India have taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the four-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy with a six-wicket win over Australia on the third day of the second Test. Spinners Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin were the stars of the show, taking all 10 Australian wickets in the second innings to set India an easy target of 115.
The home team’s spin duo of Jadeja and Ashwin had a spectacular performance, with Jadeja taking a career-best seven for 42 and Ashwin taking the remaining three wickets. India’s chase saw some stutters as well, as they lost opener KL Rahul in the second over and were reduced to 88 for four. Captain Rohit Sharma was run out after a fluent 31, and Virat Kohli, who surpassed 25,000 international runs, was stumped on 20. However, Cheteshwar Pujara and Srikar Bharat took control of the chase and guided them home in the 27th over, with Pujara, playing his 100th Test, top-scoring with 31 and hitting the winning runs.
Earlier, Australia resumed their second innings on 61 for one and added 52 runs before Jadeja and Ashwin engineered a collapse. Asked to open in place of a concussed David Warner, Travis Head drove the third ball of the day from Ashwin for a boundary to signal his attacking intent. However, Ashwin had his revenge three balls later when he drew Head (43) forward to induce an edge that Srikar Bharat collected behind the stumps. Once Jadeja sent back Marnus Labuschagne (35), the wheels came off Australia’s innings, with nine of the 11 batsmen posting single-digit scores. Nathan Lyon was Australia’s highest wicket-taker in the match with seven, while Usman Khawaja’s 81 in the first innings was the highest score for the visiting team.
India have now won their previous three series against Australia and are close to securing a spot in the World Test Championship final. The third Test starts in Indore on March 1. With their spinners Jadeja and Ashwin taking 10 wickets between them, India have taken an unassailable 2-0 series lead and are well on their way to another victory.