Chasing a competitive target of 364, India were cruising along comfortably at 242/2 before the hosts staged a dramatic comeback to grab eight wickets for 73 runs and take a 1-0 lead in the four-match series.
India virtually snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, slumping to an agonising 48-run loss in the first cricket Test against Australia.
Despite captain Virat Kohli's gallant hundred, a Nathan Lyon inspired Australia delivered the knock out punch and grabbed a 1-0 lead in the four-match test series. Chasing a competitive target of 364, India were cruising along comfortably at 242/2 before the hosts staged a dramatic comeback to grab eight wickets for 73 runs.
The Indians folded for 315 in 87.1 overs with Kohli (141) and Murali Vijay (99) being the only ones to notch up noteworthy knocks, as seven batsmen departed without touching the double digit mark. Kohli became only the second player in Test history to score a century in both innings, on captaincy debut. But his stupendous feat was completely overshadowed by the shockingly inept performance of the other Indian batsmen, who seemed bent on committing harakiri.
Also Read: Nathan Lyon spins Australia to victory; India skipper Virat Kohli's inspired century goes in vain
Off-spinner Lyon was the pick of the Australian bowlers as he exploited the rough on the track to good effect, and finished with figures for 7/152, with an overall haul of 12 wickets in the match. Lyon was adjudged Man of the Match for his superlative effort.
The result will come as a huge disappointment for the Indians, who virtually lost the match in the very last session, when eight wickets fell in quick succession. Kohli was left to rue yet another one of India's infamous batting collapses, after putting the team in a rather comfortable position right up till the tea session, before being dismissed by Lyon.
For Kohli, it was his eighth career hundred though he was left a disappointed man thanks to the nature of defeat. He got good support from Murali Vijay who was unlucky to be dismissed on 99, and thus missed out on what could have been his fifth Test hundred.
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