New Delhi : Ravichandran Ashwin picked a 31st Test cricket fifer inside 10 overs of his spell in the second innings to dismantle the Australian batting lineup as India won the Nagpur Test by an innings and 132 runs.
The hosts were at it from the beginning of the second session on day three as Ashwin removed opener Usman Khawaja in the second over of the Australian innings.
The Pat Cummins-led side failed to stitch together a partnership as spinners wreaked havoc after Lunch. Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Shami picked a couple of wickets while Axar Patel also shared the spoils in the second innings.
Steve Smith (25) finished as the highest run scorer for the visitors in a horror second innings outing.
Earlier on day three, India added to their lead of 144 runs in the first innings with three wickets in hand. Ravindra Jadeja (70) was the first one to go in the morning session without adding much to his overnight score of 66 as he misjudged an in-angler from Todd Murphy and left it alone to hit his off-stump in the fifth over of the day.
Axar Patel continued to bat well and scored 84 runs off 174 deliveries and was the last man to go as he was outfoxed by a slow off-cutter from Pat Cummins at the brink of the break. Before that, Mohammed Shami (37 off 47) showed his batting prowess, attacking the spinners with huge hits. He added 52 runs for the ninth wicket alongside Axar Patel.
It was his attempt to clear the boundary again that ended up with Murphy picking his seventh wicket, finishing with bowling figures of 7/124, a third best performance from an Australia debutant in Tests behind Bob Massie (8/84) and Jason Krejza (8/215).
India bundled out for 400, retaining a first innings lead of 223 runs that proved to be more than enough for Australia as the hosts took a 1-0 lead in the 2023 Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Bureau Report
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