Australia topped the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) standings while India slipped to number three after the visitors succumbed to a 10-wicket loss to Aussies during the second Test at Adelaide Oval.
This is also Australia’s eighth win day/night Tests in Adelaide, making it eight out of eight at the venue. Overall, they have won 12 day/night Tests out of 13.
For Rohit Sharma, this was his fourth successive defeat as India’s Test captain.
Coming to the match, India won the toss and opted to bat first. However, they had to face the wrath of a moving, erratic pink-ball and its mastermind, Mitchell Starc (6/48). Except for a 69-run stand for the second wicket between KL Rahul (37 in 64 balls with six fours) and Shubman Gill (31 in 51 balls, with five fours) and a fighting 42 in 54 balls (three fours and three sixes) from Nitish Kumar Reddy, there was not much highlights from India who were skittled out for 180 runs. Skipper Cummins and Scott Boland also took two wickets.
In the first innings, a 67-run partnership between Nathan McSweeney (39 in 109 balls, with six fours) and Marnus Labuschagne (64 in 126 balls, with nine fours) for second wicket set the platform for Travis Head to impose his domination over Indian bowlers yet again with a counter-attacking 140 in 141 balls, with 17 fours and four sixes, just when Aussies lost some regular wickets. His century took Australia to 337 runs and gave them a 157-run lead.
Jasprit Bumrah (4/61) and Mohammed Siraj (4/98) were top bowlers for India. Ravichandran and Nitish got a wicket each.
In their second innings, India appeared even more toothless as the star-studded top-order and middle-order returned back to pavillion despite starts from Jaiswal (24 in 31 balls, with four boundaries), Gill (28 in 30 balls, with three fours) while KL Rahul (7) and Virat Kohli (11 in 21 balls with a four) failed to score well. India ended day two at 128/5.
On the third day, Pant also lost his wicket for 28 in 31 balls, with five fours. From there on, it was not looking back for Aussies, who skittled out India for 175 runs in 36.5 overs. India lead by just 18 runs, setting Aussies 19 runs to win.
Skipper Cummins (5/67) took a majestic five-wicket haul, his eighth as a captain. Boland took 3/51 while Starc took 2/60.
Set a target of 19 runs, Khawaja (10*) and McSweeney (9*) chased it down without breaking a sweat in 3.2 overs. (ANI)
