India Beat Australia To Take a 1-0 Lead in Airtel Border Gavasker Trophy
Australia began the day 5 with the hopes of a miracle to happen so that they can save the first test while India's plan was very simple, to dismiss the last pair & then chase down the target. Australia began the day 5 with their overnight score of 232-9. It took the Indians just nine overs on Day 5 to put an end to Australia's resistance when Ravindra Jadeja broke the agonisingly long last-wicket partnership between Henriques and Lyon. Australia could add just nine runs to their tally much to the relief of the Indians who had a frustrating time trying to dismiss the last-wicket pair. Lyon, who showed a lot of grit and temperament to hang on, was dismissed by left-arm spinner Jadeja, caught by Murali Vijay at short-leg. 
Henriques followed up his first innings half-century with another gutsy unbeaten 81 and together with Lyon added 66 runs for the final wicket to take the match into the fifth and final day and prevent India from recording an innings victory. Australia folded up for 241 in their second innings, leaving the hosts a small victory target of 50. Chasing a small target of 50, India suffered two early blows in the form of openers Sehwag and Vijay, whose flop show with the bat continued. The opening duo of Sehwag and Vijay put on 16 runs as Vijay once again gave away his wicket to Pattinson. Vijay started his innings with a bang, smacking Lyon straight over his head for a six, his only scoring shot of the innings. But that was all the local boy could manage in the innings as he was caught by Henriques at mid-off off James Pattinson when he tried to go a big drive in the next over. Cheteshwar Pujara joined the action after Vijay's dismissal and had to go through some torrid time in the first few deliveries he faced from off- spinner Lyon. Pujara gave a half chance to the Australians which the visitors failed to pounce on. The ball hit the top of Pujara's pad and then the glove before crashing into wicket-keeper Mathew Wade's mid-riff as the batsman tried to pad Lyon away in the fourth over. But there was more drama in store as Sehwag (19) also returned to the pavilion, edging a Lyon delivery to Michael Clarke at first slip in the second delivery of the ninth over. The hosts lost both their openers Murali Vijay (6) and Virender Sehwag (19) before overhauling the target with more than two full sessions to spare. Sehwag's dismissal marked the arrival of Sachin Tendulkar at the crease and the champion seemed in a hurry to finish off the chase as he clobbered Lyon for two consecutive sixes in the first two deliveries he faced in the innings. 
This happened for the first time in the master's carrier o 195 tst matches that he whacked a six on the first ball he faced. Pujara and Tendulkar ensured that there were no further damage for India as they got the required runs in 11.3 overs. Cheteshwar Pujara brought about the winning run off Nathan Lyon to trigger off scenes of celebrations in the galleries and the Indian dressing room as the players congratulated and hugged each other. It was a commendable show by the Indians, who have been under pressure of late following a series of indifferent performances in recent times. While captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni expectedly got the man-of-the-match award for his game-changing knock of 224, off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin scalped 12 wickets in the match to also play a stellar role. The margin of victory could have been bigger had the Indians managed to get rid of the last wicket pair on Day 4 itself and had they not lost both their openers despite chasing a small total. This was the third time that Indian spinners managed to take all the 20 wickets in a match. The first time that Indian spinners bagged all the 20 wickets was at this same venue against England in 1972-73 while the second such instance was against New Zealand in Auckland in 1975-76. The two teams will now travel to Hyderabad for the second Test be played at the Rajiv Gandhi International stadium from March 2 to 6. Summary:-
Australia 380-10 in 133 overs Ist Innings M Clarke 130 R Ashwin 7-103 India 572-10 in 154.3 overs Ist Innings MS Dhoni 224 J Pattinson 5-96 Australia 241-10 in 93 overs IInd Innings M Henriques 81* R Ashwin 5-95 India 50-2 in 11.3 overs IInd Innings V Sehwag 19 J Pattinson 1-13 Man of The Match: Mahendra Singh DhoniRead more...
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