Day 1
Australia 256/9 (94.0 ov)
India
Australia won the toss and elected to bat
On a pitch so dry it resembled the surface of Mars to Shane Warne, which looked unlike any he had seen in India according to Ravi Shastri, it was a fast bowler who came away with the richest haul. Umesh Yadav's combination of pace and reverse swing fetched him four wickets as Australia managed 256 for 9 in Pune.
A sizeable chunk of that total came off the blade of Matt Renshaw. The 20-year old playing his first Test away from home made 68 off 156 balls either side of retiring ill with a stomach bug in the first session. Not many of his team-mates can match his composure or his patience. Both those attributes served him well in conditions where sharp spin and startling bounce were the norm instead of the exception.
If such was the case on the first day, imagine having to bat last, which India have to if the match goes that long. So putting up a big total in the first innings was vital after Australia won the toss and chose to bat. They might want to get closer to 300, but the total they have already is nothing to scoff at. Mitchell Starc is a clear and present threat, especially with the expectation of variable bounce. He smashed 57 off 58 balls himself to make sure when he gets the ball in hand, he has enough of a cushion to go all out. Nathan Lyon and Steve O'Keefe too might fancy their chances of exploiting a surface where footmarks were popping up by the 10th over of the opening day.
Australia had done excellent work in the morning. Despite the alien conditions, they realised that on a strip prone to turn, the best way to survive is to not chase the ball. Protect middle stump, ensure you are behind the one that holds its line, play late and use soft hands and when the ball deviates, it will only leave you beaten and red-faced, not red-faced and back in the hut.
These virtues helped Warner and Renshaw last 27.2 overs together. The 82 runs they made were the result of their ability to both tip and run and thwack and stand back. Case in point was in the 25th over: R Ashwin harassed the outside edge and was smashed to the square leg boundary all in the space of seconds. Or the 42nd over, when Ravindra Jadeja bowled a long hop to Steven Smith and was pulled to the midwicket fence.
So often times India had to turn to their quickest bowler and Umesh was happy to oblige. His pace has worked against him in the past, making good balls stray down wrong lines and result in boundaries. Now, though, he has improved on his accuracy and by bowling wicket-to-wicket he makes sure the reverse swing he gets is always a threat. No getting your eye in by leaving balls outside the off stump.
Umesh bowled David Warner off the inside edge with his second ball of the match for 38 - after the batsman had been bowled off a no-ball on 20. Even as Australia tried to regroup Renshaw raced off the field, retiring ill for 36. One ball, two batsmen sent off the pitch, and they say Test cricket wants for action. Umesh was on a hat-trick in the final session, having O'Keefe caught behind with Wriddhiman Saha leaping several feet in the air, diving full-length to his right and snagging a one-hander for the ages and then Lyon lbw next ball.
Starc's belligerence, however, reset the balance of the match. The slog sweep was his most profitable shot and he also took care to farm the strike. So effectively was he that Josh Hazlewood made only one run of the 52 that was put on by the 10th wicket.
As well as looking for big hits, Australia were diligent in picking up singles whenever they were available and for a long time they were able to dilute the threat of India's spinners. But, maintaining that level of performance over after over after over is the challenge of playing Test cricket in India. Making it tougher still were Ashwin and Jadeja with their remarkable accuracy. And eventually home advantage began to tell.
Two wickets in two overs before tea - Jadeja pinning Peter Handscomb lbw with an arm ball and Ashwin trapping Smith at mid-on - brought India back into the contest. It was the result of a session's worth of tight bowling enabled by clever captaincy.
Virat Kohli had a midwicket and a mid-on for the offspinners against Smith and it seemed every time the batsman came down the track to hit with the turn, he found those men. With runs coming at a premium - 69 in 30 overs after lunch - Smith chose to take those fielders on and chipped the ball in the air. He couldn't time it properly and found Kohli himself at mid-on. It was a transparent trap and the Australian captain, despite 94 balls of determined and purposeful batting, played right into it. Earlier, Kohli placing himself at leg slip proved equally profitable, as Jayant Yadav tempted Shaun Marsh to sweep at a flatter delivery, a risky ploy considering the extra bounce on offer, and was caught off the back of the bat.
Not giving in to dot-ball pressure is hard work in the subcontinent, especially on a deck where a ball with your name is never far off. Renshaw, though fitness issues notwithstanding, was up to the challenge. He even felt confident enough to charge at Jadeja and loft him for six over long-on. That's not an easy job considering the left-arm spinner is the ideal man, because of his ability to bowl quick through the air, to exploit a pitch affording rich turn.
Minor miracles have followed Australia in the past 24 hours. They managed to be in two places almost at once. They batted remarkably well early on in conditions they historically struggle to deal with. A lower order rally was probably par for the course.
Day 2
Australia 260 & 143/4 (46.0 ov)
India 105
Australia lead by 298 runs with 6 wickets remaining
It could have been worse for India, though it's hard to imagine how. Virat Kohli might have spontaneously combusted, or R Ashwin could have suffered a freak shaving accident in the morning and sliced his arm off. But aside from those admittedly long shots, the day went about as badly for India as it could have. By stumps, they were facing the very real prospect of losing a home Test to Australia for the first time since 2004.
Of course, the second day's play showed how quickly things can change, so India cannot be written off. But they will need to complete a chase of 300-plus to escape with a victory, something that has been achieved only once in Test history in India. On that occasion, back in December 2008, Sachin Tendulkar scored an unbeaten hundred to hunt down 387 against England in Chennai. But that was on a pitch that lacked the spite of this one.
This is a pitch on which 15 wickets tumbled on day two, including nine during a frenetic middle session, and on which India managed only 105 in their first innings. Steve O'Keefe ransacked the Indian middle and lower order for six wickets, which all came during a 25-ball spell after lunch. Three of those wickets came in one over, which triggered a stunning collapse during which India lost their last seven wickets for 11 runs, their worst such capitulation in Test history.
The collapse was not India's only problem, though it began ominously when KL Rahul, who scored nearly two-thirds of India's runs, suffered a painful injury to his left shoulder while slogging a catch into the deep. It was also a day on which Kohli was out for a duck for the first time in a home Test, and a day on which his Australian counterpart was given life after life. Steven Smith was dropped three times on his way to a half-century, and at stumps was still there.
The situation at the close of play was this: Australia were 143 for 4, leading by 298, with Smith on 59 and Mitchell Marsh on 21. Smith, in amongst his reprieves, used his feet well to India's spinners and never got bogged down. The only Australian who did was Shaun Marsh, sent in to open because a nauseous Matt Renshaw had been off the field too long during India's innings. Marsh spent 21 balls over a duck that ended when he was lbw to Ashwin's straight ball.
Australia had already lost David Warner in similar style for 10 in the first over, but if India hoped for an Australian collapse to follow their own they were disappointed. Peter Handscomb stuck around for 19 before he flicked a catch to leg gully off Ashwin, and in the unfamiliar position of No.5, Renshaw fought off sickness to strike 31 before holing out off Jayant Yadav. But the wicket India needed was Smith, and they had their opportunities.
On 23, Smith clipped Ashwin to leg-slip, much as Handscomb was to a few overs later, but M Vijay could not hold on to the first chance he got. Then on 29, Smith danced down the pitch and drove Ravindra Jadeja towards mid-on, where the substitute fieldsman Abhinav Mukund struggled to make ground to his right and dropped a hard one. At short-leg Mukund then put down a much more gettable chance off Ashwin when Smith had 37. Renshaw had also had a life on 25.
The contrast in fielding between the two sides could hardly have been starker. Handscomb in particular was responsible for two brilliant reflex catches, though the opportunities came because of the fine bowling of Australia's spinners - especially O'Keefe. He opened the bowling with Mitchell Starc but had failed to take a wicket in seven overs before lunch, yet after the break and a change of ends, he became unplayable.
Having had Rahul caught in the deep for 64, O'Keefe followed two balls later with the wicket of Ajinkya Rahane, whose edge was brilliantly taken at second slip by Handscomb, instinctively thrusting his right hand low to the ground. Another two balls later and Wriddhiman Saha failed to handle O'Keefe's turn and also edge, to be taken more conventionally but sharply nevertheless by Smith at first slip. India had gone from 94 for 3 to 95 for 6 in one over.
Nathan Lyon interrupted the procession of O'Keefe's wickets in the next over by having Ashwin caught at short-leg in extraordinary circumstances. Ashwin's defensive push went straight down and might easily have hit the turf, but instead struck him on the boot and bounced up temptingly for the close-in fielder, Handscomb. He dived forward and stuck out his right hand to complete a catch that showed both brilliant skill and alertness. India had lost four in eight balls.
O'Keefe claimed his fourth a few overs later when Jayant was dragged just out of his ground and Matthew Wade completed a crisp stumping, and India were 98 for 8. In his next over, O'Keefe achieved his maiden Test five-wicket haul when Jadeja danced down the pitch and slogged high to deep midwicket, where Starc took the catch.
The end came when Umesh Yadav edged O'Keefe to Smith at first slip, and India had fallen to their worst total in a completed home innings for nearly nine years. O'Keefe's accuracy and ability to turn some deliveries and not others, and some more than others, troubled the India batsmen in just the same way that India's own spinners had caused problems for Australia on the turning pitches in 2013.
The day had started with Australia on 256 for 9 and hoping that their last pair, Starc and Josh Hazlewood, might find a way to push the total up towards 300. Starc signalled his intent by slogging Ashwin for a boundary from the second ball of the day, but he did not survive until the end of the over. Fifth ball, Starc slog-swept to deep midwicket and was caught for 61, ending Australia's innings at 260.
Despite O'Keefe's later success, it was pace that brought Australia the first three wickets. Vijay was drawn into pushing outside off in Hazlewood's first over, and edged an inswinger behind for 10. Starc succeeded with a well-directed short ball that surprised Cheteshwar Pujara, who could do little but glove behind while trying to fend the ball away.
Two balls later Starc also had the prize wicket of Kohli for a second-ball duck. Perhaps trying to impose himself on the match as early in his innings as possible, Kohli drove expansively at a wide ball and edged to first slip. Two wickets in an over seemed like something special for Australia. If only they knew what was to come. By the end of the day, they were in prime position to end India's run of 20 home Tests without a loss.
Day 3
Australia 260 & 285
India 105 & 107 (33.5 ov)
Australia won by 333 runs
Fortress India has been sacked. Or should that be SOKed? Not since 2012 had India lost a Test at home, and rarely in that stretch of 20 matches had they even been held to a draw. Last time Australia toured India for Tests they were crushed 4-0. They entered this match having lost their past nine Tests in Asia. Not since 2004 and the days of Gilchrist, McGrath and Warne had Australia won a Test in India. Not even Nostradamus could have seen this result coming.
Australia not only beat India, they thrashed them. Humiliated them. On a dry, turning pitch that should have suited India's spinners, Steven Smith scored the only hundred of the match and Steve O'Keefe took as many wickets as R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja combined. So many, in fact, that his 12 for 69 were the best figures ever by a visiting spinner in a Test on Indian soil. India were humbled for 105 and 107; never had they scored so few in a home Test loss.
The match was over inside three days, Australia the victors by 333 runs. The series is still alive, of course, but India have much to ponder over the next week, ahead of the Bangalore Test. It would be easy to look at pitch and suggest the toss played a significant role, but that would be unfair to Australia, who outplayed India in all facets of the game, and more than doubled their totals in both innings. In any case, Australia had won all four tosses back in 2013.
No, this a was a victory based on outstanding left-arm spin from O'Keefe, whose accuracy and ability to turn some deliveries but not others made him a constant threat; on a remarkable 109 from Smith in the second innings, which some observers said was the best hundred they had seen; on fielding that was not quite flawless but not far off it. And, yes, on what looked from the outside like a mental capitulation from India's batsmen in both innings.
This was the 10th home Test of India's summer. It would be natural that they might show signs of fatigue, but there are three more Tests in this series. They must find a way to perk up quickly. If they are searching for positives, at least they have two extra days of recuperation ahead of the second Test. They can take little else from this result, their first loss in a home Test since England prevailed in Kolkata in December 2012.
That too was a win that featured a defining hundred from the visiting captain, on that occasion Alastair Cook. In Pune, Smith's 109 - more than the entire India team scored in either of their innings - helped to ensure Australia's victory. It was his 18th Test hundred, his fifth in consecutive Tests against India, and his first on Indian soil. And, given the pitch and the quality of India's bowlers, surely his best.
He made the most of his luck - dropped three times on the second day - and resumed on the third morning on 59, with Australia's lead already standing at 298. Already enough, the way India batted. But Smith made sure of it, scored freely on both sides of the wicket, using his feet to India's spinners, and forging partnerships of consequence with several men in the middle and lower order. When he was finally lbw trying to pull Jadeja, his job was done.
Some late slogging from Mitchell Starc, who hit three sixes in his 30 off 31 balls, helped lift Australia to 285 and set India 441 for victory. They would have to break the all-time record for the highest successful chase in Test history in order to keep their unbeaten home streak alive. They never looked like getting close. Within six overs they had lost both their openers and both their reviews, and all of their hope.
O'Keefe broke through in his first over when he skidded one on to trap Vijay lbw, and in the next over Nathan Lyon spun one in to strike KL Rahul in line and another lbw was given. Both openers asked for reviews, but neither were successful. It mattered little, for the procession of wickets that followed were all straightforward enough that no reviews would have saved India.
The wicket of Virat Kohli embodied India's uncertainty against O'Keefe: he shouldered arms, confident that the ball would turn away from him, and failed to detect that this one was going on with the arm. Kohli lost his off stump. Ajinkya Rahane followed by driving a catch to cover off O'Keefe, and Ashwin was lbw on review when he pressed forward to O'Keefe and the ball struck pad fractionally before bat.
Wriddhiman Saha came and went, also lbw to an O'Keefe skidder, and straight after tea the last remaining top-six batsman, Cheteshwar Pujara, fell in more or less the same way. India kept playing for turn, O'Keefe kept rapping them in front with straight balls. Of course, that is oversimplifying things: he turned enough deliveries to varying degrees that the straight ones became the danger, when the batsmen expected turn that didn't come.
By this stage, O'Keefe had 12 wickets for the match and a realistic chance of overtaking Ian Botham's 13 as the best bowling by any visiting player in India. Instead, Lyon ran through the remaining three wickets: Jadeja was bowled trying to cut, Ishant Sharma was caught at leg gully, and Jayant Yadav gloved a catch to Matthew Wade to make the result official. A result that nobody saw coming three days earlier.
Day 4
Australia 451 & 23/2 (7.2 ov)
India 603/9d
Australia trail by 129 runs with 8 wickets remaining
Cheteshwar Pujara secured the longest occupation ever by an Indian batsman in a Test match as he and Wriddhiman Saha ground Australia into the Ranchi dust on the fourth day. The tourists were unable to maintain their shackles on the middle-order pair after a pair of close calls went against them in the morning, leaving India as the only side who can win this match.
That fact was underlined by the final eight overs of the day, in which Ravindra Jadeja bowled David Warner through the gate and then followed up by skidding through the nightwatchman Nathan Lyon with the day's last delivery. Jadeja's accuracy and variation of spin loom as the gravest threats to Steven Smith's bedraggled team on day five.
In all the Pujara-Saha stand was worth 199, denying Australia a wicket until the evening session when both batsmen fell in pursuit of quick runs to increase India's lead. Jadeja prolonged the punishment with a rapid fifty, and the tourists were left with eight overs to survive before the close, manoeuvred into a position from which India have already won Test matches at home this season.
Patience has always been a strength of Pujara's, and by surpassing Rahul Dravid as the Indian batsman to spend the longest time batting in a Test, he showed fortitude of a truly rare kind. Saha offered excellent support, opening his shoulders to play attractively against a tiring Australian attack and reaching a deserved century.
Pat Cummins, who again bowled with great quality for the tourists and deserved his four wickets, had Saha given out lbw with his first ball of the day, but the wicketkeeper's referral showed the ball to be missing leg stump by millimetres.
Closer to lunch Pujara was given out lbw to a delivery that Lyon straighted down the line of the stumps from around the wicket, but his review showed the ball to be spinning too much and also sliding past leg stump. Steve O'Keefe also came close to a breakthrough when Saha edged a cut shot attempt but the chance was dropped by Matthew Wade.
Chances dried up almost entirely in the afternoon as Pujara and Saha went on to a partnership that has redefined the match and possibly the series. Not least by placing a considerable physical strain on Australia's four-man bowling attack - Glenn Maxwell's offbreaks were used only sparingly.
Pujara's performance has effectively cancelled out the big hundred made by Australia's captain Smith, and put India in the ideal position to pressure the tourists on the final day. Saha's assistance was also vital in frustrating a touring team that had started the day with hopes of quickly rolling up the India tail and setting a fourth-innings target.
Cummins had briefly enjoyed the sensation of claiming a fifth wicket of the innings in his return to Test cricket nearly six years after his storied debut against South Africa in Johannesburg. Saha was nowhere near a ball angled into him, and there was some discussion with Pujara before he reviewed. The Australians were floored when ball-tracking showed the ball to be missing leg stump.
From there Pujara and Saha accumulated slowly, against bowling that remained disciplined under an overcast sky that compelled the umpires to turn on the stadium floodlights. Pujara's 150 was a marker of his concentration and temperament against bowling that rarely lapsed into looseness.
Lyon was not used until midway through the session, and from around the stumps he appeared to have found a way to winkle out Pujara when the umpire Ian Gould raised his finger in response to the lbw appeal. However Hawk-Eye again went the way of India.
Wade's drop of Saha from O'Keefe on 51 drew an apology from gloveman to bowler, then shortly before the interval Lyon again appealed and then referred, this time for caught behind when Saha essayed a sweep shot. But replays found no evidence of contact and left the Australians having made no progress for their morning's efforts.
Smith took the third new ball soon after play resumed, and once more Cummins produced a series of testing deliveries but was unable to claim the wicket Australia so dearly needed. Instead the hosts forged into the lead while the visitors used up their two decision referrals with a pair of overly optimistic appeals.
Pujara's long-batting milestone was followed by Saha's approach to within one run of his century at tea. The stand was worth an unbeaten 175 at the break, with two whole sessions elapsing without a single wicket. Another 24 runs were accrued after tea at an increasing rate, including Saha's century, before Pujara popped a catch to midwicket to hand Lyon his first wicket since day one of the Bengaluru Test.
Saha fell in a similar manner, but Jadeja was more successful in taking the attack to the visitors. O'Keefe's 77 overs were the sixth most ever by an Australian bowler in a Test innings, a tally not surpassed since Jim Higgs against England in 1979. Australia were defeated in that match, and the loss of Warner and Lyon ensures their 2017 descendants now face an almighty struggle to avoid the same fate.
Day 5
2nd Test
Day 1
India 189
Australia 40/0 (16.0 ov)
Australia trail by 149 runs with 10 wickets remaining in the 1st innings
First there was control, then panic and eventually wickets. Most of them went to Nathan Lyon, whose 8 for 50 was the best ever haul by a visiting bowler in India. He personified Australia's ability to adapt to unfavourable conditions - which included a lost toss - and by the end of the day they had ransacked 10 wickets for 189 runs, put up a score of 40 for 0 themselves and did their chances of retaining the Border-Gavaskar trophy no harm whatsoever.
Most teams coming to the subcontinent will be aware they have to invest heavily in maintaining tight lines and lengths for pressure is as good as any help they might receive off the pitch to pick up wickets. The batsman starts to feel trapped, doubts begin to fester, he searches for release and...
India know this template well. Yet they lost Cheteshwar Pujara on the stroke of lunch. Virat Kohli gave his wicket away - and then a review as well - by padding up to a straight ball. Were it not for KL Rahul's 90 on his home ground in Bengaluru, they would have been in far worse shape. And that is saying something considering they were bundled out for under 200 for the third time in as many innings.
Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood were in prime form with the new ball. Six of the first 12 overs on Saturday were maidens, the result of their getting just enough movement in the air and off the pitch. Lyon was precise with his line and smart with his length. He got the ball to turn and bounce sharply on some occasions and on others he made it drift and go straight on. His biggest strike, though, was simply down to a set up.
Kohli was new to the crease and only a few seconds ago had a good length ball jumped past his inside edge and hit his thigh pad. Something told the Indian captain he could trust the bounce here, that if he was playing on the back foot, the ball was unlikely to threaten his stumps. That made picking length very, very important. Lyon flattened his trajectory, Kohli left the ball, suckered into believing it was short, it thudded into his pad in front of middle stump and umpire Nigel Llong put his finger up. While the error in judgment can be forgiven, the gamble with DRS was less so for it was driven not by logic but hope, and even a little bit of fear at losing the best batsman in the team and giving Australia the kind of momentum they would love.
Watching all this from the other end was Rahul. His innings spanned 205 balls - the next best was a mere 66 - was a battle all through. He was struck on the glove as Starc peppered him with bouncers. He was often unsure against Hazlewood's two-way movement. He could have been caught on 30 but even Peter Handscomb, whose agility is already becoming legend, was unable to hold on to a rather difficult chance low to his left at silly mid-off.
Rahul had the mettle to work past his troubles, to not buckle to pressure and go looking for that boundary that makes him feel better for but an instant. He had had enough of that in Pune. Normally a free-flowing batsman - evidenced by his striking the first ball of the match to the point boundary - he understood the importance of a big score and buckled down to get it. With time at the crease, his defensive game grew tighter but most of all, he was able to absorb all the pressure Australia piled up on him.
The same could not be said of his team-mates. Ajinkya Rahane hurtled down the pitch against Lyon only for the straighter ball to beat his outside edge. He was so far past the crease that Matthew Wade even had time to recover from a fumble and pull off the stumping. The 17 runs he made marked the ninth time out of 10 innings that he has fallen for a score under 30. Karun Nair, who was brought in to lengthen the batting line-up, playing for the first time since his 303 not out in December, committed the same mistake against O'Keefe and this time the ball turned sharply to leave him stumped too.
Against the vagaries of the M Chinnaswamy strip - hosting a Test for the first time since large-scale renovations of the outfield - and the discipline of the Australian bowlers, it was difficult not to imagine India as those kids waiting for Mum and Dad to slack off so they can raid the sweets in the pantry. But by the end of the day, with no hope of their craving being satisfied, they could only fold their hands over their chest and go "this sucks".
By tea, Australia's GOAT had gutted India's middle order and sent back their big three. The first of his wickets was a major turning point. He had a set Pujara caught at short leg off what became the very last ball before lunch and a 61-run second wicket partnership was broken.
Against a bowler in such rhythm, the lower order folded quickly. R Ashwin was undone by a spitting cobra. Wriddhiman Saha edged one that didn't turn as much as he thought. Ravindra Jadeja inside edged a catch off the pad to slip - which was only confirmed when Smith made fine use of the review available to him. Even there, Australia were thumping India. And it all tied in to Lyon's skill. A newfound skill.
In the early part of his career, he couldn't figure out how to bowl on turners. He would either be too slow and too full and get driven a lot, or too quick and too short leading to outcomes a lot worse. Here all of his wickets came off the 5 to 6m mark. For a batsman, that meant even if he came forward, he couldn't reach the pitch of the ball. To then make connection, he has to push his hands out in front and that compromises his balance. Playing back is a risk too because Lyon's overspin generates awkward bounce.
Against that, the extra batsman was of little use. M Vijay, however, was not among of the XI having injured his left shoulder in the 333-run defeat in Pune and in his place came Tamil Nadu team-mate Abhinav Mukund. The 27-year old was representing India for the first time in over five years and his team was using their eighth opening pair in the last 12 months. He got an eight-ball duck, the partnership yielded only 11 runs, the position is clearly cursed, it time to call Scooby Doo yet?
Day 2
India 189
Australia 237/6 (106.0 ov)
Australia lead by 48 runs with 4 wickets remaining in the 1st innings
It is hard to believe this series is only five days old, such is the drama that has already been witnessed. And such has been the unexpected dominance of Australia that this fifth day of the campaign - and the second day in Bengaluru - began with ominous predictions that India's hopes of regaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy would be dead unless they had launched a fightback by stumps. Does six wickets constitute enough of a fightback? The jury is out.
Certainly, India's bowlers deserve credit for their persistence. All day they maintained pressure on Australia's batsmen, and the pressure was particularly intense during a gripping morning session. But by stumps, the cold reality was that Australia held a lead that was already useful, and which on the third morning may yet progress to become match-winning. They went to stumps 48 runs in front, with the total on 237 for 6, and with Matthew Wade on 25 and Mitchell Starc on 14.
The anchors of Australia's day had been the oldest and youngest members of the side. Matt Renshaw, the 20-year-old opener, showed maturity and patience in compiling 60; Shaun Marsh, the 33-year-old recalled for this series, was equally respectful of the bowling and ground out 66 of his own. Both men fell as they approached 200 deliveries, their concentration perhaps waning, but they were to be commended for their efforts.
The pitch was cracking like a dry river-bed: spinners threatened with sharp turn and fast bowlers sent through the occasional skidder. No delivery summed up the batting challenge better than the last ball before tea, when Ishant Sharma had Mitchell Marsh lbw for an 11-ball duck to a delivery that barely bounced above his ankles. It was the last ball of the 80th over, and thus the last ball before the teams had their reviews renewed, but Marsh was so plumb that he just walked off.
If that ball demonstrated the danger of low bounce, R Ashwin's dismissal of David Warner showed how spinners can use the surface. During the morning session, Ashwin attacked the footmarks outside the leg stump of Australia's left-handers and after a number of searching deliveries caused problems, Warner lost his off stump when one pitched outside leg and ripped across and past his outside edge.
These deliveries also served to highlight how invaluable runs on the board might become over the remainder of the Test. Should Australia's lower order find a way to lift their advantage up to triple-figures on the third day, it would be a long, hard road for India to fight back into the series. Still, India at least kept themselves in the match on day two, and that was more than could be said of their second day in Pune.
The day had started with Australia at 40 for 0; the 197 runs they added for the loss of six wickets were the product of impressive resilience. The morning session was particularly enthralling. It was one of those times when the raw numbers fail to tell the story - Australia crawled along by 47 runs, India managed only two wickets. But the intensity of the contest was undeniable. Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja found sharp turn, Ishant and Umesh Yadav found edges and up-and-down bounce.
There were tight lbw appeals, edges through the cordon, words exchanged, more exaggerated facial expressions than in an acting class for beginners. Both teams wanted to pretend the other was under all the pressure. The reality was that all 13 players on the field were under the pump. Ashwin got Warner, and Steven Smith edged onto his pad and up to the wicketkeeper for 8 off 52 balls, yet by lunch neither team had struck the vital blow.
Importantly for Australia, Renshaw had batted through the session, and after the resumption he brought up a fine 183-ball half-century. He was edgier than a Richard Pryor comedy gig - four of his five fours went through gaps in the cordon - but it was not until the 67th over of his innings that his focus appeared to lapse. He advanced to lift Jadeja down the ground for six, then two balls later was stumped coming down the wicket again, as Jadeja turned one past his legs and Wriddhiman Saha did the rest.
Peter Handscomb played positively and struck a couple of boundaries before he too fell to Jadeja, flicking on the up to midwicket where Ashwin took a good juggling catch. But Marsh stepped up where Renshaw had left off, as Australia's rock, repeating his mantra to watch the ball, and doing so for 197 deliveries.
Marsh had some nervous moments. On 14, he fended at a delivery from Umesh that hit a crack and jagged away; India's half-hearted appeal was turned down, but replays suggested the ball had kissed Marsh's glove on the way through. Then on 44 he had two lucky breaks: he was given out lbw to Umesh but a review found the ball had struck him outside the line of off stump, and in the next over he was trapped plumb by Ishant - who had over-stepped and been no-balled on-field.
Marsh went on to bring up his fifty from his 162nd delivery, but on 66 his time - and perhaps his energy - ran out when he flicked a catch to midwicket off Umesh. It was the first wicket of the innings for Umesh, who like his team-mates bowled tightly and created opportunities, though whether enough opportunities remains to be seen.
That only one wicket - Marsh's - fell in the final session gave Australia the edge. India would have hoped for more than six wickets in a day on a difficult batting pitch, in a series that has been played at breakneck speed. They remain in the match, but only if their batsmen show vast improvement in their second innings.
Day 3
India 189 & 213/4 (72.0 ov)
Australia 276
India lead by 126 runs with 6 wickets remaining
Four years ago, in the second Test of the series in Hyderabad, Cheteshwar Pujara was part of a match-winning stand against Australia, a massive 370-run partnership with M Vijay. It was so colossal an achievement that the partnership alone beat Australia, who failed to make 370 in both innings combined. The events of Pune last week prove that things are different this year, yet once again Australia have found Pujara a major obstacle in the second Test of the series.
This time, his significant partnership was with Ajinkya Rahane, and by stumps on the third day in Bengaluru, it was not even worth a hundred runs. But a price could not be put on its value. It is the partnership that turned this match firmly in India's favour, and may yet keep alive their hopes of regaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. On a difficult, dry, cracking pitch, this partnership spanned the entire final session and lifted India's lead to 126 runs.
And it is not over yet. As the players walked off at the close of play, Pujara was undefeated on 79 and Rahane was unbeaten on 40. Their partnership stood at 93, and India's total was 213 for 4. And Australia knew that this Test, a wrestling match which they dominated on the first day but which India fought back into on days two and three, was at risk of slipping away from them. A chase of 150 would be no gimme; a chase of 250 would give them nightmares.
It was a day that could easily be broken down into session victories. India won the first session, in which Ravindra Jadeja ran through Australia's tail to complete a six-wicket haul and keep Australia's lead to 87, and then India's openers reached 38 without loss. Australia won the second session by snaring four key wickets. But India prevailed in the last session, adding 91 without losing a wicket, and thus unquestionably won the day.
Perhaps it has been surprising, given the nature of the pitch, that only six wickets fell on the second day of this Test and eight on the third day. There continued to be variable bounce, some deliveries skidding through at ankle height and others bouncing truly. The cracks opened up further, the spinners found turn, the fast men jagged some deliveries sideways. And yet Pujara, Rahane and, earlier, KL Rahul, showed that the pitch could be tamed.
They played straight and watched carefully for the low bounce, but when given anything short or wide they took their scoring opportunities. Rahul was important in setting India away on a positive note, especially after his opening partner Abhinav Mukund was bowled by Josh Hazlewood for 16. Rahul played outstandingly for his 51, before he drove hard at Steve O'Keefe and was brilliantly caught by first slip Steven Smith, diving quickly to his right to the vacant second slip position.
It was one of two moments in the middle session that could have derailed India's progress. The other came when Virat Kohli was adjudged lbw to a delivery from Hazlewood that stayed a touch low. Kohli immediately asked for a review, confident that his edge would be detected, but after a series of closely-inspected replays, the third umpire Richard Kettleborough could not be sure whether the ball had hit pad or bat first, and the on-field decision stood.
That left India at 112 for 3, which soon became 120 for 4 when Jadeja, promoted to No.5, drove lustily at Hazlewood shortly before tea and was bowled. India's lead was only 33 runs, and Australia knew that if they could quickly find a way into the lower order they could set themselves on the path to victory. But Pujara and Rahane had other ideas. Calmly, they compiled a stand that frustrated Australia while also building a precious advantage.
Certainly, Pujara made Smith pay for dropping him on 4, failing to cling on to a sharp chance off the bowling of Nathan Lyon. Pujara went on to bring up his fifty off 125 balls, and by stumps had survived for 173 deliveries. At the other end, Rahane had safely negotiated 105 deliveries, and Australia needed to regroup before the start of play on day four to fight back into the match. They know that more batting - Karun Nair and Wriddhiman Saha - is still to come.
But they also know that wickets can fall quickly in the morning, for that is what happened to Australia themselves on the third day. They began with a lead of 48 and added only 39 for the loss of their last four wickets. R Ashwin had Mitchell Starc caught slogging to deep midwicket, before Jadeja ran through the remaining three wickets to finish with 6 for 63, the second-best figures of his Test career.
At one point, Jadeja was on a hat-trick, having trapped Matthew Wade and Lyon lbw with successive deliveries. Hazlewood survived the hat-trick ball, but not much longer than that. Australia had lasted less than 17 overs from their overnight position. Perhaps only a similarly swift resolution to the India innings on the fourth morning will keep Australia in this match.
Day 4
India 189 & 274
Australia 276 & 112 (35.4 ov)
India won by 75 runs
India have applied a defibrillator to this series, surging to a dramatic victory on the fourth day against Australia in Bengaluru. After the first day of this Test, it was hard to tell what was deader: India's hopes of regaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, or any stray blades of grass that were left on the dry pitch. Nathan Lyon had just taken eight wickets, India had been rolled for 189, and Australia had gone to stumps on 40 for 0. But then came three days of Indian fightback.
It all culminated in a thrilling fourth day, which began with a six-wicket haul from Josh Hazlewood as India were bowled out for 274. That gave Australia renewed hope: on a cracking surface with variable bounce, a target of 188 would be tough but, they hoped, not impossible. And with the score moving quickly, at 42 for 1 Australia were perhaps favourites. The pressure was inescapable: on the batsmen, on the umpires, and on the Indians to live up to their dominant reputation at home.
And then the wickets began to tumble, the DRS played its inevitable role, and by the time R Ashwin had Lyon caught and bowled in the 36th over, India had triumphed by 75 runs. Ashwin finished with 6 for 41 and it marked the first time in history that four different bowlers - Lyon, Ashwin, Hazlewood and Ravindra Jadeja - had taken six-wicket hauls in the same Test. It was that sort of match: wickets fell in quick succession and momentum was hard to stop.
In many ways, this result was simply the resumption of normal service. There was a glitch in proceedings in Pune, where Australia ended India's sequence of 20 home Tests without a loss. The malfunction looked like continuing after day one in Bengaluru, but for the remainder of the match India scrapped, wrestled, and fought their way back into the contest. And every time Australia looked like regaining the advantage, India wrested it back.
Such was the situation on the fourth morning, when Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc delivered searing spells with the second new ball and India lost five wickets in 19 deliveries. But then India's last pair, Wriddhiman Saha and Ishant Sharma, survived for nearly 10 overs to take the sting out of Australia's charge. They put on only 16 runs but by slowing the speed of the match from breakneck to simply swift, they gave their team a chance to regroup.
Australia knew that to succeed in their chase, they would have to score quickly. The loss of Matt Renshaw early, caught behind to a fine seamer from Ishant, did not stop them doing just that. David Warner launched one six on his way to 17 from 25 balls before he was adjudged lbw trying to sweep Ashwin. Warner asked for a review but by the barest of margins, HawkEye showed the impact in line with off stump and umpire's call for clipping off, and Warner was gone.
That moment had repercussions for Australia, for it left them with only one review and made Shaun Marsh hesitate when he was given out lbw shouldering arms to a delivery from Umesh Yadav around the wicket. An uncertain Marsh consulted with his partner, Steven Smith, who had been off the pitch to leg side and was in no position to make a definitive call. Unwilling to risk Australia's final review, Marsh walked off: replays showed the ball was missing by a long way. But such is the pressure in a situation like this: umpire Nigel Llong had made a poor decision, and Marsh had made an equally bad one not to ask for a review.
That left Smith as a key man for Australia, and he struck three boundaries on his way to 28 before he too was lbw to Umesh. Smith was done by a grubber and seemed to signal to Australia's dressing room for advice on a review; umpire Llong stepped in to prevent the communication, and Smith walked off. A review would have been futile: he couldn't have been plumber if he'd been wearing a Super Mario costume.
From there, India were clearly in the box seat, and the wickets of Mitchell Marsh and Matthew Wade shortly before tea only made it more so. Marsh tickled a catch to short leg off Ashwin, and Wade inside edged onto his pad and a catch lobbed up for the diving wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha. The match was slipping away from Australia.
It took India less than eight overs after tea to wrap up the win. Starc was bowled by a straight ball from Ashwin, and Jadeja was then rewarded for his outstanding second-innings bowling by rattling the stumps of Steve O'Keefe. Peter Handscomb, the last recognised batsman, knew he had to score quickly, and on 24 was caught skying a slog off Ashwin, who then completed the win by having Lyon caught and bowled two balls later. The series was level at 1-1, and very much alive.
India's margin might have been even bigger but for their own collapse early on the fourth day. Hazlewood's 6 for 67 were the best figures by an Australia fast bowler in a Test innings in India for 37 years, since Geoff Dymock claimed 7 for 67 at Kanpur in October 1979. India started the morning at 213 for 4 and hoped to extend their lead past 200, but had to settle for an advantage of 187. They lost their last six wickets for 61 on the fourth morning.
Starc started the carnage by swinging the new ball in to Ajinkya Rahane, who on 52 was rapped on the pad and given not out, but adjudged lbw on Australia's review. Next ball, Karun Nair failed to handle Starc's pace and swing and tickled an inside edge onto his stumps, and such was the ferocity of the delivery that the leg stump shattered on impact.
Starc's hat-trick delivery was negotiated by Saha, but in the next over Hazlewood had Cheteshwar Pujara caught fending a shortish ball to gully for 92. Three balls later, Ashwin was bowled by a Hazlewood delivery that stayed low. The Australians celebrated, but they must also have known that such a dismissal only highlighted how difficult their chase would be. And so it proved: all out for 112. Australia's hopes in this match had expired, but the series was very much alive and kicking.
3rd Test
Day 1
Australia 299/4 (90.0 ov)
India
Test hundred number 19, nine of them made overseas, was a measure of the quality Australia's captain Steven Smith has brought to Ranchi to give his team a chance of unseating India at home. Ball number 147, kept out by Glenn Maxwell in the day's final over, was a measure of the resolve he brought to his first Test innings in nearly three years.
Previously, the most deliveries Maxwell had faced in any international innings across all three formats was 98. By stumps, his new personal mark not only showed how much he had steeled himself to contribute alongside Smith, but also put Australia in a very strong position to dictate terms on what is comfortably the best pitch prepared for this Border-Gavaskar Trophy bout.
When Maxwell joined Smith, the day had hung rather more in the balance. Umesh Yadav was reversing the ball sharply, and the 28-year-old Victorian's propensity for batting brainstorms was recalled by many watching. Yet with Smith's counsel, Maxwell was able to avoid his usual rush, so much so that he waited until his 56th delivery to reach the boundary - this from a man whose most significant moment for Australia had been a World Cup hundred off 51 balls against Sri Lanka at the SCG in 2015.
What followed was a certain acceleration, but nothing too outlandish. The day's viral video moment was instead saved for Wriddhiman Saha's attempt to glove a Ravindra Jadeja ball lodged between Smith's padded legs, so desperate had India's search for a wicket become. The attempt proved fruitless, and Smith was soon toasting his century, and with Maxwell, walked off boasting a wicketless final session, an unbeaten stand of 159, and the promise of more to come.
Their concentration and discipline made for a contrast to some of the more wasteful dismissals seen earlier in the day, as the Australian top order failed to make the most of their starts. David Warner and Matt Renshaw would be particularly frustrated to have wasted starts on a surface that played far better than widely predicted.
Peter Handscomb also got established at the crease before being defeated by a fine inswinging yorker from Yadav, the most threatening member of India's bowling attack. Ishant Sharma had a couple of concerted lbw appeals denied, but R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja found far less assistance than they had seen in Pune and Bengaluru. Pointedly they missed Virat Kohli, who left the field for treatment after landing heavily on his right shoulder when trying to stop a boundary.
Ranchi's pitch played far better than appearances had suggested, meaning plenty more runs will be required. But at the very least, Smith and Maxwell have ensured something to bowl at for a team featuring another cricketer making a long-delayed return to the Australian Test team - the fast bowler Pat Cummins.
Kohli conceded the loss of a key toss before play began, and that seemed more so as Renshaw and Warner rattled to 50 in less than 10 overs by taking advantage of the pitch's even pace and a scorchingly fast outfield. Jadeja erred on the full side to Warner, but a full toss found the batsman in two minds about hitting square or straight, and the resultant return catch maintained his mediocre overseas record.
Renshaw had been finding gaps either side of the wicket and looked in full control, so it was a surprise when he fiddled in undisciplined fashion at Umesh and edged to Kohli at first slip. Umesh had created uncertainty by gaining some movement. Shaun Marsh was unable to get established, well caught at short leg by Cheteshwar Pujara off bat and pad, the decision made after India's successful DRS referral against Ian Gould's initial not-out verdict.
Handscomb's cover drive off his first ball to the fence underlined the improved batting conditions, and though Smith edged one reversing ball from Umesh to the fine leg boundary between his pads, shortly before lunch, he was otherwise certain in his methods and safe in his defence. Handscomb also looked capable of going on to something substantial, but for the fifth time in as many innings this series he was dismissed at a frustrating juncture, unable to get his bat to a Umesh yorker that swerved back sharply to strike him in front of the stumps.
Maxwell's likely approach had seemed a mystery to even his team-mates before this match, but he quickly showed an impressive level of composure to build his innings in Smith's slipstream while taking few risks. His only moment of nervousness came from the first ball of an Ishant spell that swung back into his pads, but India's decision referral was waved off when replays showed the bowler had overstepped.
In the evening session a steady stream of runs came with the occasional boundary, and Maxwell hammered a second six of his innings to go past 50 for the first time in a Test. Nothing affected Smith's deep concentration, not even a period of more than an hour spent in the 90s. As attentive, mature batting partners do, Maxwell took up much of the scoring slack during this episode. Like so much else in his innings, it came as a pleasant surprise.
Day 2
Australia 451
India 120/1 (40.0 ov)
India trail by 331 runs with 9 wickets remaining in the 1st innings
Steven Smith's latest epic, Glenn Maxwell's first Test hundred and a spell of the highest quality from Pat Cummins showed Australia's strengths even as India fought back with a solid opening stand on the second day in Ranchi. Some spiky help from the lower order lifted the tourists to 451 before Cummins extracted life from the friendliest pitch of the series to defeat KL Rahul.
M Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara fought their way to the close, but the Australians still hold a first-innings lead of 331 on a pitch expected to get harder for batting from here on in. Virat Kohli, inconvenienced by a shoulder injury, will be able to bat wherever he chooses due to his problem being deemed external having resulted from a heavy landing when trying to stop a boundary on the first day of this match.
Kohli was confined to the hosts' viewing area and treatment table due to a shoulder strain as the tourists pushed on beyond the day's midpoint with a sensible mixture of attack and defence. Smith sailed on past 150 to the highest tally by an Australian captain in India, with only one instant of uncertainty when he edged Ishant Sharma short of Wriddhiman Saha. Otherwise, he was in total control, and might still be batting now were it not for a lack of partners.
The emotional high point of the morning arrived when Maxwell sliced a boundary through third man to pass three figures on his return to the Test team for the first time in three years. It was just reward for a highly mature and intelligent performance, one that vindicated the selectors' decision to recall him in place of the injured Mitchell Marsh. At the same time, it also opened up an opportunity for Maxwell to begin a new phase of his career, as not only a limited-overs entertainer but also a Test-match performer.
Ravindra Jadeja's five wickets were proof that some assistance was available for the spinners, with Maxwell and Cummins both defeated by deliveries that turned and lifted after being bowled at considerable pace by the left-armer. Australia's chances of pressing home their current advantage will depend on how the pitch continues to deteriorate.
The second new ball was still shiny when Smith and Maxwell resumed, and plenty of early runs accrued from any errors of line or length from Ishant and Umesh Yadav. Maxwell was quick to 99 then briefly becalmed. One Jadeja delivery kicked and beat the bat in a forerunner of the ball that was to dismiss him five runs later.
Maxwell's celebration was unrestrained, a tight embrace with Smith underlining the innings' importance to him and also perhaps the example from whom he had gained an appreciation for the finer arts of Test batsmanship - Smith had himself once been a cricketer many doubted would mature into a five-day force.
When Jadeja claimed Maxwell's edge, Matthew Wade arrived in a busy mood and wasted little time in building a 64-run stand with Smith. Just when it seemed captain and wicketkeeper would get through to the lunch interval, Jadeja skidded a straight ball through to claim Wade's outside edge, well taken behind the stumps by Saha.
Cummins could last only two balls before his stumps were clattered by sharp spin, but Steve O'Keefe was able to get to the break in Smith's company and endured for an hour after it with stern defence and the odd angry shot. Eventually, he fell prey to the hook shot, and Nathan Lyon did not last long against Jadeja's bounce before Josh Hazlewood was run out as Smith tried to pinch the strike one last time.
The new ball did little for Hazlewood and Cummins when they opened shortly before tea, though Cummins' pace offered a threat commensurate with that lost to the Australians when Mitchell Starc was forced home by a foot fracture. O'Keefe found turn slow, and Lyon soon reverted to the line from around the wicket that he often chooses when a pitch is not offering much assistance.
When the pacemen returned in the evening session there was a modicum of reverse swing for Hazlewood, but it was Cummins who raised his game to find a breakthrough by mixing his speeds with a series of cutters while maintaining an immaculate line. He was into his fifth over of the spell for four runs when a slower bouncer, again perfectly pitched, kissed Rahul's top glove on the way through to Wade for a deserved wicket.
An over later, Cummins was rested after a burst that returned the figures of 1 for 8 and demonstrated the rare combination of brawn and brains that had the selectors rushing him to India. Lyon came close to following up when he struck Vijay in front of the stumps from around the wicket, only to be foiled by an inside edge. A subsequent bat-pad decision referral was still more clear cut.
Wickets will be hard work on day three, but Cummins, and Jadeja before him, had both shown that it can be done.
Day 3
Australia 451
India 360/6 (130.0 ov)
India trail by 91 runs with 4 wickets remaining in the 1st innings
Pat Cummins and Cheteshwar Pujara fought an absorbing duel for supremacy in Ranchi on a day when nothing came easily for either side. Australia sought to squeeze India's first innings with tight bowling throughout and Cummins' impact bursts, but by the close Pujara had inched the hosts to within 91 of their opponents' tally.
Nearly six years after his debut Test against South Africa in Johannesburg, Cummins bowled spells of the highest quality with both new and old ball, claiming the wickets of Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane and R Ashwin, the latter with a pair of prancing short deliveries. Josh Hazlewood supported him gamely, but admiration for Cummins' work was mixed with concern for how his body will recover from these exertions given he was rushed into the team after just one Sheffield Shield match.
Pujara's innings demonstrated intense concentration and mirrored the rhythms of the day. He defended stoutly in the morning, attacked the second new ball to accelerate to his hundred in the afternoon, and then shut shop in the evening as he tried to soak up time and overs in the company of the lower order while gradually eating into Australia's advantage.
His most substantial support came from M Vijay, who helped build a strong platform aided by a strong dose of good fortune when both he and Pujara might have been out in the space of two balls from Steve O'Keefe and Nathan Lyon, on a pitch that is starting to show the faintest traces of deterioration.
O'Keefe appeared to strike Pujara in front of the stumps with the last ball of the 58th over, and the captain Steven Smith chose to review the not-out verdict. However, the appeal was declined though Ultra Edge evidence suggested the ball may have struck the pad before the bat by the smallest of margins.
First ball of Lyon's next over, Vijay was caught at short leg but the appeal was declined, and with no reviews left as a result of the previous delivery, the video evidence of an inside edge onto pad was unable to be accessed. That sequence frustrated the Australians and allowed Vijay and Pujara to lift the scoring rate considerably in the lead-up to the lunch interval. Their stand was worth 102 when Vijay advanced unsuccessfully to O'Keefe and was well stumped by Matthew Wade in the last over of the morning.
Kohli walked onto the field after lunch for the first time since he suffered a shoulder injury on the first day when fielding, an ailment that has required plenty of treatment, scans and also a painkilling injection. He found little sympathy from Australia, who maintained their stranglehold on his run-making by keeping him tied down until Cummins took the second new ball.
Glenn Maxwell dived to save a Pujara boundary - ironically in more or less the same spot where Kohli had been injured two days before - and the resulting three put India's captain on strike, whereupon he drove at his first ball from Cummins and edged to an exultant Smith at second slip.
Australia's celebrations continued when Rahane edged a half-hearted attempt to upper cut Cummins through to Wade, but Pujara was able to go on to his century in some style with a cover-driven boundary. Karun Nair too made a positive start to his innings as India's total passed 300. In all, 110 runs flowed during the session.
Australia tightened their bowling once again on resumption, starving Pujara and Nair of the opportunity to capitalise on what should have been a tiring attack after tea. Hazlewood had found reverse swing at various junctures of the innings, and it was a sharply swerving ball that found a narrow gap between Nair's bat and pad to send the off stump cartwheeling.
Like Kohli, Ashwin has been unable to repeat his batting feats of this season against Australia, and he was to fall to another venomous short ball from Cummins that gently grazed the gloves as the batsman tried to drop his hands away from harm. This time the DRS did go the way of Australia, as Ultra Edge showed a spike as the ball passed the gloves. Ashwin evidently did not agree and walked off the field an angry man.
The episode did not distract Pujara, who formed the start of a potentially useful stand with the wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha as the shadows lengthened and the day petered out. Smith oddly did not try Lyon in the closing overs, but walked off satisfied that a couple of quick wickets on the fourth morning could still open the match up for Australia.
Day 5
Australia 451 and 204 for 6 drew with India 603 for 9 declared
Thirty minutes before lunch, Peter Handscomb joined Shaun Marsh amid a Ranchi tumult. Their captain Steven Smith had just shouldered arms to let Ravindra Jadeja bowl him, symptomatic of a tired mind, the over after Matt Renshaw had also fallen. Australia were still 89 runs short of making India bat again; the hosts were circling hungrily.
Five hours later, Handscomb was still there and Marsh not long departed. The Test match was drawn, and the Border-Gavaskar Trophy bout remained locked at 1-1. Through batting of commendable calm and sure-footed technique, the Australian duo had thwarted India in a manner that will be a source of enormous satisfaction to the tourists. By getting out of a predicament few expected them to survive, they took the series to its final match.
Equally, India will be left to ponder why they were unable to close out this match in the manner of others during this elongated home season after the sublime innings by Cheteshwar Pujara. Certainly the Ranchi pitch stayed playable, but R Ashwin was unable to find a way through the Australian batsmen to provide the counterpoint to Jadeja's danger. Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav both bowled useful spells, but could not follow up Renshaw's wicket.
Ultimately, Australia's selection of a sixth batsman in place of the injured Mitchell Marsh gave them the batting depth they needed, not only to make a decent first-innings total but also to wriggle out of trouble on the final day. Before this match the visitors had gone 38 Test innings without a fifth-wicket stand worth 100 or more. In Ranchi, they managed to do it twice. Marsh and Handscomb's stand was worth 124, soaking up 62 priceless overs.
Smith and Renshaw had begun simply trying to bat for as long as possible, taking occasional scoring opportunities but stripping their games of risk. India's captain Virat Kohli began with Jadeja at one end and Yadav at the other, not calling on the offbreak's of the world's No. 1 ranked bowler Ashwin until the ball had lost much of its earlier hardness.
The plan to Smith appeared to be bowling wide of the stumps while trying to test the Australian captain's patience. He was comfortable in leaving plenty of balls alone while scoring from the occasional ball that strayed onto the stumps. Renshaw had a few awkward moments against Jadeja but overall held his shape well in dealing with the left-armer's variation between sharp turn and skidding straight balls.
Kohli replaced Yadav with Ishant, and he found a hint of movement from around the wicket. Renshaw's decision to pull away from the first ball of the 29th over of the innings seemed to raise Ishant's ire, and he hurled down a pair of bouncers in the same over to push the opener back, before thudding one into his front shin for the lbw verdict.
Smith had been safe in padding away anything Jadeja served up from over the wicket, but next over he failed to get his front leg far enough down the pitch or in line and heard the sickening noise of the off stump tumbling over. That error put Cheteshwar Pujara's enormous concentration in perspective, and left Marsh and Handscomb with much to do.
Ishant Sharma and India had precious little to celebrate on the last day in Ranchi © Associated Press
There were plenty of reasons for Marsh and Handscomb to feel overwhelmed when the afternoon session began, but neither was in the mood to give anything away. Their methods offered a contrast of left and right, plus Handscomb's penchant for getting down the pitch versus Marsh's long stride down the wicket and outside off stump.
A key over arrived midway through the session when Handscomb took 13 from an Ashwin over, compelling Kohli to take him out of the attack and switch Jadeja away from the end from which he had found spiteful turn to defeat David Warner and Nathan Lyon on the penultimate evening.
Handscomb and Marsh continued to accumulate either side of the interval, neither batsman doing anything outlandish but simply showing strong concentration and tight technique to frustrate the hosts, who had seemed so confident of victory little more than two hours before.
A pair of lbw appeals were referred by India but the day was going with Australia: Handscomb was struck on the back foot but the ball was not striking enough of the bails to avoid being deemed too high, and Marsh's miss of a flatter Ashwin delivery was not fatal because the ball had not quite straightened enough to strike leg stump squarely.
Both batsmen went on to half centuries and negotiated the early passages with the second new ball - India's last real hope of securing the rush of wickets they needed. Finally, Jadeja added a fourth victim when Marsh bunted a catch to short leg, and Glenn Maxwell soon squeezed Ashwin to silly point. But by then the match had all but petered out.
Kohli kept his men going beyond a point that others might not have, perhaps still believing in a miracle. Handscomb, though, was unperturbed, leaving Kohli to finally seek his hand in a gesture of concession and so send these sides to Dharamsala for the decider.
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4th Test
Day 1
Australia 300
India 0/0 (1.0 ov)
India trail by 300 runs with 10 wickets remaining in the 1st innings
Kuldeep Yadav's left-arm wristspin gave this series yet another unexpected twist, trumping the far more consistent theme of the Australian captain Steven Smith's batting excellence, as India enjoyed the better of the first day of the decisive fourth Test in Dharamsala.
Having reached lunch at a domineering 131 for 1, Australia gave up their last nine wickets for a mere 169, all on a surface that showed itself to be by a distance the most evenly paced of the series. That they did so was down largely to Kuldeep, who was given a key role immediately upon the afternoon's resumption by the stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane and responded with a delectable spell that turned the direction of the day.
Though Smith motored to his third century of the series - one of only six visiting batsmen to score that many in India - he was left without significant top-order support, and of the rest only Matthew Wade was able to endure for any protracted period. A good indicator of the different nature of play in Dharamsala was that the innings went by without a single recourse to the DRS, in sharp contrast to earlier matches. The new ball in Australian hands looms large as a key to the match.
An irony of Kuldeep's display was that he had come into the side in place of Virat Kohli, who was reduced to drinks duties after concluding that his strained right shoulder was not going to be 100% fit for this match, the last of the Test season. Turning the ball sharply both ways while maintaining an immaculate length and line, Kuldeep recalled the problems created for Australia by another left-arm wristspinner in Sri Lanka last year - Lakshan Sandakan.
The Dharamsala pitch offered pace and bounce for both fast men and spinners to exploit, and it was the fresher fingers of Kuldeep that were best able to take full advantage rather than either Ravindra Jadeja or R Ashwin. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who replaced Ishant Sharma, and Umesh Yadav had both found new-ball movement before Smith took control of proceedings with some help from David Warner.
After Rahane lost the toss, Bhuvneshwar's first ball of the match swerved away from Warner at drivable length. Warner chased it and edged, but the chance was grassed when Karun Nair could get only one hand to it. That incident was a necessary stroke of luck Warner needed after a largely barren series, and after Matt Renshaw was beaten and bowled by a Umesh delivery that straightened down the line, he and Smith were quickly into stride by using the extra pace and bounce offered up by Dharamsala's hard pitch and thinner atmosphere.
Smith wasted little time to get moving, capitalising on any errors in line or length and at one point miscuing a hook at Umesh, so eager was he to get after the bowling. On another day the ball might have plopped into the gloves of Wriddhiman Saha, but here it fell safely.
Warner was a little more sluggish after that early chance, covering up in defence to ensure he did not miss any of Bhuvneshwar's inswingers, and on one occasion cuffing a boundary over the slips when trying to avoid a short ball. The arrival of spin helped Warner build momentum, as the Dharamsala surface offered the odd bit of spin but otherwise played in a friendly fashion in the morning session.
Kuldeep was called upon for a pair of overs before the lunch interval, but he too was struck for boundaries as Smith and Warner set a highly promising platform for the tourists.
Rahane and his bowlers reset their plans during the interval, focusing on greater economy while encouraging Kuldeep to maintain a full length and test Australia's batsmen on the drive. Warner seemed preoccupied with trying to cut or force off the back foot, and in trying to do so from a delivery well pitched up, he succeeded only in edging to slip.
Shaun Marsh, so stubborn in the second innings in Ranchi, flicked limply at an Umesh delivery and was taken down the leg side cheaply, before Peter Handscomb was out to a lovely piece of bowling from Kuldeep. The ball was tossed up and slower, drifting enough to drag Handscomb's bat away from his pad and then breaking back through the gap to splay the stumps.
Glenn Maxwell thought himself capable of muscling Kuldeep out of the attack and managed one lofted boundary, but he too was unable to be sure of which way the ball was turning. Two balls after reaching the rope, he went back to what he thought was a stock ball and instead found himself beaten and bowled by a googly.
Smith's earlier rapid scoring had slowed, and it was a subdued celebration on reaching three figures. He seemed likely to shepherd Matthew Wade to the tea break, but with five minutes to go edged an Ashwin drifter to slip, the ball after Wade had sneaked a bye from a ball that turned expansively.
Pat Cummins, Steve O'Keefe and Nathan Lyon all offered momentary support to Wade, who played sensibly to ensure the visitors at least reached the 300 mark. But Kuldeep's return to the attack accounted for Cummins, before O'Keefe was run-out by the substitute fielder Shreyas Iyer, who many had expected to be playing in place of Kohli. Needing to win the match to claim the series, India's selectors had instead gambled on the extra bowler - Kuldeep's wiles offered the richest of rewards.
Day 2
Australia 300
India 248/6 (91.0 ov)
India trail by 52 runs with 4 wickets remaining in the 1st innings
Australia remain in the hunt for an elusive Test series win in India thanks to Nathan Lyon, who spun a web around India late on day two of the Dharamsala decider. The top-ranked Test side were 248-6 at stumps on Sunday, trailing the visitors by 52 runs. Lyon grabbed a haul of 4-21 during the final session, delivering the latest twist in what has been an absorbing four-Test series.
The series, locked at 1-1, remains in the balance. Australia would be in a far better position if not for two dropped catches from Matt Renshaw, the latter a dolly that popped out of his hands in the fourth last over of the day. Wriddhiman Saha, reprieved by Renshaw on nine, was unbeaten on 10 at stumps alongside Ravindra Jadeja (16 not out).
India resumed at 0-0 with every intention of grinding the visitors into submission with a mammoth first-innings total, as was their plan in Ranchi. The ploy looked to be working well when Cheteshwar Pujara, who spent over 11 hours at the crease during a game-changing knock of 202 in the third Test, brought up his half-century in 132 balls.
Pujara guided India to 157-2 before becoming the first of Lyon’s four victims, falling in the opening over after tea when he offered Peter Handscomb a simple catch at short leg. Lyon, the most experienced member of the eleven, had nevertheless been on the cusp of being axed during the recent home summer. As his spell progressed he removed Karun Nair, stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane and Ravichandran Ashwin.
Pacemen Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood huffed, puffed and bowled exceptionally well but only claimed a wicket each. Cummins and Hazlewood each had two overs with the second new ball. The former found the edge of Saha’s bat, however Renshaw failed to complete the dismissal.
Day 3
Australia 300 & 137
India 332 & 19/0
India require another 87 runs with 10 wickets remaining
Australia's batsmen froze in the spotlight of the opportunity to press for a series-sealing victory over India, leaving the hosts needing a mere 87 to regain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy on day four in Dharamsala. The surprise for the hosts and source of regret for the visitors was that wickets to pace, not spin, dictated the course of the day.
Starting their second innings 32 runs behind, Australia lost David Warner, Steven Smith and Matt Renshaw while still in deficit and were ultimately rounded up for a measly 137. Only Glenn Maxwell offered any prolonged resistance, the rest stuck in quicksand against Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.
Umesh and Bhuvneshwar in particular made a mighty impact, making the new ball kick, jump and jag in such a way that Warner and Renshaw were utterly spooked, while Smith's series ended with an attempt to assert himself that ended with a misjudged pull shot and scattered stumps. Ashwin and Jadeja were then left to separate Maxwell and Peter Handscomb before mopping up the rest.
Jadeja and Wriddhiman Saha had earlier put together a priceless partnership to push India into the lead before Australia struck in the minutes before lunch. As had been the case in Ranchi, India's seventh-wicket stand was a thorn in Australian sides, lifting the hosts from an overnight deficit of 52 to an advantage of 18 before the visitors were able to find a wicket. Jadeja's innings maintained his up surge not only as the world's No. 1 ranked bowler, but also as a batting talent.
He had solid support from Saha, who was fortunate to still be at the crease given Matt Renshaw's drop off the bowling of Cummins on the second evening. It was ultimately Cummins who ended the stand by coaxing Jadeja to drag onto the stumps, before also claiming Saha with a spiteful bouncer that the wicketkeeper gloved into the outstretched right hand of Steven Smith at second slip.
These wickets feel either side of O'Keefe finding some turn in his first over of the session to defeat Bhuvneshwar Kumar, with Smith claiming the catch. He had refrained from using O'Keefe while Jadeja was at the crease, a measure of the respect Australia had for the left-hander's potential to score quickly.
Australia thought they had a wicket with the first ball of the morning, when Cummins angled across Jadeja and there was a noise as the ball passed the bat. The umpire Marais Erasmus raised his finger instantly, but Jadeja reviewed just as fast. Replays showed the bat had brushed his back pad rather than the ball, the decision reversed.
With the ball still new, it swung and bounced disconcertingly at times, requiring all of Jadeja's skill to keep down. Saha proved an effective partner, and the scoring rate rose dangerously for an Australian side conscious of not giving up too much of a lead. At the same time, Smith and his bowlers were straining for wickets, as evidenced by an ambitious referral for lbw against Saha by Josh Hazlewood off an inside edge, and also a preponderance of niggling chatter between bowlers and batsmen.
Not for the first time, Cummins took it upon himself to generate something, and did so by going around the wicket to Jadeja after he had hooked a pair of short balls in his previous over. Jadeja's middle stump was knocked back, and he was soon to be joined by Bhuvneshwar and then Saha.
Kuldeep Yadav added a pesky few runs with the last man Umesh before Nathan Lyon returned to the bowling crease. He had Kuldeep caught at deep backward square leg on the sweep with his first ball. That gave Lyon a deserved five-wicket haul, and left the touring batsmen to contemplate the best way to build a lead.
They would have expected a few difficult overs from the pacemen but not the fusillade fired down by Bhuvneshwar and Umesh that did for Warner, Smith and Renshaw. Warner was struck one stinging blow on the shoulder by a Bhuvneshwar short ball that climbed sharply, was dropped for a second time in the match by Karun Nair, and did not get far enough across his crease to avoid edging Umesh the following over.
Smith seemed intent on domination, sending his first ball to the boundary behind square leg then lining up Bhuvneshwar's short and full deliveries. But his attempt to carry on brought a miscalculation and an ugly drag onto the stumps - Smith finished the series with a laudable 499 runs but the sense of an unfinished last innings.
Renshaw's dropped catches and cheap first-innings dismissal had conveyed something of fatigue on his first overseas tour having played so maturely earlier in the series. Now he fiddled at an Umesh delivery he may have left at another time. Australia were three down and still a run in deficit.
For a time, Handscomb and Maxwell appeared capable of forging a major stand. Maxwell was the aggressor and Handscomb the accumulator, and the left-arm wristspin of Kuldeep was withdrawn by Ajinkya Rahane after being effectively neutralised. However in the final few minutes of the session, Ashwin found Handscomb's outside edge with an offbreak that jumped without turning, then Shaun Marsh - beset by a back injury - bunted lamely to short leg.
Maxwell loomed as the key to Australia's chances when the evening session began, and after Wade evaded an early lbw appeal and referral, Maxwell was given out to Ashwin when he tucked his bat behind his pad. The review showed umpire's call for both impact with the pad and projected path towards the stumps.
Cummins and Wade then tried to steady the innings, but became trapped into scorelessness in a way that meant the Australian lead did not appreciably grow relative to the time they spent at the crease. So when Cummins fell to Jadeja, the lead was still well short of 100, and it remained there through the swift dismissals of O'Keefe and Lyon.
Finally Wade showed more intent in Hazlewood's company, until the paceman was deceived twice by Ashwin. The first occasion seemingly to a catch at second slip, but replays showed M Vijay had grounded the ball and so the players returned to the middle for another two balls, this time to see the umpire Ian Gould's finger raised for an lbw.
Vijay and KL Rahul were left with six overs to the close. They negotiated them with a level of comfort that underlined not only how well Umesh and Bhuvneshwar had bowled, but also how Smith's Australians had squandered the sort of chance they had been fighting to have all series.
Day 4
Australia 300 & 137
India 332 & 106/2
India won by 8 wickets
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.
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