The fourth Test in Ahmedabad ended in a draw and India and Australia will now meet again in June for the 2023 WTC final.
India have won the series for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2-1 as the fourth Test in Ahmedabad ended in a draw on Monday. In what was the only match of the series that went the full five days, the two sides shook hands while Australia were on 175/2. Marnus Labuschagne was batting on 63 off 213 balls while captain Steve Smith was on 10 off 59.
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Cheteshwar Pujara was among those who bowled the last few overs of the day as Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith kept the Indians out. It was just the second over that Pujara had bowled in what was his 102nd Test appearance for India. Shubman Gill then bowled one ball before the two teams shook hands. Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel were the wicket takers for India, with the later dismissing Travis Head for 90 off 163 balls.
The two teams will now meet again at The Oval in England for the World Test Championship final, which is scheduled to start on June 7. While Australia had qualified after winning the third Test of the series, India’s place in the final was confirmed on Monday after Sri Lanka lost to New Zealand by two wickets in a thrilling match in Christchurch. It was an eventful gain for India on what was largely an uneventful day of cricket in Ahmedabad.
Australia were 158 for 2 at Tea, leading by 67 runs after having conceded a first innings lead of 91. India have now beaten Australia by an identical 2-1 margin in their last four series – 2017 (home), 2018-19 (away), 2020-21 (away) and the current one (2023). With a featherbed of a track on offer, which former Australian opener Mark Waugh sarcastically said can host a “22-day Test match”, an outcome favouring either side looked almost impossible at the start of Day 5, with only two completed innings in four days.
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The fourth Test allowed batters on both sides to gain some valuable time in the middle with former India captain Virat Kohli notably breaking a drought of Test centuries that has gone back almost four years. Kohli scored 186 off 364 balls, becoming the last man to fall for India while Gill scored 128 off 235 balls as India scored 571 in response to Australia’s 480. Axar continued his good batting form, scoring 79 runs in a 162-run stand with Kohli.
Earlier, Usman Khawaja and Cameron Green scored centuries as Australia were all out for 480. Khawaja scored 180 in 422 balls while Cameron Green made 114 off 170 balls in what was his first ever Test century. Khawaja ended as the highest run scorer of the series with 333 runs in seven innings. Kohli is the second highest scorer with 297 runs six innings while Axar comes third with 264 runs. Meanwhile, Ashwin is the highest wicket taker with 25 scalps while Jadeja is second with 22. Both Ashwin and Jadeja were declared as the player of the series. Australia’s Nathan Lyon ends the series tied with Jadeja with 22 wickets.
