Australia have secured a famous Test win at the MCG after bowling India out for 155 on a thrilling final day to take a 2-1 series lead in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Set 340 to win from 92 overs, a draw looked the most likely outcome when India reached 3-121 in the 58th over with Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rishabh Pant well set at the crease.
But Pant’s dismissal for 30 off 104 balls after a brilliant catch in the deep by Mitch Marsh off the part-time spin of Travis Head triggered a batting collapse in which India lost 7-34 in front of almost 75,000 spectators.
“He’s got a bit of a Midas touch,” Cummins said of Head’s bowling.
“I will give the coach [Andrew McDonald] the credit for suggesting that one but we were also a bit behind on the over rate so we thought we would throw him in there, he might get a break thought and he would help us out with some [quick] overs.”
Pat Cummins was the star of the day, taking 3-28 from 18 overs, while Victorian hero Scott Boland also had a Test to remember with second-innings figures of 3-39.
Australia players celebrate the match-sealing wicket at the MCG.Credit: Justin McManus
Nathan Lyon (2-37) picked up the final wicket of the match by trapping Mohammed Siraj lbw for a duck to seal a 184-run win heading into the fifth Test, which begins on Friday in Sydney.
Australia were comfortably the better side in Brisbane and Melbourne, but that does not win you series in Test cricket. Taking 20 wickets does – and Australia did that with a minimum of 12.5 overs remaining in the day.
Every Indian wicket was celebrated passionately by the Australians, who now have a chance to reclaim the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the first time in a decade.
Immediately after the match, Cummins praised his side’s efforts in the last session.
“We were just going in for the win,” Cummins said. “Once we felt we had plenty of runs to play with, we got as many helmets around the bat as we could.”
Controversy erupted on the fifth ball of the 71st over with Jaiswal on 84 and fighting hard to help his side survive.
Cummins bowled a short ball that appeared to catch Jaiswal’s glove on the way through to wicketkeeper Alex Carey.
Umpire Joel Wilson, responsible for the infamous not-out lbw decision of Ben Stokes off Lyon in the Headingley Test of the 2019 Ashes, was not convinced.
Australia players celebrate the win at the MCG.Credit: AP
Australia reviewed and replays showed a deviation of the ball off the bat, even though there was no spike on Snicko.
Wilson’s finger eventually went up, despite a protest from Jaiswal which could land him in hot water with the match referee, to leave India in peril at 7-140.
When the 15th and final session of the Test began, India required 228 runs to win from 228 balls with seven wickets in hand.
Going at six an over has become the norm in white-ball cricket but doing it on a wearing day five pitch is an entirely different challenge.
It was unclear whether India would try and have a dash in pursuit of a target of 340 or defend their way to a draw.
After 16 overs, India had cautiously made their way to 1-25 before Cummins breathed life into the match and a heaving MCG by removing Rohit Sharma (9) and KL Rahul (0) from the first and last balls of a sensational wicket-maiden.
When Virat Kohli (5) took the bait and edged a Starc delivery to Usman Khawaja at first slip, India were in strife at 3-33.
Indian skipper Rohit Sharma admits his side failed to take advantage of their opportunities to take control of the match.
“We had our opportunities, we had our chances and we let Australia get back into the game,” Sharma said.
“Things can get tough, things can get difficult. But we want these challenges, we want to play tough cricket. We had our chances, we didn’t grab them and it probably cost us a little bit the game there.”
Sydney cricket fans have had their fair share of dead rubbers and fixtures devoid of real meaning over the past two decades but have good reason to be excited at what is in store on Friday.
The last time two teams went to Sydney with a trophy still up for grabs in the last fixture of a multi-match series was in 2004 against India, during Steve Waugh’s final Test series. Even then, India made over 700 in the first innings of a dull, drawn match.
