Ravichandran Ashwin’s 25th five-wicket haul in Test cricket helped India stage a remarkable turnaround as they defeated Australia by 75 runs in the second Test and levelled the four-match series 1-1 in Bengaluru on day four.
Defending a modest target of 188, Ashwin was near-unplayable at times on a crumbling fourth-day surface, and ended with figures of 6 for 41. Australia were bowled out for just 112 in their second essay. Only two of their batsmen crossed the 20-run mark.
Australia were going steady in the chase at 42/1 after 10 overs. For the first time in the series, the visiting batsmen fell like nine pins, losing their last six wickets for just 11 runs. After a bad run in Pune, spin twins Ashwin (8 wickets) and Ravindra Jadeja (7 wickets) accounted for 15 out of the 20 Australian wickets.
The Indian batsmen also didn’t last long after Cheteshwar Pujara (92) and Ajinkya Rahane (51) stitched a match-winning 118-run partnership. Josh Hazlewood (6/67) stood out for the Aussies.
An incident involving Smith after he was given out marred the contest. The Australian skipper, seconds after being adjudged leg-before looked his dressing room to decide whether to go for the review. The batsmen walked off only after the intervention of umpire Nigel Llong. Smith also got into a brief altercation with Kohli.
Brief score:
- Australia 112 (Steve Smith, 28; RAvichandran Ashwin 6/41, Umesh Yadav 2/30) & 276 lost to India 189 & 274 (Cheteshwar Pujara 92, Ajinkya Rahane 52; Josh Hazlewood 6/67) by 75 runs.
