Australia win Test series on Indian soil after 35 years
NAGPUR, Oct 29: Jason Gillespie bowled Australia to their first series win on Indian soil since 1969 on Friday with a day to spare in the third match of the four-Test series.
The Australian fast bowler followed a five-wicket haul in the first innings with four for 24 to give his side victory by 342 runs. They won the series 2-0. Opener Virender Sehwag top-scored with 58 in India's meagre tally of 200 after Aakash Chopra, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Vangipurappu Laxman and Mohammad Kaif departed early.
Glenn McGrath, playing his 100th Test, became the fourth bowler in history to take 450 wickets when he dismissed Tendulkar for two. Parthiv Patel (32) and Ajit Agarkar (44 not out) put up some stiff resistance but wickets fell again in the final session despite flashy cameos by the tail enders.
"It's a wonderful occasion and it's wonderful to share it with a great bunch of people," captain Adam Gilchrist told reporters. "It's an emotional time and a reward for lots of hard work and preparation."
India, set 543 for an improbable victory, began their chase with Chopra (1) falling soon after lunch when Gillespie uprooted his middle stump with an in-cutter. Gillespie, helped by a green-tinged pitch, then bowled Dravid through the gate and Tendulkar's departure made it 20 for three.
It was soon 37 for five as Michael Kasprowicz had Laxman (2), who has avareged 10.6 this series, pulling straight to deep fine-leg and Kaif (7) edging to Gilchrist. Sehwag and Patel kept alive India's faint hopes, batting fluently among the ruins in a 65-run stand for the sixth wicket.
But it was over for the hosts over once Sehwag was caught miscuing an attempted slog against leg spinner Shane Warne. Australia had declared their second innings on 329 for five during the morning, Damien Martyn (97) and Michael Clarke (73) sharing in an attacking 148-run fourth-wicket stand.
Martyn, who had scored 114 in the first innings, narrowly missed his third consecutive century. They started slowly but Clarke cut loose after the first hour, smashing Agarkar for a six and two fours off consecutive balls in a 21-run over that began the Australian onslaught.
He then hit Zaheer Khan for boundaries through the off side before he was caught while trying to slog leg-spinner Kumble. Martyn, however, kept the runs coming from the other end and looked set for another century but Khan had him edge an away swinger to wicketkeeper Patel.
Gilchrist declared immediately after Martyn's dismissal. Australia scored 398 in their first innings and bowled India out for a paltry 185. "We're disappointed that we couldn't compete well," Indian skipper Rahul Dravid said. "We're disappointed that the batsmen couldn't apply themselves."
Australia had taken an early lead in the four-match series by winning the first Test in Bangalore. They had also led India 1-0 in 2001 but, on that occasion, the hosts won the last two Tests to pull off a stunning resurgent win.
Scoreboard
Australia (1st innings): 398 (D. Martyn 114, D. Lehmann 70, M. Clarke 91, Z. Khan 4-95, M. Kartik 3-57, A. Kumble 2-99)
India (1st innings): 185 (Mohammad Kaif 55, J. Gillespie 5-56, G. McGrath 3-27, S. Warne 2-47)
