By 
The fourth Test between India and Australia ended in a draw as the hosts retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy with a 2-1 series win over Australia at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Monday.
India has now qualified for the World Test Championship (WTC) final after New Zealand defeated Sri Lanka by 2 wickets in a thrilling first Test of the series at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch on Monday.
Sri Lanka will now finish below India in the WTC standings, irrespective of the result in the second Test at Wellington. Hence, India and Australia will meet once again in the WTC final to be played at The Oval on June 7.
On Day 5, with more than an hour left before the end of the day’s play, both teams started shaking hands as they called the match to end. The fourth Test match of the series eventually ended in an inevitable draw on a lifeless pitch which had nothing to offer for the bowlers.
It was a Test match where the batters dominated right from day one as the pitch looked flat, slow and completely opposite of the rank-turners which were offered in the first three Tests, which all ended in three days.
Despite a pitch where there was nothing to offer for the spinners, India’s veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin displayed an off-spin masterclass to complete a six-wicket haul as Australia were all out after posting a competitive total of 480 in the first innings.
For Australia, opener Usman Khawaja continued his dream run in the series and played a marathon knock of 180 from 422 balls, hitting twenty-one fours. Another centurion for the visitors was all-rounder Cameron Green, who scored a brilliant 114 off 170 deliveries, which included eighteen fours.
In reply, India scored 571 in 178.5 overs, with stylish opener Shubman Gill scoring 128 off 235 balls to bring up his second Test century and his first in India, while former India captain and talismanic batter Virat Kohli brought up his first Test century after 41 consecutive innings in Test cricket with his 186 off 364 balls.
The fourth Test ends in a draw as India take the series 2-1 👏#WTC23 | #INDvAUS | 📝 https://t.co/VJoLfVSeIF pic.twitter.com/DSrUTbdMEO
— ICC (@ICC) March 13, 2023
Kohli’s previous Test hundred came against Bangladesh way back in November 2019 in Kolkata, where he scored 136 in a day-night pink-ball Test match.
On a track where spinners had to really earn their wickets, off-spinners Todd Murphy and Nathon Lyon were the pick of the bowlers for Australia in the first innings. Murphy took 3/113 from his 45.5 overs with ten maidens, while Lyon claimed 3/151 from 65 overs, including nine maidens.
It was expected that the result of this match will perhaps be a draw. Resuming their innings on Day 5 at 3/0, opener Travis Head (90) and top-order batter Marnus Labuschagne (63*) scored fifties as Australia reached 175/2 before both the teams agreed to end the match with 17.5 overs remaining in the day.
After twenty minutes into the first session, Ashwin trapped Matthew Kuhnemann lbw with an off-break which went past his forward defence to hit him onto his front pad. Interestingly, Kuhnemann would have survived if he had taken the review.
On a pitch where there was no trouble for the batters, Labuschagne used his feet to get close to the pitch of the ball and struck Ashwin for a four through mid-wicket. Head on the other hand also joined the party by cutting a short ball from Ravindra Jadeja through the off-side for a boundary.
Labuschagne once again came down the pitch and lofted Ashwin over mid-wicket for a four, followed by Head who got enough room from Jadeja to score another four as runs kept coming for the Aussies.
Despite India getting some help from the pitch as the ball started spinning sharp, Head was in no mood to stop as he came down the track to hit a six straight down the ground off Ashwin.
Head then targeted left-arm spinner Axar Patel, hitting back-to-back boundaries off him. Head and Labuschagne played out the remaining overs in the session to ensure they didn’t lose any other wicket and went to Lunch comfortably at 73/1 in 36 overs.
In the second session, Head guided a delivery from Patel past slip for a four as he brought up his half-century off 112 balls. He then flicked Ashwin through mid-wicket for a four followed by a lofted shot down the ground for a maximum.
With bowlers looking exhausted under the hot sun, Head took full advantage of the situation by pressing the accelerator button to hit boundaries at regular intervals.
Whenever anything was offered on the pads by Umesh Yadav, Labuschagne took full advantage of it by putting it away for boundaries. Labuschagne reached his fifty off 150 balls.
As Head got close to his sixth Test century, Axar cleaned him up with a delivery which spun sharply to go past his inside edge. Australia went to Tea at 158/2 in 164 overs with Labuschagne at the crease unbeaten on 56, while captain Steve Smith was yet to get off the mark after wicket-keeper KS Bharat dropped his catch on the last ball of the 62nd over.
Post tea, Smith smashed a boundary each off Ashwin and Jadeja. He then joined his partner Labuschagne in displaying some defensive strokes before the match ended in a draw.
It was a fascinating series which saw India retaining the trophy with two consecutive wins in Nagpur and Delhi before Australia bounced back hard in Indore. Eventually, it was an anti-climax as the last match of the series in Ahmedabad saw a pitch where getting out a result was not easy.
With this 2-1 series win, India registered their fourth successive Test series win over Australia. Overall, they have won 10 out of the 16 Border-Gavaskar Trophy series and have continued to dominate, winning their last 16 Test series at home.
Virat Kohli was named Player of the Match for his outstanding knock of 186 off 364 balls, while Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja were named the joint-winners for the Player of the Series award. Ashwin picked 25 wickets and scored 86 runs, while Jadeja picked 22 wickets and scored 135 runs in the four-match Test series.
Brief Scores: Australia 480 in 167.2 overs (Usman Khawaja 180, Cameron Green 114; Ravichandran Ashwin 6/91) and 175/2 in 78.1 overs (Travis Head 90, Marnus Labuschagne 63*; Axar Patel 1/36) draw with India 571 in 178.5 overs (Virat Kohli 186, Shubman Gill 128, Axar Patel 79; Todd Murphy 3/113, Nathon Lyon 3/151).
Comments