Finance
The fourth Test between India and Australia at the Narendra Modi Stadium ended in a draw, with India winning the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series 2-1 and retaining the trophy at home.
With more than an hour left on the clock, both teams called for the game to be called off, as it reached the inevitable result of a draw, as India claimed their 16th consecutive series win at home. It is also the fourth consecutive series between India and Australia that has ended with a 2-1 scoreline.
India and Australia will meet again in the World Test Championship final on June 7-11 at the Oval in England. India’s place was secured after New Zealand defeated Sri Lanka by two wickets in a thrilling last-ball finish at Hagley Oval.
It was a Test match in Ahmedabad where the batters were dominant on a slow, flat pitch, the polar opposite of the spin-friendly pitches used in the first three Tests, all of which lasted three days.
Despite this, Ravichandran Ashwin claimed a six-wicket haul. Usman Khawaja and Cameron Green both scored centuries for Australia, while Shubman Gill hit 128 and Virat Kohli hit 186 for India.
On Monday, with the draw looming as a foregone conclusion, Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne notched fifties as Australia reached 175/2 before the end arrived, ending both teams’ hopes for an unlikely win.
Ravichandran Ashwin had Matthew Kuhnemann lbw with an off-break delivery that went past his forward defence and smashed into the front pad twenty minutes into the first session. Replays later revealed that Kuhnemann could have survived if he had accepted the review.
With little on the pitch to cause trouble for the batters, Marnus Labuschagne came down the pitch with ease and hit Ashwin through mid-wicket for four. Travis Head added boundary hitting to his repertoire when he cut a short ball from Ravindra Jadeja through off-side.
Labuschagne used his feet again when he lofted Ashwin over mid-wicket for four, and Head took advantage of Jadeja’s width to fetch another boundary. Though India gained something when the ball began to perform some tricks, there was no stopping Head, who danced down the pitch to slam a six off Ashwin straight down the ground.
Head then ripped into Axar Patel, taking back-to-back boundaries off him – a straight drive followed by a punch that led to an edge past the slip fielder. He and Labuschagne cruised through the session’s final overs, ensuring Australia suffered no further damage.
Head got to fifty after lunch when he guided an Axar delivery past slip for four to get Australia to safety. He then went after Ashwin, hitting a four through midwicket, followed by a lofted six down the ground. With the bowlers tiring, Head became more aggressive with his slogs and cuts.
Labuschagne appeared at ease on the pitch, not doing much and easily putting away anything offered on pads by Umesh Yadav for boundaries, before reaching his fifty with a brace through square leg.
Head was on the verge of his sixth Test century when Axar got one to spin sharply and go past the inside edge of off-stump. Labuschagne went into the tea break unbeaten on 56, while Steve Smith has yet to score after KS Bharat dropped his catch on the final ball of the 62nd over.
Smith slammed a boundary off Ashwin and Jadeja after tea. He then put on another defensive clinic with Labuschagne to keep him company until the draw arrived, bringing an end to an enthralling series that saw India retain the trophy before Australia fought back in Indore and Ahmedabad produced a batting paradise for both teams to be tied down in a draw.
Brief Scores: Australia 480 in 167.2 overs and 175/2 in 78.1 overs (Travis Head 90, Marnus Labuschagne 63 not out; Axar Patel 1/36, Ravichandran Ashwin 1/58) draw with India 571 in 178.5 overs
Source:OCN
