NEW DELHI: India completed a historic 4-0 clean sweep against Australia by recording an emphatic six-wicket victory in the fourth and final Test here on Sunday.
On a Feroze Shah Kotla track which is not conducive for batting, India chased down a tricky target of 155, largely due to Cheteshwar Pujara’s dazzling strokeplay as the home team recorded their biggest-ever series win in their 81-year Test history inside three days.
Pujara, who was battling pain as he was playing with a swollen hand, scored a brilliant unbeaten 82.
For Australia, it was the first time in 43 years to suffer a 4-0 series whitewash after Bill Lawry’s side did the same in South Africa in 1969-70.
There were a few jitters when India lost Virat Kohli (41), Sachin Tendulkar (1)and Ajinkya Rahane (1) in quick succession but Pujara kept his cool in company of skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (8 not out) to successfully complete the run chase.
The target might have looked quite a task but both Pujara and Kohli made batting look easy, adding 104 for the second wicket. Starting the chase, Murali Vijay (11) was bowled trying to play an unnecessary reverse sweep but Pujara played some unorthodox shots to set the tone.
Earlier, on the pitch which resembled a minefield, Man-of-the-Match Ravindra Jadeja (5-58) created terror in the minds of the Australians as he extracted vicious turn and bounce as they were all-out for 164 in their second innings.
Peter Siddle produced another gutsy performance with the willow, scoring a 45-ball 50 with seven boundaries.
Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was named Man-of-the-Series for his haul of 29 wickets.—Agencies
Scoreboard
AUSTRALIA (1st Innings) 262 (P.M. Siddle 51, S.P.D. Smith 46, P.J. Hughes 45; R. Ashwin 5-57). INDIA (1st Innings, overnight 266-8): M. Vijay c Wade b Siddle 57 C.A. Pujara b Lyon 52 V. Kohli lbw b Lyon 1 S.R. Tendulkar lbw b Lyon 32 A.M. Rahane c Smith b Lyon 7 M.S. Dhoni c Watson b Pattinson 24 R.A. Jadeja lbw b Maxwell 43 R. Ashwin lbw b Lyon 12 B. Kumar not out 14 I. Sharma b Lyon 0 P.P. Ojha lbw b Lyon 0 EXTRAS (B-12, LB-18) 30 TOTAL (all out, 70.2 overs) 272 FALL OF WKTS: 1-108, 2-114, 3-148, 4-165, 5-180, 6-210, 7-254, 8-266, 9-272. BOWLING: Johnson 17-3-44-0; Pattinson 14-1-54-1; Siddle 12-3-38-1; Lyon 23.2-4-94-7; Maxwell 4-0-12-1.
AUSTRALIA (2nd Innings):
D.A. Warner lbw b Jadeja 8 G.J. Maxwell b Jadeja 8 E.J.M. Cowan lbw b Jadeja 24 P.J. Hughes lbw b Ashwin 6 S.R. Watson b Ojha 5 S.P.D. Smith b Jadeja 18 M.S. Wade c Dhoni b Ojha 19 M.G. Johnson b Jadeja 0 P.M. Siddle st Dhoni b Ashwin 50 J.L. Pattinson b Sharma 11 N.M. Lyon not out 5 EXTRAS (B-8, LB-2) 10 TOTAL (all out, 46.3 overs) 164 FALL OF WKTS: 1-15, 2-20, 3-41, 4-51, 5-53, 6-94, 7-94, 8-122, 9-157. BOWLING: Kumar 2-0-9-0; Ashwin 15.3-2-55-2; Jadeja 16-2-58-5; Ojha 11-2-19-2; Sharma 2-0-13-1.
INDIA (2nd Innings):
M. Vijay b Maxwell 11 C.A. Pujara not out 82 V. Kolhi lbw b Lyon 41 S.R. Tendulkar lbw b Lyon 1 A.M. Rahane c Lyon b Maxwell 1 M.S. Dhoni not out 12 EXTRAS (B-9, LB-1) 10 TOTAL (for four wkts, 31.2 overs) 158 FALL OF WKTS: 1-19, 2-123, 3-127, 4-128. BOWLING: Lyon 15.2-0-71-2; Maxwell 11-0-54-2; Johnson 2-0-16-0; Pattinson 3-0-7-0. RESULT: India won by six wickets to win series 4-0. UMPIRES: Aleem Dar (Pakistan) and R.A.
Kettleborough (England).
TV UMPIRE: S. Ravi (India). MATCH REFEREE: R.S. Madugalle (Sri Lanka). MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Ravindra Jadeja. MAN-OF-THE-SERIES: Ravichandran Ashwin. FIRST TEST: Chennai, India won by eight wickets. SECOND TEST: Hyderabad, India won by an innings and 135 runs. THIRD TEST: Mohali, India won by six wickets.