STATS HIGHLIGHTS
Follow UsAustralia bottled yet another match. At the start of Day 3, they were in the driver’s seat and still, they messed it up with a collapse. The ‘Ravi’ Jodi was once again at the helm of destruction. Ravichandran Ashwin started the proceeding with a wicket in the first over, in the form of Travis Head. Later, he extended his dominance against Steve Smith.
After these two wickets, Ravindra Jadeja took over and didn’t stop. India registered a win despite conceding the lead and retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. There were plenty of stats from Australia’s second innings and the match:
Jadeja mayhem
Though Ashwin has more wickets against Australia than Jadeja, the latter’s impact is immaculate. Today as well, he romped them over with a seven-wicket haul and registered numerous records:
-In the second innings, Jadeja returned with figures of 7/42, his best spell in an innings in Tests, eclipsing 7/48 against England in Chennai in 2016.
-He now has 80 wickets against them at an average of 17.2, which is the best among bowlers who have taken 50+ wickets against Australia, since the 20th century (1900).
-Jadeja bowled only 12.1 overs for his spell of 7/42. Among Indians, that is the least overs bowled for a seven-wicket haul in an innings.
-In Tests since 1960, only Keshav Maharaj had bagged a seven-fer in fewer overs, and that too twice. Against Bangladesh in 2022, he bagged a 7/32 in 10 overs in Durban, and 7/40 in 12 overs in Gqeberha.
-Out of the seven, five batters were bowled. Among Indians, he was the fourth bowler to dismiss five or more batters via this mode.
-Before Jadeja, Shoaib Akhtar in 2002 against New Zealand, was the bowler to achieve the feat of dismissing five or more batters through bowled. In this century, these are the only bowlers.
-Among Indian bowlers who have picked up a seven-for, only Maninder Singh (7/27) in 1987 against Pakistan, had conceded fewer runs than Jadeja’s 42.
-Thanks to his monumental effort, he bagged the Player of the match award for the eighth time at home, the joint-second most for an Indian. Only Anil Kumble with nine, has more, and tied alongside Sachin Tendulkar.
-Jadeja with 189 wickets at home, has a bowling average of 19.8, which is the third best among bowlers who have picked up 150+ wickets in home conditions.
Australia collapse like house of cards
92070830. Oh! That’s not a phone number by the way. These were the scores of Australian batters from four to 11. From 85/3, Australia collapsed to 113, scoring only 28 runs.
In Tests, this was only the sixth time, their last seven partnerships have scored less than 30 runs. The last one dates back to 1961 against England in Leeds. In that match, they lost their last seven wickets for 21 runs.
Adding on, Australia lost four wickets on the score of 95. From 95/3, they were 95/7. In Tests, this was the fifth innings in which, they had lost four wickets without scoring a run: Instances – vs ENG in 1899 (Leeds), vs ENG in 1901 (Sydney), vs SA in 1967 (Port Elizabeth), and vs PAK in 2002 (Colombo PSC).
They lost their last seven wickets in just 73 balls. Only twice, against South Africa (68) in 2011 in Cape Town, and against India (69) in Brisbane in 2003, they had played fewer balls (where partnership ball data available).
Overall, they lasted on 31.1 overs. In an all-out innings against India, only at Wankhede in 2004, they had faced fewer overs. In the first Test, they had batted 1.1 over more. Back-to-back second innings collapses.
India and their bounce backs
For a visiting team, taking a lead in India is itself an accomplishment. Australia in the second Test had that advantage to their side. But, in this century India have bounced back better, even after conceding the lead.
Since the start of Tests in India till 1999, India conceded a deficit 42 times while batting second. Out of those 42, only once against Australia in 1969, at the same venue, they had a win. A win percentage of 2.3 percent as compared to 45.2 percent of loss (19).
However, in this century, in 23 matches, they have won six matches, a win percentage of 26.1 percent. The loss percentage has come down to 30.4 percent. In this time frame, they have lost seven and drew 10.
Interestingly, they have managed to achieve this feat thrice against Australia in Tests since 2000.
A first for India’s stalwarts
Both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were looking in good touch in the chase, especially Rohit. In an attempt to finish the game early, Rohit tucked a ball towards mid-wicket and set sight for a double. But, before he could deny the second run, Pujara was down the track. Hence, sacrificing his wicket via run out.
Kohli as well, succumbed to the similar cause. However, he was stumped off the bowling of Todd Murphy.
For both of them, it was the first of a kind dismissal. In 80 Test innings, this was the first time Rohit was dismissed through a run out, and Kohli’s first dismissal through stumping in 180 innings.
Australia’s blind date with the sweep shot
A sweep is one of the most productive shots when playing in Asian conditions. In any case, a batter needs to choose the right length. Instead, Australian batters chose to sweep blindly.
They lost six wickets while playing the sweep shot (all kinds of sweep). In Tests since 2010, only England (7) against Sri Lanka in 2018, had lost more wickets while playing this shot. England in 2022 against Pakistan in Multan, had lost six wickets while attempting the sweep.
FEW OTHER STATS
-In 30 innings, Cheteshwar Pujara has scored 532 runs against Nathan Lyon with 11 dismissals. In Tests since 2000, these are the most runs scored by a batter against a bowler.
-In Tests, this was the eighth innings in which Ashwin dismissed Smith. Only Stuart Broad (9) has dismissed him more times than Ashwin. James Anderson also has eight dismissals against Smith.
-En route his innings of 20, Kohli reached the milestone of 25,000 international runs. Among the six batters who have scored 25,000+ runs, he is the quickest to reach the landmark.
-On Day 2, Lyon registered eighth five-wicket haul against India, which is the most for any bowler. He also became the third bowler after Anderson (139) and Muttiah Muralitharan (105) to bag 100 wickets against India.
-Australia’s slender lead of one run, is the second lowest lead attained by a team bowling second against India in Tests. Twice, against the West Indies in 1958, and against England in 1986, both teams first innings scores were leveled.
