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Business News/ Industry / Media/  India clinches historic clean sweep against Australia with easy win
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India clinches historic clean sweep against Australia with easy win

India records their biggest ever series win in the 81-year history inside three days

Indian bowler Ravindra Jadeja celebrate the wicket of Australian batsman E.D. Cowan during fourth and final test match at Feroze Shah Kotla in New Delhi. Photo: Hindustan Times (Hindustan Times)Premium
Indian bowler Ravindra Jadeja celebrate the wicket of Australian batsman E.D. Cowan during fourth and final test match at Feroze Shah Kotla in New Delhi. Photo: Hindustan Times
(Hindustan Times)

Sydney: India completed a 4-0 Test cricket sweep of Australia with a six-wicket victory inside three days, winning four matches in a series for the first time since joining the elite ranks 81 years ago.

Cheteshwar Pujara scored an unbeaten 82 on Saturday to guide India to the victory in New Delhi with two days to spare. Spin bowler Ravindra Jadeja earlier took 5-58 as India skittled Australia for 164 in its second innings to leave the home team needing 155 to win.

India rebounded from a 2-1 loss to England in its last home Test series to regain the Border-Gavaskar trophy by avenging a 4-0 sweep of losses in Australia in 2011-12.

It was the first time Australia was swept in a series of more than three Tests since a 4-0 loss in South Africa in 1970.

The lopsided defeat came 14 weeks before it faces archrival England in a best-of-five Ashes contest.

“This is really as foreign as you get to playing cricket anywhere around the world, especially for an Australian cricket team," Australia stand-in captain Shane Watson said. “It’s been a great learning curve for all of us. We are learning and we’re certainly going to make sure we take as much as we can out of this."

After heavy defeats in the first two matches, Australia suspended four players including vice-captain Watson for the third Test for failing to submit feedback on how they and the team could improve. Watson was reinstated to the lineup as skipper for the series finale after regular captain Michael Clarke was ruled out because of a back injury.

India secured the win for the loss of four wickets as Dhoni belted the winning runs to the boundary off spinner Nathan Lyon, who was Australia’s best bowler in the match with nine wickets for 165 runs.

India had resumed at 266-8 on day three in reply to Australia’s first-innings 262 and added six runs to its total as Lyon completed career-best figures of 7-94.

Trailing by 10 runs on the first innings, Australia slumped to 94-7 before Peter Siddle resisted with 50 off 45 balls. It was Siddle’s second half-century of the match, making him the first No. 9 batsman to hit back-to-back 50s in the same Test.

Lyon and fellow spinner Glenn Maxwell each took two wickets as Australia tried to stem India’s momentum in its run chase, though Pujara cracked three boundaries in a row to tie the scores and set up Dhoni to seal the sweep.

While Jadeja took the man-of-the-match award for his seven wickets and 43 runs, fellow spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was named the man of the series for taking 29 wickets in four Tests. Bloomberg

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Published: 24 Mar 2013, 07:05 PM IST
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