By: Shree1news, 29 DEC 2020
A rejuvenated India without the services of regular skipper Virat Kohli turned the tables on Australia to claim the second Test within 4 days in Melbourne on Tuesday, a rousing eight-wicket victory that breathed life into the series.
Needing solely 70 runs for victory after bowling Australia out for 200 by lunch, opener Shubman Gill (35 not out) and stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane (27 not out) guided India home in a blaze of shot-making to square the series 1-1 ahead of the third test.
Australia vs India 2nd Test Stats:
– This is India’s first and only Test match victory this yr. India lost to New Zealand in a two-match Test series in February before coronavirus brought the cricket world to a halt.
India have now registered a complete of four wins for India on the MCG. That is India’s most most profitable venue away from home. Previously they’d won three Tests each at Queens Park Oval, Trinidad, Sabina Park, Jamaica, and at the SSC in Colombo but no other team apart from England has won more than three matches on the MCG.
– Mohammed Siraj becomes the second-most wickettaker for a debutant in Australia. Lasith Malinga is the only bowler to have taken more than Siraj’s 5 wickets within the Boxing Day Test. Only 4 Indian pacers have taken more wickets on debut away from home than Siraj.
Australia produced the lowest ever run-rate in a home series since 1990 at 2.52. Three of the six lowest run rates for Australia on this period have come against India.
– This is the first time in 32 years that an Australian batsman didn’t score a fifty in a Test match at home. By the way, that was also at the MCG against West Indies. In the meantime, away from home, this has happened to Australia only three times within the last thirty years.
– The last team that won back-to-back Tests on the MCG were Pakistan in 1979 and 1981, and before that India in 1977 and 1980.
Source: A-N