…tourists’ worst Test match losing streak for 22 years.
INDIA clinched a seven-wicket victory over Australia in Bangalore to win the two-match series 2-0 and inflict the tourists’ worst Test match losing streak for 22 years.
The hosts closed to within 22 runs of their target at tea on day five and, fittingly, double-centurion from the first innings Sachin Tendulkar was at the crease to steer his side home with an unbeaten 53 as he moved back to the top of the Test batting rankings.
Australia could only muster 223 in their second innings to set India a target of 207, and MS Dhoni’s side cantered to victory inside 45 overs with seven wickets in hand as Ricky Ponting’s side suffered their third successive defeat.
The skipper has still yet to win a Test in India.
The last time Australia lost three matches on the trot was in the 1988-89 home series against the West Indies, and it ensured that the tourists slumped to fifth in the ICC Test rankings for the first time, below Andrew Strauss’s England who assume fourth spot.
On a day when history was made for Dhoni’s trailblazers, it was also India’s first Test win in Bangalore since October 1995, and the last time Australia lost all the matches of a series was back in 1982 in Pakistan – a statistic which left Ponting pretty sheepish.
“I knew it was a long time ago. I wasn’t playing in 1988, although it feels like it,” Ponting said.
“We have to get off that train, for sure. We have to start winning Test matches. It’s going to be interesting to see how the group bounces back now. There are some issues there we need to deal with.
“There’s no doubt we’ve got some work to do on, one, how to bat against reverse swing bowling and two, how to deliver when we’ve got the ball in our hand.”
Murali Vijay had fallen for 37 after Virender Sehwag was caught behind by Tim Paine off the bowling of Ben Hilfenhaus, but Cheteshwar Pujara was the only other victim for a majestic 72.
Rahul Dravid was at the crease alongside fellow veteran Tendulkar as the pair knocked off the remaining runs with consummate ease, and Ricky Ponting’s side were a forlorn outfit following another comprehensive defeat.
Australia’s bowlers struggled against the free-scoring India batsmen, with Nathan Hauritz managing just one second-innings wicket while rival spinners Harbhajan Singh and Pragyan Ojha collected six wickets apiece in the match.
Ponting resorted to the beleaguered debutant Peter George and all-rounder Shane Watson (1-20) after lunch and the Australia skipper was roundly derided by former team mate Shane Warne on Twitter for the field placements he employed for spinner Hauritz.
Earlier in the day, Australia could only add 21 runs to their overnight 202 for seven, courtesy of the expert extraction of reverse-swing by Zaheer Khan (three for 41) and Shanthakumaran Sreesanth (two for 48).
Tendulkar was unsurprisingly awarded the man-of-the-match accolade following his blistering 214 to set up the win, while Vijay’s first-innings century was also rightly lauded.
The two-match series in India could barely have been a less convincing performance from Ponting’s side ahead of the first Ashes Test in Brisbane on November 25, while India consolidated their status as the best side in the world.(ESPN Cricinfo)

AUSTRALIA first innings 478 (M.North 128, R.Ponting 77)
India first innings 495 (S.Tendulkar 214, M.Vijay 139)
Australia second innings (Overnight 202-7)
S Watson lbw b Ojha 32
S Katich c Dhoni b Singh 24
R Ponting lb w b Khan 72
M Clarke st Dhoni b Ojha 3
M Hussey lbw b Ojha 20
M North b Singh 3
T Paine c Dhoni b Sreesanth 23
M Johnson b Khan 11
N Hauritz not out 21
B Hilfenhaus b Sreesanth 0
P George c Dhoni b Khan 0
Extras:(b-1, lb-5, w-3, nb-5) 14 Total: (all out; 75.2 overs) 223
Fall of wickets: 1-58 2-58 3-65 4-126 5-131 6-181 7-185 8-217 9-218 10-223.
Bowling: Khan 11.2-1-41-3 (1w), Sreesanth 14-2-48-2 (3nb), Ojha 25-5-57-3, Singh 21-2-63-2, Sehwag 4-0-8-0.

INDIA second innings:
M Vijay not out 29
V Sehwag c Paine b Hilfenhaus 7
C Pujara b Hauritz   72
S Tendulkar  not out 53
R. Dravid  not out       21
Extras: (b-8, lb-5 , w4) 17
Total : (3wickets, 45 overs)   207
Fall of wicket: 1-17,2-89,3-146.
Bowling: Hilfenhaus 7-0-27-1, Johnson  14-4-42-0 (2w), Hauritz  12-0-76-1.