India didn't have any chance of chasing down the target of 500 runs after Australia captain Michael Clarke's second declaration of the match at 167 for five in their second innings yesterday and were duly thrashed by 298 runs.
The Australian team celebrate victory during day five of the fourth Test Match against India at the Adelaide Oval
It took Australia less than an hour on the final day of fourth Test at the Adelaide Oval today to complete their decimation of India and subject the tourists to their second consecutive whitewash in an away Test series. So, much for this mighty embarassing one-sided series being promoted as 'Thunder Down Under'!
India didn't have any chance of chasing down the target of 500 runs after Australia captain Michael Clarke's second declaration of the match at 167 for five in their second innings yesterday and were duly thrashed by 298 runs; but to make the humiliation worse, the visitors went down again without showing the stomach for a fight and making the hosts work hard for the win. Australia's complete domination over India comes a year after they were thrashed in the Ashes series, and the Don Argus review undertaken by Cricket Australia in the backdrop of that loss, has certainly put the team back on the path to playing consistently and winning. That's certainly something that the BCCI should have done after the whitewash in England, but if it isn't undertaken now, such humiliations will continue for India.
The latest thrashing completed a dismal first leg of the tour of Australia for the former No. 1 team in Tests. India was routed by 122 runs in Melbourne; by an innings and 68 runs in Sydney; and by an innings and 37 runs in Perth. Batting woes have been India's bane in their last two away Test series, and Adelaide was supposed to be the best chance for the line-up to redeem themselves. But, the same sordid story was repeated at the flat Adelaide Oval wicket as well where India was bowled out for 272 and 201. In contrast,
Australia made optimum use of the batting-friendly conditions on offer and declared their first innings at 604 for 7 thanks to double centuries from Clarke and Ricky Ponting.
India's run chase got off to the worst possible start when Gautam Gambhir was dismissed in the fifth over
Australia captain Michael Clarke was deservedly named Man of the Series.
of their second innings and they went into stumps on the fourth day at 166 for 6 with the experienced middle-order failing yet again. Ryan Harris and Man of the Match Peter Siddle (22 wickets in the series) had night watchman Ishant Sharma and Wriddhiman Saha respectively caught behind by Brad Haddin in the third and fourth overs of the day to hasten the end of the match. Zaheer Khan hit three boundaries in his 18-ball 15 before he was caught by David Warner at short cover off Ben Hilfenhaus's bowling.
Hilfenhaus topped the bowling charts with 27 wickets, which is the most in a series for an Australian bowler after legendary leg spinner Shane Warne's 40 wickets in the 2005 Ashes series. Nathan Lyon took his fourth wicket of the innings to end the match when he had Umesh Yadav caught by Haddin behind the stumps with R Ashwin remaining unbeaten on 15.
The only bright spot for India in the fourth Test was Virat Kohli scoring his maiden Test century in the first innings and he also finished as the team's leading scorer in the series with 300 runs at an average of 37.50. Kohli's mind fade to go for a risky single and be run out needlessly off the last ball of the penultimate over of the fourth day though just about summed up India's abject surrender Down Under.
Sachin Tendulkar, who scored 287 runs, had the satisfaction of being the second highest run-scorer for India in the series, but that's not saying a lot. However, Rahul Dravid (194 runs), VVS Laxman (155 runs) and Virender Sehwag (198 runs) all let themselves down badly and their collective failure was one of the main factors that led to India's humiliation.
In contrast, Clarke and Ponting, who came into this series under a cloud were in sublime form. While Clarke was struggling to gain acceptance as captain, Ponting was being hounded by critics, who felt the time had come for him to retire. But, both of them answered their critics in the best manner possible - by piling up the runs.
Clarke, who has also been praised for his astute and attacking captaincy, ended the series with 626 runs, including a triple century and a double century, at an average of 125.20. He is the only captain in 135 years to smash a double and triple century in the same Test series, and was deservedly named Man of the Series. Ponting scored 544 runs in the series, including two centuries and three half-centuries, at an average of 108.80. He showed signs of regaining his form when he scored two half-centuries in the Boxing Day Test, and that gave him the confidence to get back to his best as the series went on and silence the critics.
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