<
>
Player of the Match
Player of the Match

India sweep season with fourth series win

play
Chappell: Rahane was aggressive in his own quiet way (2:03)

Ian Chappell on Ajinkya Rahane's captaincy, after he stood in for the injured Virat Kohli and led India to a series victory in Dharamsala (2:03)

India 106 for 2 (Rahul 51*) and 332 (Jadeja 63, Rahul 60, Pujara 57, Lyon 5-92) beat Australia 300 (Smith 111, Wade 57, Warner 56, Kuldeep 4-68) and 137 (Maxwell 45, Jadeja 3-24, Ashwin 3-29, Umesh 3-29) by eight wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Ajinkya Rahane sent a 146kph bouncer from Pat Cummins flying into the crowd at midwicket and, next ball, slapped another short one over the cover fence while backing away. These were the blows that finally snuffed out the last of Australia's fight, and sealed once and for all India's victory in this most bewitching of Border-Gavaskar series.

Australia entered the fourth morning with only the scantest of hopes, defending a mere 87 runs and needing 10 wickets. This did not mean that contest was over, as Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins fired the ball down with pace and venom after a night's refreshment. The loss of M Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara - the latter run out by a brilliant throw from Glenn Maxwell - kept Australia hoping. But KL Rahul and Rahane responded with bold blows to settle the matter.

The win in Dharamsala ended India's marathon home Test season with four series victories out of four, and also means that the team presently holds series honours over every other nation in the five-day game. Rahane's stand-in captaincy, in the absence of the injured Virat Kohli, had been vital to this achievement, so too the runs of Rahul, the pace of Umesh Yadav and the all-round contribution of Ravindra Jadeja. There will be great satisfaction derived also from the fact that Dharamsala offered conditions more familiar to the tourists.

For that reason, among others, Steven Smith's team were left to ponder a string of missed opportunities after their vast opening win in Pune. There have been times in all three Tests since that the Australians have looked very much in control of proceedings, but they have been unable to stay on the mountaintop under pressure from an Indian side roused into action by the shock of that first-up hiding.

As the ball continued to bounce and swerve when India resumed their pursuit of a modest target today, Australia's fielders must have wondered what might have been with another 100 or so runs to defend. Josh Hazlewood went up for a pair of vociferous lbw appeals against Vijay in the opening over, but on both occasions the opener got the merest of bat to ball before it struck the pad.

At the other end Cummins sent a bouncer down the leg side that may have touched Vijay's gloves before being taken on the juggle by Matthew Wade. Certainly Ultra Edge indicated as much, but only Wade raised the most half-hearted of appeals. More straightforward was another edge in Cummins' next over, near enough to an action replay of Vijay's first-innings dismissal, which offered a glimmer of light for Australia.

Genuine excitement followed when Pujara and Rahul hesitated fatally in taking a quick single to the right arm of Maxwell, who threw down middle stump to send Pujara on his way with 60 still needed. In those moments the Australians wondered briefly what might be possible, and the Indian viewing area tensed up like with so many teams chasing a pesky small target in the past.

But Rahane and Rahul barely put a foot out of place in the overs that followed, accumulating steadily until Cummins elected to go around the wicket for the tourists' final effort. Rahane's riposte, the first impressively orthodox, the second more redolent of the forthcoming IPL, said much about India's admirable resilience in the face of a most unexpected challenge.

Winning from behind

4

No. of times India have won a Test series after losing the first Test, including this. The other 3: vs Eng 1972-73, Aus 2000-01 and SL 2015.

Pujara's first at home

0

No. of ducks for Pujara in home Tests, before this. This was his first duck in 50 innings at home. He has had 2 ducks in 31 innings outside India.

Rare combined effort

2

Instances of 3 India bowlers picking 3 or more wickets in the same innings at home since 2000, both in this series - vs NZ at Eden Gardens and this match.

Umesh's best

14

Previous most wickets for Umesh Yadav in a series, in Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2011-12. Warner was the 15th scalp of this series for Umesh.

Warner's low

24.12

Warner's average in this series - his 3rd lowest in any series. He averaged 13 in NZ in 2015-16 (2 Tests) and 23 in Ashes 2013. In Ind in 2012-13, he averaged 24.37.

Jadeja the batsman

6

No. of 50+ scores for Jadeja in the 2016-17 season, same number as Kohli, Vijay and Rahul. Only Pujara has made more such scores (12).

All-rounder Jadeja

3

No. of players to score 500+ runs and take 50+ wickets in in a season - Kapil Dev in 1979-80, Mitchell Johnson in 2008-09 and Jadeja in 2016-17.

Consistent Rahul

5

No. of 50+ scores for Rahul in this series - the joint - most for an India opener in a series vs Aus. Vijay had also made 5 such scores in Aus in 2014-15.

Top of the table

79

Wickets for Ashwin in 2016-17 season - the most by any bowler in a season. He went past Dale Steyn's 78 scalps in 2007-08.

Captain Smith's series

2

No. of visiting captains to score 3 centuries in a series in India, including Smith this series. Alastair Cook in 2012-13 was the first.