Australia vs India: 5 memorable matches from the history

Team India will be taking on Australia in the first of their four-match series starting at the Adelaide Oval on December 6. Virat Kohli’s men have a great opportunity to register India’s first-ever series victory in Tests Down Under since the hosts have some big names missing from their ranks because of a ban. India have only succeeded in drawing three-Test series in Australia – twice in the 1980s and once in the 2000s.

The two teams have played each other 94 times in the longer format so far with Australia winning 41 times and India 26. They have also drawn 26 times only one match was tied, one of the two in the history of Test cricket. There have been some absorbing Test matches in the past between the two cricket powerhouses even though the Australians have an edge in the statistician’s books.

Besides the tied Test, the two teams were also involved in a historic match in which one team won despite being asked to follow-on while on another occasion, India snatched a 1-wicket victory which is their narrowest in Test matches. Here we list five Test matches between India and Australia that withstand age and are considered among the best advertisements that the game has received over the years.

1. India beat Australia by 171 runs in Kolkata, 2000-01:

The Australian team led by Steve Waugh was at its peak then and reached India after winning 15 matches on the trot. Steve considered India his final frontier as the Aussies did not win a series here since 1969-70. The visitors crushed Sourav Ganguly’s men in the first Test in Mumbai by 10 wickets to take the winning streak to 16.

Then came the historic Test. Australia won the toss in the match (1,535th Test in history) and elected to bat. Powered by the skipper’s 110 and 97 from Matthew Hayden, Australia scored 445 despite a hat-trick from Harbhajan Singh and then bowled out the hosts for a paltry 171. VVS Laxman was the highest scorer for India with 59.

The Aussie bowling attack comprising Glenn McGrath-Jason Gillespie-Michael Kasprowicz-Shane Warne took India in the second innings after Waugh enforced a follow-on and then it was a miraculous comeback. Laxman (281) and Rahul Dravid (180) put up a partnership worth 376 runs for the fifth wicket to power India to 657 for 7 declared in their second innings, giving Australia a winning target of 384.

The time that remained to enforce a win was not too much but once the visitors’ middle order started crumbling after the skipper’s dismissal, India sensed blood and bowled Australia out for 212, winning the match by 171 runs – the difference that the visitors gained in the first innings.

It saved India the series (they eventually won it 2-1) and also stopped the Australian juggernaut in the most incredible way possible. Laxman was adjudged the man of the match.

2. Tied Test in Chennai, 1986-87:

This was the first Test of the four-match series played in Chennai (then Madras). The visiting captain Allan Border won the toss and elected to bat. Besides being a tied Test, this match is remembered as one in which Dean Jones scored 210 but at the cost of losing seven kilograms! Yes, the Aussie batsman was such badly hit by Chennai’s ruthless weather conditions that he had to be rushed to the hospital to regain his shape though he did not give up his quest for runs.

Border also hit a hundred as did opener David Boon and Australia declared their innings at 574 for 7. For India, captain Kapil Dev hit a century beside a few fifty-run innings and they ended up at 397, still trailing by 177 runs. Australia then declared their second innings at 170 for 5, setting India a target of 348 runs.

India were on course for a victory but a late innings collapse saw them struggling to reach the target and when last man Maninder Singh was caught leg before by the spinner of the match Greg Matthews (he claimed 10 scalps in the game), India were yet to hit their winning run. Sunil Gavaskar scored 90 in India’s chase. Both Jones and Kapil were picked as the men of the match.

3. India beat Australia by 1 wicket in Mohali, 2010-11:

This was another gem of a game in the history of India-Australia Test rivalry. Australian captain Ricky Ponting won the toss and elected to bat. Powered by opener Shane Watson’s 126 and 92 from wicketkeeper Tim Paine and 71 from Ponting, the visitors posted a total of 428 with Zaheer Khan picking a fifer and Harbhajan Singh taking three wickets.

India in response scored 405 with four batsmen scoring 50-plus runs. Sachin Tendulkar was the highest scorer for the home team with 98 while Suresh Raina hit 86 and Rahul Dravid 77. Seamer Mitchell Johnson was the best of the Australian bowlers with 5 wickets for 64 runs. With a lead of 23 runs, the visitors had the upper hand to put the pressure on India but they failed to deliver in the second innings and got all out for 192.

Only Watson scored a fifty-plus innings with the Indian bowlers – both pacers and spinners coming to the party. India had to score 216 runs for a win but were reduced to 76 for 5 with the Australian opening pacers breathing fire. It was then their ‘Very Very Special’ Laxman who rose to the occasion with an unbeaten 73 at No.7.

However, it was tail-ender Ishant Sharma’s gritty fight in this match which remained its high point. Sharma faced 92 balls for 31 to add 81 runs for the ninth wicket with Laxman. His dismissal saw India still needing 11 and the formalities were completed by Laxman and No.11 Pragyan Ojha (5 not out) to give Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s side a historic victory. This game is also known for Laxman’s shout at Ojha for failing to run to the former’s satisfaction. It was also the first time that India were playing an opponent as the No.1 Test side in the world.

4. Australia beat India by 47 runs in Adelaide, 1977-78:

Even though the scoreline of Australia winning by 45 runs in a Test match over India is not something special apparently, but this game certainly was one of the best between the two sides. This was the decider in a five-match series in Australia which was tied at 2-2 after four matches.

Bishan Singh Bedi’s India made a terrific comeback to square the series after trailing 0-2 and were looking for a historic maiden series win Down Under. Australian captain Bob Simpson won the toss and elected to bat. A couple of centuries from Graham Yallop and Simpson himself saw Australia reach a score of 505 in their first innings.

Bhagwath Chandrasekhar was the best of the Indian bowlers with 5 for 136. India in reply were all out for only 269 with Gundappa Viswanath scoring the highest for his side – 89. Bedi’s four-for in the second innings pulled the Aussies back somehow by bowling them out for 256 and that set India a daunting target of 493 runs.

The visitors did their best to achieve the target and Mohinder Amarnath led the way with his 86. Viswanath came up with his second fifty of the match as Dilip Vengsarkar and Syed Kirmani also hit half-centuries. The target proved to be too big at the end but India scored 445 runs in the fourth innings which remains the fifth highest in the overall list and the highest for the team.

5. India beat Australia by 13 runs in Mumbai, 2004-05

Australia had just registered their first Test series victory on the Indian soil since 1969-70 and the two sides met for a dead rubber in Mumbai. Indian skipper Rahul Dravid won the toss and elected to bat first on a wicket which did not seem to behave decently throughout the game. India were bundled out for 104 in the first innings with the captain top scoring with 31.

Jason Gillespie was the top Australian bowler with 4 for 29 while off-spinner Nathan Hauritz took 3 for 16, giving enough hint at the surface. The Australians also could not take too big a lead as they were all out for 203, thanks to Anil Kumble and Murali Kartik who shared nine wickets between them.

Damien Martyn was the highest scorer for Australia with 55. VVS Laxman’s 69 and Sachin Tendulkar’s 55 were the saving graces for India in their second essay as they lost their last six wickets for just 23 runs to get all out for 205. That left Australia with a target of 107 and they had more than two days to get it. Zaheer Khan opened the floodgates by trapping opener Justin Langer in just his second ball and then it was all spinners.

Matthew Hayden was the top scorer for Australia with 24 on a dust bowl and the visitors kept on losing regular wickets to eventually get all out for 93, conceding a victory by 13 runs to India. Harbhajan Singh, India’s third spinner who failed to get a breakthrough in the first innings, got a fifer in the second while Kartik took three. The left-arm spinner was adjudged the Man of the Match as India made the series 2-1. Ponting was the captain of Australia in this match.

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