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World Sport

India seal dramatic 13-run victory


story.harbajan.jpg
Harbhajan's magic gave India an unlikely win, but Australia clinched the series

BOMBAY, India -- Off spinner Harbhajan Singh continued his dominance over Australia, routing them for 93 on a crumbling pitch to bowl India to a dramatic 13-run win in less than three days of the fourth and final test.

The 24-year-old, who has taken 53 wickets against Australia in his last six tests at home, finished with five for 29.

The world champions, however, still lifted the Border-Gavaskar trophy by winning the series 2-1, their first triumph in India since 1969.

Left-arm spinner Kartik added three scalps on a minefield of a track for the visiting batsmen, who were unable to cope with the uneven bounce and sharp turn.

Only Matthew Hayden put up any real resistance, scoring 24 with four boundaries but the writing was on the wall for Australia after his dismissal made it 48 for five.

Jason Gillespie (nine not out) held on for 72 minutes but Harbhajan got the last two batsmen as Australia folded in 30.5 overs.

Occasional left-arm spinner Michael Clarke had earlier picked up extraordinary career-best figures of six for nine, as India were dismissed for 205 in their second innings despite half-centuries by Vangipurappu Laxman and Sachin Tendulkar.

Laxman (69) and Tendulkar (55), both struggling for form, shared in a 91-run fourth wicket stand before Clarke dented local hopes by taking all his wickets in 29 balls, including Rahul Dravid (27) and Mohammad Kaif (25).

He finished with astonishing figures of 6.2-0-9-6 on a bustling day in which 20 wickets fell.

India looked in deep trouble during the morning when Glenn McGrath removed openers Gautam Gambhir (1) and Virender Sehwag (5) early with his nagging off-stump line.

But Tendulkar and Laxman, promoted to number three, launched India's counter-attack by quickly punishing McGrath and Gillespie for three fours each.

Laxman, given one last chance by the selectors after a string of failures, struck 10 fours in all to redeem himself with his 20th test half-century.

Tendulkar was particularly severe on debutant off-spinner Nathan Hauritz, hitting him for two fours and a six over long on into the stand named after him.

But it was Hauritz who finally got Tendulkar, caught by Clarke as the batsman mis-timed a slog-sweep.

Dravid and Kaif kept runs coming in ones and twos before Clarke induced Dravid to glove a ball to wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist, getting Karthik caught at bat-pad, trapping Kaif lbw and then running through the tail.

Chasing 150 on the wicket would always have been tough, but Australia found out that even 107 was a tall order as Zaheer Khan struck in the first over with Justin Langer caught behind for nought.

Kartik sent back Ponting (12) and bowled the in-form Damien Martyn (0) soon after to give India a scent of an unlikely win before Harbhajan dismissed Katich for one and bowled Hayden around his legs.

The spinners piled on the pressure and it was only a matter of time once Clarke (7) and Gilchrist (5) fell cheaply.

Australia captain Ricky Ponting condemned the pitch as unfit for test cricket following his team's defeat.

Forty wickets fell in just 202 overs on a track with uneven bounce and sharp turn. "This was nowhere near a test wicket. It's a disappointing end to a great series.

"Everyone knows what the wicket was like. It was disappointing for everyone, the players and the fans, that the match ended so fast."

The first day's play was almost entirely washed out due to rain, so effectively the test lasted for just over two days.

"It's great to be tested in different conditions and we all know the ball turns in India. But there was very little batsmen could do on a track like this," Ponting added.

India crumbled for 104 in their first innings and managed 205 in their second while Australia scored 203 and 93, their lowest score ever in India, as off spinner Harbhajan Singh grabbed his 14th five-wicket haul in his 39th test.

Michael Clarke was Australia's unlikely bowling hero, using his occasional left-arm spin to take six wickets for nine runs to run through the Indian lower order.

"I don't need to say much about a track where someone like Clarke can take six wickets in no time," Ponting said.

Indian captain Rahul Dravid, leading because of a groin strain to Saurav Ganguly, agreed with his Australian counterpart but said it had still been a great match.

"The wicket was definitely not ideal but it was great a fabulous game with the teams running each other close right till the end," he said.

India were in trouble early on Friday on 15 for two before Vangipurappu Laxman and Sachin Tendulkar struck half-centuries to help the second innings past 200.

"The most significant thing today was the partnership between Sachin and Laxman. They batted really well and took the game away from us," Ponting said.


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