DECEMBER 30, 2018
Brief Scorecard: India 7 for 443 dec (Pujara 106, Kohli 82, Agarwal 76, Rohit 63*) and 8 for 106 dec (Cummins 6-27) beat Australia 151 (Bumrah 6-33) and 261 (Cummins 63) by 137 runs
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – The first session was washed out, Google Trends for ‘Melbourne weather’ from India went through the roof but in the end, it took them just 27 balls to retain the Border-Gavaskar trophy.
Jasprit Bumrah claimed his ninth wicket of the match, the first India quick to reach such heights in Australia, when Pat Cummins’ fine innings ended with a catch to first slip. Then in the next over, Ishant Sharma found Nathan Lyon’s top edge as he hooked and with that, it was all over.
“The credit has to go to our bowlers, especially Jasprit, they have been outstanding,” Kohli said after the game. “The way Jasprit bowled in Perth it was almost criminal not to get wickets, but the management told him they would come in bunches.”
Australia had managed to take the match into the final day and the first part of Sunday was spent with the teams kicking their heels in the dressing room as showers scudded across the ground. Any early lunch was taken at 12.15pm but during the interval, the skies cleared to allow India to resume their quest.
The new-ball was only five overs old and was in the hands of Ishant and Bumrah, the latter immediately making life uncomfortable with his angle and bounce as he has throughout the match.
Cummins had put Australia’s top order to shame with his display, but hopes of a maiden Test hundred – or something even greater – vanished when Bumrah found the outside edge and Cheteshwar Pujara, the man who set this all up for India, grasped a good low catch at first slip.
There was no final-wicket stand to annoy India when Ishant sent down a bouncer to Lyon who hooked and sent the top edge to Rishabh Pant to allow the celebrations to begin.
The Border-Gavaskar trophy has been retained, a wonderful end to 2018 for India, but an even bigger prize awaits in Sydney at the start of the New Year. “Nothing will distract us from winning that last Test,” Kohli said, “we’ve worked really hard for this.”
Courtesy/Source: ESPNCricinfo
