IND vs AUS Highlights, 2nd Test Day 3: India beats Australia by six wickets, retains Border-Gavaskar Trophy with 2-0 series lead

That will be all from us from the second Test in Delhi. A bit of a break coming up now for both teams with the third Test in Indore starting from March 1.

For the second time in the series, Jadeja is adjudged Player-of-the-Match.

“I think I was enjoying my bowling. These wickets suit me because the odd ball spins and some stay low. I knew they would play sweeps and reverse-sweeps, so my idea was to just keep it simple and straight. I knew they were looking for runs, so the plan was to just bowl on the stumps. If they make a mistake, I have a chance. Don’t think the sweep is a good option against me on this kind of wicket.”

A 3-1 series win against Australia would just be enough for India to finish with a PCT of 61.92 and qualify for the final alongside the Aussies. Read more about the qualification scenarios for the WTC final below:

World Test Championship points table update: India nears top spot, Australia drops points percentage with Delhi loss; qualification scenarios

India has retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy by taking a 2-0 lead in the four-match series. After Australia got off to a strong start in the second innings yesterday, day three promised to be intriguing. But the visitors disappointed once again, losing nine wickets for 48 runs, with Jadeja ripping through them with seven for 42. Chasing 115, India did suffer hiccups at regular intervals, but the total was never threatening enough, with Pujara seeing the home team through with an unbeaten 31. This was also India’s 100th win over Australia across formats in international cricket.

Murphy with the ball. A couple of dots to start the over as Murphy keeps it on the pads. Pujara then steps out and fends one outside off-stump with his pads. FOUR! What a fitting finish. Pujara steps out and hammers a four at midwicket and hits the winnings runs for India in his 100th Test match.

Pujara shimmies and flicks behind square for a single. India now just nine runs away. SIX! Bharat sweeps this one over the midwicket fence to leave India with just three runs to get. He steps out next ball and works it to long-on for a single. Pujara levels the scores with a single to square-leg. Head bowls the last delivery of the over wide outside leg-stump. Bharat lets it go.

FOUR! Bharat drives through covers off Kuhnemann by getting his front-foot to the pitch of the ball. India needs 14 runs to win. FOUR! Bharat is timing the ball perfectly. This is full again and driven throufh covers and to the boundary. India needs 10 runs to win.

FOUR! Bharat takes a big stride and leans into a drive through covers off Lyon to collect his first boundary. Bharat pulls a half-tracker to backward square-leg for a single and keeps strike. India 97/4, needs 18 runs to win.

Iyer is caught at deep midwicket trying to go big and Lyon has his second wicket. KS Bharat comes in next with India still 27 runs away from a win.

OUT! Kohli steps out, misses and is stumped! Those two maiden overs seem to have built up some kind of pressure. Kohli was deceived by the dip and the turn of this outside off-stump delivery.

Consecutive maidens here for Australia. Kohli plays out Murphy for a maiden over and then Pujara to Lyon. But India firmly in the driver’s seat, just 46 runs away from the target.

FOUR! This delivery from Lyon keeps low but Kohli watches the ball closely and flicks it off his pads off the backfoot, piercing the square-leg area and finding the boundary. India 69/2 in 16 overs.

Turning away down leg-side and Kohli flicks this fine to the boundary. India 64/2 in 14 overs.

FOUR! Kohli steps out and smashes Lyon for a boundary down the ground. The former India skipper also becomes the fastest to score 25,000 international runs in terms of matches played. India 56/2 in 12 overs.

Kohli flicks the first one off the pads playing on the backfoot and gets a couple. Fifty runs up for India in 10.3 overs.

FOUR! Pujara steps out and lofts Lyon over midwicket and gets a boundary. India 47/2 in 10 overs, needs 68 runs to win.

SIX! Rohit wants to finish this in a hurry. He steps out to Kuhnemann this time and drills it straight down the ground for half a dozen. OUT! Rohit has to go. The skipper sacrifices his wicket for Pujara. Rohit called for a second and backed out halfway down the pitch but seeing that Pujara had also come halfway, Rohit continued running.

SIX! Rohit steps out and perfectly gets to the pitch of this Lyon delivery and launches this over long-on for a maximum. FOUR! Runs coming thick and fast for India. Rohit paddle sweeps this shortish delivery past the keeper for a boundary. India 31/1 in 6 overs.

Rohit gets a single off the first ball after Lunch with a push to midwicket. FOUR! Pujara advances down the pitch and whips a low full toss to the midwicket fence. India 19/1 in 5 overs.

Pujara is off the mark in his 100th Test match with Rohit Sharma playing the role of an aggressor as India chases 115 runs to take a 2-0 series lead. The start hasn’t been great as India lost KL Rahul early but both Pujara and Rohit have shown positive intent and will look to chase down the total without many hiccups. Ravindra Jadeja picked seven wickets, his best in Test cricket with Ashwin taking three. That’s the end of the first session with Australia folding out for 114, having lost nine wickets on Day three. We will be back for the second session in a bit.

Nothing seems to work for KL Rahul at the moment as the India opener gets off the mark with a single and immediately falls to give Australia an early breakthrough. Rahul flicks Lyon but the ball hits the shin pads of the forward short-leg fielder and balloons in the air as Carey takes a simple catch to pack off the Indian opener. Unlucky dismissal as Rahul’s poor form continues.

Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul are out in the middle and India will look to enter Lunch by knocking off some runs. It’s Rohit on strike with Kuhnemann operating with the new ball.

A seven-wicket haul for Ravindra Jadeja as he castles Matthew Kuhnemann as Australia lost nine wickets for just 53 runs and that speaks volumes about the Indian spin attack comprising of Jadeja and Ashwin. India needs 115 runs to win and going by the looks of it, this should be the last day of the Test match with the home side having a great chance to take a 2-0 series lead in the series. The sweep shots proved very costly for Australia as Jadeja and Ashwin took nine wickets. India batting before Lunch and that was never on the cards when the game started at 9:30 AM on a bright Sunday morning. This is a massive statement from Jadeja and Ashwin, who simply dismantled the Australian line-up.

Jadeja takes six to leave Australia nine down and another Australian batsman pays the price of playing across the line. Nathan Lyon went for a heave only to get an inside edge as the ball crashed into the leg stump. The ninth wicket falls for Australia and India has done extremely well to polish the tail. They will look to pick the final wicket before Lunch.

Jadeja picks a five-wicket haul and this has been a brilliant performance from the spinner. Alex Carey departs as a reverse sweep goes horribly wrong with the ball crashing onto the leg-stump. The Indians are delighted and what a first session Rohit Sharma’s men are having. Absolute Sunday delight for the fans in Kotla and for every Indian supporter.

Mayhem in Kotla and India is not only right back in the game but on top of it as Pat Cummins plays all over a straight delivery and the Australians are falling apart, with the sweep shots going haywire. India has taken six wickets in the first hour of play and who would have thought Australia would through away the advantage of a good start. This time, it’s the Australian skipper who puts Jadeja on the cusp of a hat-trick as he sweeps only to miss as the ball crashes on to the stumps.

Australia in deep trouble as Jadeja removes Handscomb with Kohli making no mistake a first slip. Tossed up delivery, Handscomb goes for a booming drive only to get a healthy outside edge and Kohli pouches a clean catch.

Ashwin is on song and the off-spinner has been terrific on a track that has enough bite and turn and this time he traps Matt Renshaw plumb in front of the wickets. Yet another pre-meditated sweep goes wrong and a review has been wasted by Australia.

Jadeja strikes and he packs off Labuschagne with an arm delivery that kept low and snaked through the bottom of the bat to castle the stumps. Iyer is pumped up as Jadeja has made up for the missed opportunity and India picking another big wicket within the first hour of play. Top stuff and Jadeja comes to the party as the dangerous Smith and Labuschagne are back in the hut.

An opportunity goes down as Shreyas Iyer fails to latch on to a regulation catch at short leg as Labuschagne continues to occupy the crease. Labuschange goes on his backfoot and flicks Ashwin as the ball flies between Iyer’s leg and that miss could prove costly for India.

Ashwin strikes again and India has picked two wickets inside 30 minutes of play. It’s a huge wicket as Smith went for a sweep and missed the ball completely as the ball hit low on the pads. Smith went for a review but the umpire’s call did the trick for India as the impact was in line with the ball hitting the leg stump. Ashwin continues to have a hold over Smith as the off-spinner has dismissed one of Australia’s key batsmen twice in this Test match.

India lose a review in an attempt to pack off Labuschagne as the ball was pitching outside off as the Australians breathe a sigh of relief. Ashwin is bowling beautifully, posing questions to both Smith and Labuschagne with the latter pulling out a reverse sweep and a lap shot to counter the spin. The cracks have opened up as Australia’s lead continues to swell. India needs to break this stand.

Ravindra Jadeja begins proceedings from the other end and it’s Steve Smith who is out in the middle along with Marnus Labuschagne. Smith is yet to get off the mark as Jadeja starts well giving just one run from his first over of the day.

Ashwin starts in emphatic fashion as the off-spinner removes Travis Head and that’s a huge wicket for India. In the very first over of Day three, Ashwin produced a beauty after he was smashed for a boundary and the response has been terrific. Head was looking dangerous but Ashwin induced an outside edge with a delivery that turned away as Head lunged forward to defend. The ball took an outside edge and Bharat latched on to an excellent low catch to give India an early breakthrough.

Right then, we are all set to for Day three to begin and it will be R Ashwin who will start proceedings with Travis Head on strike.

“Obviously it feels good to score runs, but the important thing was coming back from a pressure situation. I think because I was able to defend off the middle, my confidence rose and then I was attacking balls that were in my slot. I was asked in WI if I’m a batting or bowling all-rounder. My answer is simple - if I score runs I’m a batting all-rounder, if I get wickets I’m a bowling all-rounder. I got used to the pace of the wicket today, and the ball wasn’t coming on too quickly so I got time. I was trying to attack the left-arm spinner because that’s my match-up. We’d like to reduce them to as low a target as possible, I think the morning session tomorrow will be important. We need to bowl well and pick a couple of wickets.”

“They are good batters and they could bat in the top 6 in most other sides, here they are batting at 8 and 9, they are not bowlers who can bat but proper batters [on Ashwin and Axar]. I think I sort of deviated from my strengths at Nagpur, my strength is getting it to spin over the top and here I just went back to my basics. The pace was the same throughout the series. Virat is a great batter and in my opinion it was out, I’m pretty sure Virat thinks otherwise. Does help when we have burnt a few reviews and one has to applaud the umpires for such decisions. Hopefully the batters come out and be positive, stick to our methods. It’s gonna set up for what should be a good Test match. A few more would be nice”

India has to restrict Australia to less than 200 as on a turner batting last will be the most challenging aspect in this Test. Ashwin and Jadeja will have to weave their magic to give India a genuine chance of winning the Test and going 2-0 up in the series.

Australia found a tit-for-tat response with the ball to India to keep the second Test here on a knife’s edge after two days of gripping action. Nathan Lyon (5 for 67) flummoxed India’s top-order batters and the other spinners – Todd Murphy and Matthew Kuhnemann – made important breakthroughs to give their team the advantage before Axar Patel (74, 115b, 9x4, 3x6) and R. Ashwin made hay off the old ball to restore parity.