INDIA v AUSTRALIA: A shocker sees India edge ahead in a spine-chiller

A perfect advertisement of Test cricket

This was yet another testimony to the notion that India and Australia produce fiercest battles in cricket, especially in the last decade that started with that famous Indian win at Eden Gardens in 2001. This match again could have been won by either of the teams, and although it was India who snatched victory by the skin of their teeth, both the teams were winners in this one for producing a contest that will remain etched in the memories of players and cricket fans alike. It was the first one-wicket victory for India and Australia’s fifth loss by that margin in one of only twelve such results in cricket, though for a major part in this final day of the Test, they would have firmly believed that the match was in their grasp.

Scenes of joy and relief: it was India's day

India’s crisis man VVS Laxman played a stellar knock amidst falling wickets and his troubling back to add fuel to the simmering and fast diminishing hope of the spectators at the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) Stadium in Mohali. He ensured with his sensible play that the scoreboard kept ticking and that India keep getting closer and closer to the target, which seemed a very long way away when the eighth wicket of Harbhajan Singh fell with India still requiring 92 more runs. The Hyderabadi played with a runner, took the singles and the boundaries in the match winning knock of 73 off 79 deliveries, and provided an environment of calm and sense that stemmed the rot of wickets falling – first with Sachin, who disappointed, and then with the unsung hero Ishant Sharma.

Sharma came to the crease with Australia already almost having taken victory for granted. He blocked and nudged balls and left so many deliveries in a cautious knock that was the need of the hour. In 21.4 overs the duo had put on 81 runs, but with India now needing just 11 runs, there was another twist to the tale.

Ian Gould could not judge the line of the delivery by Ben Hilfenhaus that struck the pads of Sharma and immediately lifted the finger. India could not exercise the Decision Review System (DRS) because the Indian board had not wanted to utilise the technology. Six runs to the magical figure of 216, Ojha survives a close leg-before shout that should really have been given out: if that happened, Australia would have won the match there and then, but that did not happen. Instead, in the moment of confusion and excitement, Ojha survived a run out chance that could easily have seen India lose had the ball hit the stumps: it passed the stumps and went to the boundary. A leg glance that clipped the pads of Ojha sealed victory for the hosts with the Indian camp running on to the field to celebrate the win off a cliff hanger.

“It was one of the exciting Test matches I have played. Full credit to India; they outplayed us today. We tried our best. It was satisfying effort from the boys. I told them to just take out the scorecard out of the mind. The partnership between Ishant and Laxman was great and it made the difference I guess. Bollinger’s injury probably didn’t help us there; we needed a fresh bowler to give it a shake but that’s the game,” said a sombre Ponting who would be seething from inside.

Four almost four full days, there was nothing at all between the two sides. A first innings total of 428 was responded by a 405 that saw a flurry of wickets towards the end of that innings. A good bowling performance restricted Australia to 192 and only at the end of Day Four did Australia put their noses ahead by claiming four Indian wickets for 55 runs. But in a match, in fact, rivalry, which thrives in the fluctuating fortunes, this one definitely deserved a twist in the tale, but not in this manner that gets the heart pumping so loudly.

The next Test starts in Bangalore after a break of only three days, and we know better than to not expect a full-blooded fightback. Australia are not injured often, but when they are, they come roaring like wounded tigers, or rather, wounded kangaroos. But till then, Laxman’s efforts, as well as those of many others including that of man of the match Zaheer, would be lauded by Indian fans in a contest that added flavour to the day that saw Indian athletes at the Commonwealth Games excel as well.