India lost six batsmen for 36 runs in the morning session, but R Ashwin (6/41) and Umesh Yadav (2/30) engineered an even more extraordinary collapse as Australia lost their last six wickets while adding just 11 runs to lose the second Test by 75 runs.
After losing the Pune Test, India had to either win or draw the match here to keep their hopes of regaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy but after another shoddy batting performance in the first innings, the hosts’ chances appeared all but over.
In a dramatic turn of events, India turned the match on its head to level the four-Test series 1-1. This was the fifth time that India have defended a target of 188 or less at home and three of them have come against Australia.
Though not at the same scale and grandeur, India’s performance at the Chinnaswamy Stadium was a throwback to their famous win in Kolkata in 2001 against Steve Waugh’s men.
India had set Australia a tricky target of 188, on the strength of a match-high partnership of 118 runs between Ajinkya Rahane (52) and Cheteshwar Pujara (92).
The tourists appeared to be making a fist of the target by sailing to 42/1 with two of their best batsmen – David Warner and Steven Smith – looking in control of the proceedings.
The tide, however, turned when Umesh struck twice in quick succession to remove Shaun Marsh and Smith after Ashwin had dismissed Warner. With the vociferous crowd firmly behind the home side, Australians began to crack under mounting pressure.
It wasn’t long before Ashwin polished off the rest of the batting with some help from Ravindra Jadeja (1/3 in 8 overs). The off-spinner, who is now India’s fifth highest wicket-taker in Tests, sent down a dream second spell (5.4-3-9-5) that wrote Australia’s epitaph.
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