Australia wasted little time on the final day of the second Test to wrap up victory before lunch at Perth Stadium and level the series against India with a 146-run victory – their first in this format of the game since the sandpaper scandal earlier this year.
Needing five wickets to seal victory heading into day five – and with India requiring a further 175 runs – the writing was perhaps already on the wall, a sentiment that was reinforced when Mitchell Starc made an early breakthrough in the fifth over of the day, cramping up Hanuma Vihari who edged onto his thigh pad and was caught with ease by Marcus Harris.
Rishabh Pant stood as India’s last realistic hope of prolonging the match, and when he went, caught by Peter Handscomb off Nathan Lyon’s bowling with India on 137, it took little time for the result to be confirmed; the final three wickets fell for the addition of just three further runs as Patrick Cummins and Starc made short work of India’s flimsy tail.
Victory was Australia’s first under captain Tim Paine, who said he felt relieved to break the drought and finally chalk up a win. “The first Test win has taken a while after everything that has happened. I’m really proud of our players and staff. We have been improving over the last few months and it is great to get some reward.”
Virat Kohli, who had staged a running verbal battle with Paine on day four, said he had seen enough from his team to take positives into the third Test, starting on Boxing Day at the MCG in Melbourne.
“As a team, I think we played well in patches,” Kohli said. “Australia played a lot better with us especially with the bat in the first innings. Australia got stuck into it and they put the total on the board on a pitch that was lively throughout the Test was always going to be challenging. We had the belief that we could do it but they were relentless.”
Lyon was named man of the match after taking 16 scalps at 19.43 and finishing with match figures of 8-106 to raise further questions about India’s decision to pick a four-prong pace attack in Perth. “Every team wants a spinner like Nathan,” Paine said. “You can throw him the ball in any conditions, any end, to any batter.”
