Whitewash, clean sweep, shutout. Whatever you like to call it, Australia were on track for a 4-0 series victory over India by stumps on the fourth day in Adelaide
The Report by Brydon Coverdale27-Jan-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsRyan Harris was thrilled to snag Rahul Dravid in what was almost certainly his last innings in Australia•Getty Images
Whitewash, clean sweep, shutout. Whatever you like to call it, Australia were on track for a 4-0 series victory over India by stumps on the fourth day in Adelaide. Four wickets stood between Michael Clarke’s men and the completion of a remarkable feat. India finished the day needing a further 334 for victory, but a comeback from Kapil Dev is more likely than one from India in this match.At stumps India were 6 for 166, having been set a target of 500. To put that in perspective, the highest successful chase in all of Test history was 418 by West Indies in Antigua nine years ago. The best in Adelaide was the 315 that Joe Darling’s Australia chased down against England 110 years ago. In the past century, the highest Test chase in Adelaide was less than half of what India required in this innings.Ishant Sharma was at the crease on 2 and Wriddhiman Saha was yet to score when India walked off, any minuscule hope they had having disappeared along with VVS Laxman and Virat Kohli in the dying stages. Laxman and Kohli had steadied, relatively speaking, with a 52-run partnership when Laxman fell victim to his own wristy tendencies.Clarke set a leg slip, a short leg and a short catching midwicket for Laxman facing the offspin of Nathan Lyon, and on 35 the batsman complied with a flick straight into the hands of Shaun Marsh at short midwicket. The ball had rocketed off the bat but Marsh’s reflexes were good enough, and Laxman was left to wonder if it would be his final act in Test cricket.But even more remarkable was Kohli’s departure. India had sent in Ishant as a nightwatchman, traditionally a position that requires a lower-order batsman to maintain the strike and protect the specialist. Instead, Kohli wanted so desperately to face the last over of the day that he pushed the final ball of the penultimate over wide of mid-on and raced off for a risky single.Smart stats
Ricky Ponting scored a half-century in the second innings to go with his first-innings double-century. This is the second time that Ponting has achieved this feat and the ninth such instance for an Australia batsman.
Since his Cape Town century in January 2011, Sachin Tendulkar has gone 22 innings without a century. This is the longest century drought for him surpassing the 17 innings he went without a hundred between 2005 and 2007.
Tendulkar’s average of 35.87 in the series is his lowest ever in a series in Australia and his fourth-lowest overall in series of four or more matches. His lowest average is 33.66 in South Africa in 1992-93.
Rahul Dravid once again had a batting failure taking his run tally to just 194 runs in the series. Except for the 2003 tour, Dravid’s average in Australia is just 24.95 in 22 innings.
VVS Laxman ended the series with 155 runs in eight innings at an average of 19.37. This is his second-lowest average in a series (four or more matches) after the 17.57 in the home series against Australia in 2004.
Dravid, the Test record holder for the most catches, failed to take a single catch for the first time in a series of three or more matches since the series against Sri Lanka in 1997.
Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag last shared a century stand in Centurion in 2010. Since then, they have aggregated 182 runs in 12 innings at an average of 15.16 with a highest of 27.
The highest score made by any team in the fourth innings to win a Test in Adelaide is 315 by Australia in 1902. The most overs a team has played out in the fourth innings in Adelaide to draw a game is 120 (eight-ball overs), when Australia ended at 273 for 9 against West Indies in 1961.
The ball was collected by Ben Hilfenhaus, whose momentum was carrying him away from the stumps, but his fast throw hit the stumps and Kohli was run-out for 22. It was a wonderful piece of work from Hilfenhaus, hardly the nimblest of Australia’s fielders, and as Kohli walked off he thumped his fist on his own helmet in frustration at his ill-judged run.Already Australia had seen the backs of Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar. It was the wicket of Tendulkar that really got the hosts going, as it left India at 4 for 110 and ensured that despite Tendulkar’s greatness, he had had no serious impact on the series, finishing with 287 runs at an average of 35.87.Tendulkar was caught for 13 at short leg when he inside edged onto his leg off Lyon and the ball bobbed up to Ed Cowan. Tendulkar walked off to a standing ovation, but at least Australian fans will see him bat again, during the one-day series. Another all-time great, Dravid, almost certainly walked off an Australian ground for the last time a short while earlier.On 25, Dravid’s thick edge off the bowling of Ryan Harris was snapped up by Michael Hussey at gully. Australia were making good progress after Sehwag gave Indian fans a brief glimmer of hope with a brisk half-century. He was so aggressive to anything wide of off stump that 54 of his 62 runs came through the off side, including all 12 of his boundaries, as he gave little regard to the risk of being caught.Eventually his downfall came when he miscued an attempted slog off a Nathan Lyon full toss and was caught at cover. Already India had lost Gambhir, who will finish the series with a disappointing average of 22.83 after he pushed at a Harris delivery and was caught behind for 3.India had come to the crease after Clarke allowed his own batsmen to play for three overs after lunch in order to set the target of 500, before he declared with Australia on 5 for 167. Ricky Ponting finished unbeaten on 60 and Brad Haddin was on 11.As Homer Simpson once pointed out after observing that it was time to play the waiting game, “the waiting game sucks. Let’s play Hungry Hungry Hippos!” Such was the case in the first session as Australia accumulated more and more runs without any sense of urgency, despite already having ample to defend, with both teams waiting patiently for Clarke’s declaration.Australia added 104 in the first session for the loss of two wickets. Clarke had just started to lift his tempo against the spin of R Ashwin when he feathered a catch behind for 37 off Umesh Yadav, and Hussey was adjudged lbw to Ishant Sharma for 15.As the innings moved on, India’s batsmen could see that some runs remained in the pitch but the surface was only going to become more difficult, perhaps another reason why Clarke delayed his declaration. Whatever the case, India knew they would have to completely rewrite history in order to escape with a victory.By stumps, any slim hopes they had were gone.