Thanks to the poor wicket-keeping of Australian captain Tim Penn, Ravi Chandran Eshwan and Hanuma Vehari’s bold batting, India lost to Australia for sure and India managed to draw the third Test match of the series.
In the third Test match of the series played in Sydney, Australia won the toss and elected to bat first and scored 338 runs in the first innings thanks to excellent batting by Marin Bushin and Steven Smith.
Will Powski, who played the first match, scored 62, LeBushin 91 and Steven Smith 131 runs.
In reply, despite half-centuries from Shabman Gul and Chattiswar Pujara, the Indian team was bowled out for 244 in the first innings and Australia took a valuable 94-run lead in the first innings.
In the second innings, Libushin’s 73 and Smith’s 81, as well as Cameron Green’s 84, helped Australia declare the innings at 312 for six, giving India a target of 407 for victory.
The openers gave India a good start with 71 runs in pursuit of the target but before the end of the fourth day Rohit Sharma was out for 52 and Shabman Gul for 31.
On the fifth and final day of the match, the Indian team came on the field, it needed 309 runs to win, while Australia needed 8 wickets.
At the beginning of the day, Australia got a significant victory when the hero of the previous match and Indian captain Ajinkya Rahane was dismissed for just 4 runs.
Australia would soon get another wicket but captain Tim Penn could not catch Reshabh Pant on an individual score of 3.
Pant took full advantage of the opportunity and completed his half-century as well as forging a valuable 148-run partnership for the fourth wicket to support the team and take the team’s total score to 250 runs.
Pant was revived after a half-century when Tim Penn once again failed to catch Nathan Lyon’s ball.
This excellent partnership ended with a total score of 250 when wicketkeeper-batsman Reshbh returned to the pavilion with 97 runs.
Chattiswar Pujara’s resistance from the other end was ended by Josh Hazelwood scattering his wickets with a beautiful ball, he scored 77 runs before being dismissed.
By the tea break, the Indian team had lost five important wickets and a deep cloud of defeat was hovering over them as the participation of Ravindra Jadeja, who suffered a thumb injury, was uncertain.
But despite this difficult situation, Ashwin and Hanuma Vehari did not give up and stood firm against the Australian bowler.
The Australian bowlers tried their best to bowl out both of them but they could not succeed and Tim Pane once again stood in the way of this attempt.
Eight overs before the end of the match, the ball went into the slip taking the outer edge of Hanuma Vehari’s bat but Pan dropped the ball to the ground in an attempt to catch it and Australia lost the last chance to return to the match.
After that both the players did not give any more chance and India managed to win this nerve-wracking match and draw the match after a thrilling match.
By the end of the fifth and final day of play, the Indian team scored 334 for five, with Vehari scoring 23 and Ashwin 39.
Australia’s Steven Smith was declared the man of the match for his excellent batting in both the innings.