Australia declared their second inning at the overnight score of 251 and put the Indian team to bat on. With 348 runs to win the target was pretty achievable requiring around 4-runs per over throughout the day. Until Virat Kohli was on crease Indians keep their finger crossed. Once the skipper was out Draw was sure. Rahane and Bhuveneshwar Kumar played very patiently in the final 10 overs to ensure that India would not register one more defeat in Sydney.

Steve Smith was declared man of the match and the series

Murali Vijay and Lokesh Rahul opened for India at the second inning. Vijay batted elegantly and hit some brilliant shots during his 80-run knock while Lokesh Rahul who hit a ton just a day back was caught out cheaply on 16 at slip by warner off Nathan Lyon. Next to come was Rohit Sharma. The talented right hander played well, but once again got dismissed on 39 when set. He got out at a stunning catch by Steve Smith off Watson’s ball. He hit 2 sixes and 2 fours. India’s score was 104 at the loss of 2 wickets.

Virat Kohli came out in the middle to build a strong partnership with Vijay. Both the batsmen played cautiously to provide a necessary foundation for the team to save the test. The duo added necessary 74 runs partnership for the third wicket. Vijay was caught out off Hazlewood’s delivery. The stylish batsman scored 80 runs with 7 boundaries and a couple of sixes.

Rahane joined the Indian skipper at number 5 when India were in deep trouble. Rahane and Kohli played patiently to keep rotating the strike. Soon India reached 200 and needed only 149 more runs to win the match. The required run-rate climbed to 6 runs per over which seemed achievable. However Indian captain could not prolong his inning. The dashing batsman got out on 46.

India’s score was now 201/4 and 20 overs were still to be played. It was expected that Suresh Raina would play well at such a needy situation. Unfortunately Raina could not play further and got a ball struck in his right stump. The umpire made no mistake to declare him LBW out. Two zeroes in each inning of his comeback test after a couple of years gap is unexpected from a talented player like him. He has definitely disappointed his fans once again.

Wridhiman Saha was also dismissed soon for a duck. Even saving the match seemed to be an uphill task at that time. Ashwin joined Rahane at the other end, but the Chennai off-spinner could not prolong his inning and was unluckily dismissed LBW on 1. Rahane and Bhuveneshwar then fought back and successfully saved the test. Rahane remained unbeaten on 38* while Bhuveneshwar scored 20 not out. Steve Smith was declared man of the match and the series at a post match ceremony.

Tags: Australia, Cricket, India, Steve Smith, Test Match, Virat Kohli