A sizzling performance by Zaheer Khan in the second Test yesterday helped India to a crushing 320-run win against Australia to put them 1-0 up in the four-Test series.
The left-arm paceman, 30, picked up three wickets on the fifth and final day to wrap up the Australian second innings on 195 with more than two sessions to spare.
It was India’s biggest-ever Test win by runs. For Australia, it was only their second defeat in 28 Tests since their 2-1 loss in the 2005 Ashes series against England, and the biggest against India since Melbourne in 1977.
PHOTO: AP
“We were outplayed in all departments of the game,” Australian skipper Ricky Ponting said.
“Any team that bats, bowls and also fields so well, you have to match up to that, but we were not good in any aspect of the game, be it fast bowling, slow bowling or batting,” he said.
Zaheer’s effort capped an outstanding performance by off-spinner Harbhajan Singh (3-36) and fast bowler Ishant Sharma (2-42) who gave India the crucial breakthroughs on Monday.
The Indians also owed the win to their batsmen, who piled up 469 in their first innings before declaring on 314-3 in the second.
Sourav Ganguly struck 102, Sachin Tendulkar 88 and stand-in skipper Mahendra Dhoni a sparkling 92 to lay the winning platform for the hosts.
The Australians struggled with the bat on a surface that India’s batsmen thrived on, the only saving grace being Shane Watson’s knock. Their bowlers, led by an off-color Brett Lee, also looked clueless against the Indian run machine.
Dhoni, named man of the match, said the victory was very satisfying as every member of the team made some contribution.
“We are relishing this win as it was a result of a great team effort,” he said.
Resuming the day on a wobbly 141-5 while chasing an insurmountable target of 516, the Australians tried to delay the inevitable but not for long.
Zaheer struck in his very first over of the day, removing overnight batsman Brad Haddin (37) with a ball that crashed into middle and off.
The bowler, man of the match in the drawn Bangalore opener for his exploits with bat and ball, followed it up with two wickets in two balls in his very next over.
Cameron White (1) tried to go for an expansive drive but ended up getting an outside edge which was taken by Dhoni diving to his right behind the stumps.
Lee, in the headlines for a reported tiff with Ponting, saw his off-stump uprooted by a searing delivery that nipped in sharply.
Michael Clarke (69), who put on 84 runs for the sixth-wicket stand with Haddin, tried to defy the fired-up Indian attack, reaching his ninth Test half-century in process.
But he was the last man out when he edged one to Virender Sehwag off debutant leg-spinner Amit Mishra who finished with seven wickets.
The third Test of the Border-Gavaskar series will be played in New Delhi from next Wednesday to Nov. 2 followed by the fourth and final Test in Nagpur (Nov. 6 to Nov. 10).
■ZAHEER CHARGED
AFP, MOHALI,INDIA
India’s left-arm paceman Zaheer Khan was yesterday charged with breaching cricket’s international code of conduct after an on-field exchange with Australia’s Matthew Hayden during the second Test.
Zaheer, 30, was cited by match referee Chris Broad after exchanging words with Hayden and pointing him to the pavilion after the opening batsman’s dismissal by Harbhajan Singh.
Hayden had complained to on-field umpire Rudi Koertzen, who was standing at square leg, when he left the ground after being trapped leg before by Singh for 29 in the over before lunch.
Zaheer has been charged with a Level 2 offense for conduct contrary to the spirit of the game, an the International Cricket Council (ICC) statement said, and was set to attend a disciplinary hearing with Broad.
Hayden and Singh clashed during India’s tour of Australia this year, when the Australian described the spinner as an “obnoxious weed.” Singh later called Hayden a “big liar.”
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