On this day in 2017: India register a thrilling Test victory over Australia in Bengaluru
Exactly on this day in 2017, India beat Australia by 75 runs in the thrilling Bengaluru Test which was the second game of the four-match series. The hosts had their backs against the wall after being stunned by the visitors in the series-opener in Pune. Inspired by Steve O’Keefe’s 6-fer and their skipper Steve Smith’s second-innings century, Australia had thrashed India by 333 runs to send shockwaves across the cricket world.
Australia claim the honours
India were expected to bounce back in Bengaluru and they did not disappoint. Coming to the game, India started disastrously after Kohli won the toss and decided to bat first. Opener KL Rahul played a sublime knock of 90 but the rest of the batting crumbled as Australia bowled out the hosts for just 189. Nathan Lyon was the destructor-in-chief, taking 8 for 50. The visitors did not do very well with the bat either in their first innings but still managed to take a slender lead of 87 runs after scoring 276.
In-form Matt Renshaw and Shaun Marsh scored fifties for Australia while Ravindra Jadeja picked up 6 wickets. India now had a chance to make a solid comeback in the game, but they failed to put up a batting performance they would have liked in the second innings.
Rahul (51), Cheteshwar Pujara (92) and Ajinkya Rahane (52) scored fifties but the home side could only manage 274 to give Australia a target of 188. They were comfortably placed at 238 for 4 on day 4 before a collapse saw them lose their last six wickets for just 36 runs. Josh Hazlewood was the reason behind the collapse as he took 6 for 67 to give Australia a golden chance of taking an unassailable lead in the series.
A tricky chase
On a deteriorating track, 188 was a tough target but it was also a target that was not deemed safe by any cricket expert at that time. India’s bowlers, however, proved that the score was more than enough for a win as they bowled out the tourists for 112 runs inside 36 overs to power India to a series-levelling victory.
High fives all around. India win the 2nd @Paytm Test by 75 runs. Level the 4-match Test series 1-1 #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/XDEmS7L8fN
— BCCI (@BCCI) March 7, 2017
Australia kept losing wickets at regular intervals and rarely looked in contention to chase down the total. At 101 for 4, the game was still alive and could have gone either way before Ravichandran Ashwin spun a web around the Australia batsmen. The India spin spearhead picked up five wickets in no time as Australia lost their last six for just 11 runs.
