin and Umesh Yadav picked up three wickets each.
The hosts were expected to perform much better in their second innings. But things turned out to be pretty much similaras they kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Cheteshwar Pujara waged a lone battle from one end, though, scoring 59 from 142 deliveries. But even his fighting knock wasn’t enough as Nathan Lyon delivered a bowling masterclass, picking up eight wickets for just 64 runs.
India got bowled out for 163 this time, giving the visitors a target of 76 to chase down. Australia achieved that quite comfortably. Even though they lost Khawaja early, Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne combined together to chase it down with nine wickets to spare. Head remained unbeaten at 49, whereas Labuschagne scored 28.
Australia won the match by nine wickets and Nathan Lyon was adjudged the Player of the Match for his superb match figures of 11/99.
Brief Scores
India
1st innings 109 All Out (Kohli 22, Gill 21; Kuhnemann 5/16)
2nd innings 163 All Out (Pujara 59, Iyer 26; Lyon 8/64)
Australia
1st innings 197 All Out (Khawaja 60, Labuschagne 31; Jadeja 4/78)
2nd innings 78/1 (Head 49*, Labuschagne 28*; Ashwin 1/44)
Australia won by nine wickets.
