Zeenews Bureau
Adelaide, Jan 28: Indian captain Anil Kumble decided to call off play as it was headed towards an inevitable draw. His Australian counterpart Ricky Ponting accepted his offer and the final test match against Australia played at Adelaide ended in a draw, giving the home team a 2-1 series victory in a highly charged Test series. Marked with a lot of controversies but studded with some great cricketing action, the series truly brought as mixed bag of action for all the viewers.
Earlier, India lost their seventh wicket in the form of Harbhajan Singh as the batsman was done in by a viciously spinning delivery by Brad Hogg. The next batsman in was Ishant Sharma as it was confirmed that Rahul Dravid’s injury was a serious one and he would be out of action for at least two weeks.
India lost their sixth wicket in the form of Virender Sehwag who proved to be the wrecker-in-charge for the visitors as he smashed a superb 153 before edging a delivery of Andrew Symonds into the safe hands of Adam Gilchrist. His effort took the Indian total to 253 runs as Harbhajan Singh walked in to bat.
Australia pace spearhead Brett Lee kept the tempo up for the home team as he claimed the wicket of MS Dhoni. The batsman got out at 20 runs after he was beautifully taken by Matthew Hayden in a diving catch.
India posted 210 runs and led by 173 runs at tea time due to the efforts of Virender Sehwag who stood tall after scoring a swift 132 runs. He took on the formidable looking Australian bowling attack and was aptly supported by MS Dhoni. With the last session of play remaining, the final Test match against Australia being played at Adelaide seemed to be headed for a draw.
Prior to this, Lee sent shockwaves down the Indian camp as he claimed the wicket of VVS Laxman. The batsman edged a short of a length delivery into the hands of the wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist after making 12 runs. The Indian scorecard read 186 runs for the loss of four wickets as MS Dhoni walked in to bat.
Australia achieved another breakthrough in the post lunch session as speedster Mitchell Johnson got the wicket of Sourav Ganguly. The batsman was caught by Mike Hussey as he tried to block a Yorker that hit the bottom of hit bat and flew into the hands of Hussey.
India suffered a major setback soon after Sehwag slammed a century as Sachin Tendulkar was run out to a great piece of fielding by Mitchell Johnson. The batsman got confused due to a late call by his partner, in the meantime, Johnson collected the ball and managed to conjure a direct hit to send the batsman back to the pavilion. India were 142 runs for the loss of two wickets at lunch.
Delhi master blaster Virender Sehwag made his presence felt at the Adelaide Oval as he slammed a blistering century to announce his arrival back into the Test circuit. It was Sehwag’s third Test century against Australia and his first while batting in the second innings.
Rahul Dravid was retired hurt due to an injury as he was rapped on the fingers earlier with a tearing fast delivery. His departure from the crease opened a window of opportunity for Australia as a new batsman in the form of Tendulkar came to the crease.
Earlier in the morning, Sehwag continued to time the willow to perfection as he cut and pulled the team’s total past fifty runs in the first session of play on the final day of the last Test match at Adelaide. He was given apt support from the experienced willow veteran, Rahul Dravid.
The Australian bowlers came out with the motto of taking nine wickets in a bid to register a win in the last Test match of their star wicketkeeper, Adam Gilchrist.
