INDORE: Battered in Nagpur and bruised in Delhi, Australia flipped the script on a minefield of a pitch in Indore to register a rare Test victory in India on Friday.

The nine-wicket romp sealed on day three of the third Test was only Australia’s second win in India in 18 attempts. It also confirmed their place in the World Test Championship final in June, potentially against India.

Australia sniffed victory after claiming a lead of 88 on a turning wicket and had only 76 to chase after India’s second batting collapse in the match was engineered by Nathan Lyon’s 8-64.

While it appeared a cakewalk in theory, Australia had to score those runs on a pitch where 30 wickets had tumbled in the first two days.

They got off to the worst possible start, losing Usman Khawaja before even making a dent in their target.

Ravichandran Ashwin removed the opener caught behind for a duck with the second ball of the day and Khawaja burned a review trying to overturn that decision.

Travis Head, who made a breezy 49 not out, counter-attacked to lift the pressure, hitting Ashwin for a six, and suddenly boundaries started flowing.

Marnus Labuschagne, who made 28 not out, sealed the victory with a boundary as the visitors romped home in 18.5 overs.

“They are pretty hard to come by,” stand-in captain Steve Smith said of the importance of their victory, even though India are 2-1 ahead in the four-Test series. “For us to get on top in this game, particularly after losing the toss ... it shows the talent in this group and the belief we’ve got in ourselves.”

Australia would be particularly pleased they pulled it off with a battered squad, and under a makeshift captain after regular skipper Pat Cummins flew home to be with his ailing mother.

Lyon claimed a match haul of 11 wickets that also earned him the player-of-the-match award, Khawaja made a match-high 60 in the first innings and Smith led proactively to script a memorable turnaround.

Smith led by example on the field too, plucking a stunning one-handed catch at leg slip to dismiss Cheteshwar Pujara just when the batsman threatened to turn the game on its head with a gritty 59.

India will go all out for a win in the final Test in Ahmedabad next week, an outcome that would confirm their place in the WTC final at The Oval.

Home captain Rohit Sharma said Indian batters would have to sort out their shot selection before that.

SCOREBOARD

INDIA (1st Innings) 109 (V. Kohli 22, S. Gill 21; M. Kuhnemann 5-16, N. Lyon 3-35)

AUSTRALIA (1st Innings) 197 (U. Khawaja 60, M. Labuschagne 31; R. Jadeja 4-78, U. Yadav 3-12)

INDIA (2nd Innings) 163 (C. Pujara 59, S. Iyer 26; N. Lyon 8-64, M. Starc 1-14)

AUSTRALIA (2nd Innings):

U. Khawaja c Bharat b Ashwin 0

T. Head not out 49

M. Labuschagne not out 28

EXTRAS (LB-1) 1

TOTAL (for one wicket, 18.5 overs) 78

FALL OF WICKET: 0-1 (Khawaja)

BOWLING: Ashwin 9.5-3-44-1, Jadeja 7-1-23-0, Yadav 2-0-10-0

RESULT: Australia won by nine wickets.

SERIES: India lead four-match series 2-1.

Published in Dawn, March 4th, 2023