India required less than an hour to complete an easy eight-wicket win – and important one-nil series lead over Australia – on day-five of the first Test at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Tuesday.
Resuming on an overnight lead of 40, Australia added a further nine runs before falling to 211 all out, leaving the hosts a modest 50-run target – and ample opportunity for a 10-wicket triumph.
While openers Murali Vijay and Virender Sehwag failed to stay the course, instead perishing to impatience, the studious Cheteshwar Pujara and flamboyant Sachin Tendulkar were at hand to seal the deal.
The removal of steely tail-ender Nathan Lyon marked the closing throes of Australia’s downward spiral nine overs into the day, and also left debutant all-rounder Moises Henriques stranded on 81 not out.
The spit and turn that had troubled the batsman on Monday ultimately got the better of Lyon, with spinner Ravindra Jadeja generating enough rip off the surface to have the right-hander caught at short-leg.
The Aussies, at least, clinched a couple of consolation wickets. The memory of Vijay and Sehwag’s wickets will provide plenty of Australian motivation come the second Test later this week.
Having successfully weathered a slew of short balls from fast bowler James Pattinson, the right-handed Vijay was soon caught at cover. Sehwag, meanwhile, was snared in the slip cordon after edging some sharp turn from spinner Lyon.
Tendulkar strode to the crease with 14 runs required, lopping a quick dozen off the target thanks to back-to-back sixes hoisted high and hard over long-on off Lyon – much to the hefty crowd’s boisterous appreciation.
A couple of singles soon completed a job ostensibly fortified by skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s double-century and spinner Ravichandran Ashwin’s 12-wicket haul earlier in the piece.
Dhoni, who joined the retired Sourav Ganguly as India’s most successful Test captain with 21 wins on Tuesday, was named man-of-the-match. The second fixture gets underway in Hyderabad on Saturday.
