India capped a tight bowling display to record a crushing 172-run victory over Australia in the fourth and final Test and wrap up the series 2-0 yesterday.
Australia were bowled out for 209 on the final afternoon as they chased an unlikely 382 to suffer their first Test series defeat since the 2005 Ashes loss in England.
It was also India’s first Test series win over Australia in seven years.
Matthew Hayden alone sustained his team’s slim hopes with a bold 77.
Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh took 4-64, while leg-spinner Amit Mishra (3-27) and fast bowler Ishant Sharma (2-31) provided valuable support.
“Once they lost three wickets in the morning, we started smelling victory. We had our plans and executed them very well,” India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said.
“Our fast bowlers did the trick, especially since there was nothing in the wicket for them. They were backed very well by spinners. All the bowlers shared responsibility. It was an outstanding team effort,” the Indian skipper said.
Australia’s chase was virtually over with the dismissal of Hayden, trapped lbw by Harbhajan in the afternoon session.
Hayden had been looking dangerous with his exciting strokeplay, using his feet remarkably well against spinners and punishing fast bowlers in a 93-ball knock.
But he received little support from the other end as wickets kept falling.
The tourists lost their last seven wickets for just 59 runs, leaving Cameron White the second-highest scorer with an unbeaten 26.
“We were not good enough here and in Mohali [where Australia lost by 320 runs]. It has been a fair result. We played good cricket in Bangalore [first Test], but from there we have been chasing,” Australian captain Ricky Ponting said.
Australia had no option but to go for quick runs in a bid to square the series, but suffered a huge setback in the morning when they lost three big wickets.
They made 98 runs in the two-hour session despite India’s slow over-rate (21.3 overs), but lost overnight batsman Simon Katich (16), Ponting (8) and an unwell Michael Clarke (22) who batted with a runner.
India set a defensive field in the initial overs and succeeded in getting the wicket of Katich, who top-edged a Sharma delivery with wicket-keeper Dhoni taking the catch.
Ponting failed to beat a Mishra direct-hit from mid-off while going for a risky single.
Brad Haddin (4) followed Hayden to the pavilion, caught at mid-on while attempting a big shot off Mishra.
Harbhajan sparked celebrations in the Indian camp when he trapped last-man Mitchell Johnson leg-before.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but
Taiwanese gymnast Lee Chih-kai failed to secure an Olympic berth in the pommel horse following a second-place finish at the last qualifier in Doha on Friday, a performance that Lee and his coach called “unconvincing.” The Tokyo Olympics silver medalist finished runner-up in the final after scoring 6.6 for degree of difficulty and 8.800 for execution for a combined score of 15.400. That was just 0.100 short of Jordan’s Ahmad Abu Al Soud, who had qualified for the event in Paris before the Apparatus World Cup series in Qatar’s capital. After missing the final rounds in the first two of four qualifier