India v Australia - Third Test

Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi

India: SM Gavaskar, +FM Engineer, M Amarnath, GR Viswanath, PR Umrigar, *MAK Pataudi, Kapil Dev, M Prabhakar, S Venkataraghavan, BS Bedi, BS Chandrasekhar.
Australia: WM Woodfull, WM Lawry, DG Bradman, AR Border, SR Waugh, KR Miller, +IA Healy, *R Benaud, AK Davidson, DK Lillee, WJ O'Reilly.

Debuts: Nil
Umpires: HD Bird (ENG) & DR Shepherd (ENG)
Toss: Australia

Australia welcomed Don Bradman back into the team in Delhi, Greg Chappell the man to make way as he nursed a hamstring injury, but the Don's return only produced 21 runs as the tourists struggled to make early progress against a consistent Indian attack. Australia slumped to 118-6 on the first afternoon after Benaud had elected to bat upon winning his first toss of the series, but the tail rallied to good effect, with Davidson - who was dropped on 7 by Bedi - and Lillee putting on 71 for the ninth wicket as Australia recovered to 269 all out, Davidson the only man able to break out of the 30s with a valuable 57. India were still in a strong position though, and Gavaskar and Engineer compiled a relatively untroubled opening partnership of 95 before all hell broke loose on the second afternoon.

Benaud emulated Chandrasekhar's feat in the first Test of taking three wickets in an over, and with Amarnath, Viswanath and Umrigar all departing for ducks in the space of ten balls, panic gripped the Indian dressing room and the innings fell apart in spectacular fashion. Benaud finished with the startling figures of 8-20, his best ever return and the fourth best figures in ATG history as India lost ten wickets for 38 runs to be bundled out for a paltry 133. Other than the openers, no-one else made it into double figures, and the mother of all collapses handed Australia a 136 run first innings lead with three days still to play on a pitch that was not expected to last for the duration.

With their confidence high, Australia dominated day three as Bradman and Border put together a 212 run partnership for the third wicket that was cricketing torture for India's toiling attack. Bradman made up for his first innings disappointment with his 22nd ATG century, whilst Border became the first ever player to be both dismissed and stranded on 99 when Prabhakar bowled him with the second new ball. With India's spinners unable to emulate Benaud's feats of the previous day, Prabhakar's dismissals of Bradman, Border and Waugh in quick succession gave the home fans a faint ray of hope, but from 253-6 Miller and Healy reasserted the visitors' dominance, and their partnership of 90 allowed Benaud the luxury of an overnight declaration with a lead of 479.

India now faced the prospect of batting for two entire days if they were to save the match, and with the pitch now offering up some uneven bounce the rain that was on the long-range forecasts needed to arrive quickly. Amarnath and Viswanath both failed again as the hosts stumbled to 57-3 on the fourth afternoon, and although a grinding, three hour 32 from Gavaskar at least kept the Australians at bay, one couldn't help but feel that it was only delaying the inevitable. A fine fifty from Umrigar and an unusually stoic innings from Kapil Dev took India to 174-5 at the close of day four, and with rain holding up the start on the final day the possibility of a miraculous escape was still there. However, a combination of Keith Miller and the new ball was finally able to prise out both Umrigar and Kapil Dev, and the walls then crumbled as Bill O'Reilly cleaned out the tail to pick up his second five-for of the series as India lost their last five wickets for just 13 runs. India had been dismissed for 208 to hand Australia a comfortable 271 run victory, and at 1-1 we could now be in for a classic deciding Test in Kolkata.

1st & 2nd innings scorecards
(click to enlarge)

Scores
AUS 1st Inns 269 (Davidson 57)
IND 1st Inns 133 (Engineer 55, Gavaskar 46; Benaud 8-20)
AUS 2nd Inns 343-6 dec. (Bradman 127, Border 99, Miller 45*)
IND 2nd Inns 208 (Umrigar 87; O'Reilly 5-36)

AUSTRALIA WON BY 271 RUNS


Man of the Match: R Benaud