Indian captain Anil Kumble hailed one of the greatest wins of his career after his side again halted a record Australian winning streak with a famous 72-run victory in the third Test at the WACA Ground here Saturday. Set 413 to win an unprecedented 17th Test in succession, Australia were dismissed for 340 on the fourth day.
The home side never really threatened to pull off what needed to be the second biggest run chase in 131 years of Test cricket. In the wake of India's heartbreaking loss in the second Test in Sydney and at a venue where they had never won before, Kumble said it was one of the sweetest victories he had experienced in 124 Tests. "Considering the fact that no visiting team gets any sort of chance coming into Perth and being 2-0 down, it was a great effort and a brilliant victory," he said.
"This is right at the top... if you look back at whatever victories I've been involved in both at home and away this will probably rank as one of the best." Australia's previous Test defeat was against England during its ill-fated Ashes campaign in August, 2005, at Trent Bridge.
India still trail 2-1 in the four-Test series and Australia have retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, with the final Test to be played in Adelaide from Thursday. And Kumble said his team was determined to level the series.
Australian captain Ricky Ponting was philosophical about the end of his team's winning streak. "That is disappointing, but is has been a pretty good run," he said. "Sixteen matches in a row is a great achievement, it would have been great to win one more, to win another 10 would have been nice, but we haven't been good enough in this game.
He admitted the Australians misread the pitch in picking four fast bowlers and said they paid the price for only making 212 in their first innings. An inventive piece of captaincy by Kumble ensured India would win its first ever Test at the WACA.
Kumble's surprise decision to throw the ball to part-time spinner Virender Sehwag just before tea on Saturday proved masterful, as he claimed two crucial wickets in his first eight balls.
The recalled opener broke the threatening sixth-wicket partnership between Adam Gilchrist (15) and Michael Clarke (81) by bowling the former around his legs with just his third ball. Any hope the Australians had was extinguished when an advancing Clarke was beaten by Kumble and stumped by Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
India broke Australia's previous record 16-Test winning streak when it notched a memorable victory in Kolkata in 2001. Australia hadn't lost a home Test since December 2003, also against India in Adelaide, and was last beaten at the WACA by the West Indies in 1997.
SCOREBOARD:
India first innings: 330 (R. Dravid 93; S. Tendulkar 71; Lee 3-71)
Australia first innings: 212 (A. Symonds 66; A. Gilchrist 55; RP. Singh 4-68)
India second innings: 294 (Laxman 79; Pathan 46; S. Clarke 4-61)
Australia second innings: (overnight 65-2)
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C. Rogers c Dhoni b Pathan 15
P. Jaques c Jaffer b Pathan 16
R. Ponting c Dravid b Sharma 45
M. Hussey lbw RP Singh 46
M. Clarke st Dhoni b Kumble 81
A. Symonds lbw Kumble 12
A. Gilchrist b Sehwag 15
B. Lee c Laxman b Sehwag 0
M. Johnson not out 50
S. Clark c Dhoni b Pathan 32
S. Tait b RP Singh 4
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Extras: (6lb, 10nb, 8w) 24
Total: 340
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Fall: 21 (Rogers), 43 (Jaques), 117 (Ponting), 159 (Hussey), 177 (Symonds), 227 (Gilchrist), 229 (Lee), 253 (Clarke), 326 (Clark), 340 (Tait).
Bowling: RP Singh 21.5-4-95-2 (3w), Pathan 16-2-54-3, Sharma 17-0-63-1 (5w, 7nb), Kumble 24-2-98-2 (3nb), Sehwag 8-1-24-2.
Overs: 86.5
Result: India win by 72 runs
Man of the match: I. Pathan (IND)
Toss: India
Umpires: Asad Rauf (PAK), Billy Bowden (NZL)
Third umpire: Bruce Oxenford (AUS)
Match referee: Mike Procter (RSA).
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