Australia clinched the hard-fought Test series against India with a 2-1 margin with the fourth and final cricket Test ending in a draw.
ADELAIDE: Australia clinched the hard-fought Test series against India with a 2-1 margin with the fourth and final cricket Test ending in a draw here today as the visitors rode on Virender Sehwag's dazzling 151 to cruise to safety on the last day's play.
Needing to bat out the last day to ensure a draw, the Indians overcame a few anxious moments as they scored 269 for seven in their second innings before both teams decided to call off play on a Adelaide Oval track which showed no signs of a drastic deterioration on the last day.
The drawn result meant that Australia retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy but the Indians proved worthy challengers to the world champion team in a pulsating series which provided much drama both on and off the field.
Resuming their second innings at 45 for one, Sehwag notched up his 13th century, coming after a gap of 18 months and held the Indian innings together as wickets kept tumbling at the other end at periodic intervals.
Barring Sehwag, who struck 11 fours and two sixes during his 236-ball knock, none of the other Indian batsmen could hang around for long against the the disciplined Australian bowlers who tried their best to force a result.
The high-scoring match will be remembered as Adam Gilchrist's last Test appearance and the great wicket-keeper batsman was lustily cheered as he walked out of the field for the last time. In a touching gesture, all the Indian players shook hands with him after the game.
It was probably the last Test appearance on Australian soil for some of the senior Indian players like Sachin Tendulkar, captain Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman.
Scoreboard
India Ist Innings: 526
Australia Ist Innings: 563
India 2nd Innings:
Virender Sehwag c Gilchrist b Symonds 151
Irfan Pathan lbw b Johnson 0
Rahul Dravid retd hurt 11
Sachin Tendulkar run out 13
Sourav Ganguly c Hussey b Johnson 18
VVS Laxman c Gilchrist b Lee 12
Mahendra Singh Dhoni c Hayden b Lee 20
Anil Kumble not out 9
Harbhajan Singh c Ponting b Hogg 7
Ishant Sharma not out 4
Extras (b7, lb9, w3, nb5) 24
Total (for 7 wkts decl, 90 overs) 269
Fall of wickets : 1-2, 2-128, 3-162, 4-186, 5-237, 6-253, 7-264
Bowling: Brett Lee 27-3-74-2, Mitchell Johnson 16-1-33-2, Andrew Symonds 22-4-54-1, Stuart Clark 12-3-37-0, Brad Hogg 12-3-53-1, Michael Clarke 1-0-2-0.
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