A courageous and injury-racked India yesterday pulled off a remarkable draw in a tense third Test against Australia, as they survived against the hosts’ much-vaunted bowling attack to take the series to a decider.
India resumed the fifth day on 98-2, needing a further 309 runs after being set a huge 407 to win when Australia declared their second innings at tea on Sunday on 312-6.
No team had ever bettered 288 to clinch victory in the fourth innings at the Sydney Cricket Ground, with Australia achieving that mark against South Africa in 2006, but India gave it a massive go, passing 288 in the final session to fray the nerves of an Australia team throwing everything they had at them.
Photo: AP
The visitors abandoned any hope of victory, but they bravely clung on for the draw, with Hanuma Vihari, nursing a hamstring injury, surviving 161 balls for just 23 runs and Ravi Ashwin, who had treatment on his ribs, making 39.
The 256 balls they faced in their unbeaten partnership of 62 was the most by an India sixth-wicket pair on Australian soil, helping steer them to 334-5 at the close, 73 runs adrift.
Their resistance was built on the back of an explosive 97 from Rishabh Pant and a typically gritty 77 from Cheteshwar Pujara, who passed 6,000 Test runs, but also helped by wicketkeeper Tim Paine dropping three catches.
“Our talk coming into this morning was to show character and fight till the end, not to think about the result,” India skipper Ajinkya Rahane said. “I’m really happy with the way we fought, especially today, but throughout the game. There are few areas we can improve on, but special mention to Vihari and Ashwin. The way they batted in the end and showed character was really good to see.”
An absorbing Test was marked by some quality batting, led by Steve Smith’s innings of 131 and 81, and Pant’s 97, but it will also be remembered for allegations India were racially abused by sections of the crowd, with investigations under way and tough action promised against the culprits.
After Australia won the first Test in Adelaide by eight wickets and India bounced back in Melbourne by the same margin, the series heads to Brisbane for the final chapter.
It will be a depleted India again at the Gabba, with pacemen Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav, and batsmen K.L. Rahul out injured.
There are also doubts over the participation of all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, who dislocated his thumb in Sydney, and Vihari, who could barely run during his knock.
“I thought we created enough chances to win the game, this one’s tough to swallow,” Paine said. “I thought our bowlers were superb all day, Nathan [Lyon] tried everything, the quicks were awesome. Just didn’t hold our catches, myself in particular. You’ve got to cop the blame for that, wear it and move on to Brisbane.”
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later