Australia beat India by 10 wickets in Adelaide Test to level series 1-1 | Cricket News

Hosts level 1-1 on the third day after India slump to 175 all out in the second of the five-match Border-Gavaskar series.

Pat Cummins’s first five-wicket haul at the Adelaide Oval has led Australia to a comprehensive 10-wicket win in the second Test against India, helping the hosts level the five-match series at 1-1.

The Australian skipper took 5-57 as he bounced out the Indian lower order on Sunday, with the visitors crashing to 175 all out in their second innings for a slender 18-run lead.

Resuming at 128-5 in the second innings, India needed a near-miracle from Rishabh Pant to have any hope of setting a testing fourth innings target for Australia to chase.

But Mitchell Starc had other ideas, as he had Pant (28) caught at slip from the sixth delivery of the afternoon.

Cummins then got into the act using the short ball tactic against the Indian lower order to great effect.

Ravichandran Ashwin (7) was caught behind trying to pull, while Harshit Rana (0) could not fend off a rising delivery and was caught at backward point.

Nitish Reddy top-scored for India with 42 off 47 balls. He was caught off Cummins again trying to score quick runs.

Mohammed Siraj was the last man out, caught off Scott Boland, who finished with 3-51 in his return to the team in place of the injured Josh Hazlewood.

None of the Indian batters passed 50 across the two innings – India previously suffered the same fate in the 2021 World Test Championship final against New Zealand at Southampton.

Needing just 19 runs to win the Test and level the series, Nathan McSweeney (10 not out) and Usman Khawaja (12 not out) saw Australia home safely in 3.2 overs.

India were bowled out for 180 runs in the first innings on the back of Starc’s career-best figures of 6-48. Travis Head scored a blistering 140 off 141 balls to propel Australia to 337 runs in reply and take a 157-run lead.

Australia’s quicks then dismantled India’s top order in the second innings under lights to leave the match strongly in the hosts’ favour heading into the third day.

India took a 1-0 lead in the five-match series after winning the first Test by 295 runs in Perth.

The teams will play a third Test beginning December 14 in Brisbane, followed by matches in Melbourne starting December 26 and in Sydney from January 3.