| Australia 263 (Khawaja 81, Handscomb 72; Shami 4-60) & 113 (Jadeja 7-42) |
| India 262 (Axar 74; Lyon 5-67) & 118-4 (Pujara 31*, Rohit 31) |
| India won by six wickets, lead series 2-0 |
| Scorecard |
India beat Australia inside three days for the second Test in a row to retain the Border-Gavaskar trophy after the tourists capitulated in Delhi.
Resuming on 61-1 – a lead of 62 – Australia crumbled to 113 all out against India’s stellar spinners.
Ravindra Jadeja claimed a Test-best 7-42 and Ravichandran Ashwin 3-59 to leave India needing only 115.
They wrapped up a six-wicket win before tea as Cheteshwar Pujara hit the winning runs in his 100th Test.
After victory by an innings and 132 runs in the first Test, India now have an unassailable 2-0 lead in the four-Test series, with the third match in Indore starting on 1 March.
It means India have secured the Border-Gavaskar trophy for the fourth series in a row.
Australia started Sunday marginally ahead after an engrossing second day when Axar Patel and Ashwin helped India recover from 139-7 to post 262 – a first-innings deficit of one – before the tourists batted well to lose just one wicket by the close.
However, their hopes of building an imposing lead on a tricky, turning pitch quickly unravelled.
Travis Head nicked Ashwin behind after adding four to his overnight 39, while Steve Smith was lbw to the off-spinner, one of several Australia batters to be dismissed attempting sweeps or reverse-sweeps despite the low bounce.
At one stage the tourists lost four wickets for no runs in 11 balls, collapsing from 95-3 to 95-7.
Marnus Labuschagne was bowled by a Jadeja delivery that stayed low, Matt Renshaw missed an expansive sweep to be pinned lbw by Ashwin, and Jadeja removed Peter Handscomb and Pat Cummins with consecutive deliveries.
Handscomb nicked a fine delivery to slip but Australia captain Cummins’ dismissal – bowled first ball unfurling an ugly slog-sweep – epitomised the flaws in his side’s technique.
Jadeja took the final three wickets to complete Australia’s humiliation.
“This one is particularly disappointing, having been ahead of the game for a lot of it,” said Cummins.
“Those opportunities don’t come often in India, so you’ve got to grab them. This one hurts a bit.”
Asked about how best to counter the pitch’s challenges, Pujara said: “The sweep is not an ideal shot to play because there is low bounce.
“If you can try to get to the pitch of the ball or play on the back foot, it’s better on turning tracks.
“It’s the initial phases where you find it a little difficult and you need to figure out the way to tackle the spin, but once you face 30 or 40 balls then it is a good pitch to bat on.”
India wobbled at points in their chase, falling to 6-1 as KL Rahul’s flick looped off Handscomb at short leg to be caught by wicketkeeper Alex Carey, and 39-2 when captain Rohit Sharma was run out following a mix-up with Pujara.
But Pujara’s watchful 31 not out anchored the innings, while keeper KS Bharat added a fluent unbeaten 23 off 22 balls.
“I knew if I played through the first few minutes of my innings I would be there at the end,” said Pujara.
“My family are here watching the game and hitting the last boundary in a winning cause is a special feeling.
“We knew they would come hard at us but we showed a lot of patience – our bowlers were incredible.”
The series will help to decide who qualifies for the World Test Championship final at The Oval in June, with Australia needing to draw one of the final two Tests to secure a place.
India are second in the table and will qualify if they secure a 3-1 victory or better in this series.
Australia could be without David Warner for the remainder of the series, after the opener was withdrawn from the second Test because of concussion and also sustained a fractured elbow.
