India has bounced back in style following its horrendous outing in the opening day-night Test in Adelaide, as it has won by eight wickets in the Boxing Day Test, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). With this win on Tuesday, India has levelled the four-Test series 1-1, while it defends the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Meanwhile, Day 4 saw diverse records being scripted, as we take a look.
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Australia scripts a few unwanteds: The exact match saw none of the Australian batsmen scoring a half-century, with Marnus Labuschagne (48) being the top scorer. Meanwhile, it was the first time since 1988-89 that none of the Australian players managed to hit a half-century in a Test at home. The previous instance too happened at the MCG, against the Windies. Also, this was their first home defeat after winning the toss, since 2011-12, having lost to New Zealand in Hobart. Furthermore, Australia has equalled England's record of losing most Tests at a venue. It was Australia's 32nd loss here, along with England at Lord's. It also happened to be Australia first loss while its 100th Test against a side, having won the same against England and Windies.
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Ravichandran Ashwin's love for left-handers scales new height: Veteran Indian off-spinner, Ravichandran Ashwin claimed five wickets during the game. Meanwhile, he also managed to dismiss a few left-handers in the game, as he scripted the record of dismissing the most left-handers in Test cricket. Ashwin has dismissed 192 left-handers, going past the previous record of 191, by Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan.
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Australia records another batting low: Australia's batting continued to script new lows, as it produced a run-rate of 1.93 in the second innings. It is its lowest in a home Test, in the same innings, since 1978-79, despite having batted for more than 80 overs. The Test also saw Australia producing the third-lowest average runs per wicket against India in a Test at home. While it averaged 19.75 in this Test, its lowest happens to be 18.85, in Melbourne 1977.
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Ajinkya Rahane equals MS Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar's captaincy feat: Rahane was lucky to be handed the captaincy duties for the rest of the series. Meanwhile, he has been unbeaten as a captain with this win, winning all the three games so far. Incidentally, he has also become the second Indian skipper to win the first three Tests as captain, equalling MS Dhoni's record. Also, he became the second overseas captain after Sachin Tendulkar to win the Man of the Match award at an MCG Test.
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Rahane scripts more specific ones: Rahane has also become the first Indian skipper to score a Test century in Australia on a winning cause. Furthermore, he is the first Indian skipper (fifth overall) to score the winning runs in a Test, in Australia. Also, he is the second Indian skipper after Dhoni to do so in the format.
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MCG becomes India's happy hunting ground overseas: India's Test record overseas in the past few years has been commendable. Meanwhile, with this win at MCG, the venue has become India's most successful Test venue overseas. India has scripted four wins here, going past its previous best, of three, at Queen's Park Oval (Port of Spain), Sabina Park (Kingston) and Singhalese Sports Club (Colombo).
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India scripts a first in a long time: The win allowed India to register its first away win since August 2010, while fielding first. India had then beaten Lanka in Colombo. Also, India has become the first team since 2008 to win a Test at MCG, despite losing the toss. The last team happened to be South Africa.
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Lowest target set by Australia: Australia gave a paltry target of 70 for India, as it turned out to the third-lowest against the same side. The lowest happens to be 50, in Chennai 2013.
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Cheteshwar Pujara joins an elite list: Pujara has been a part of India's numerous Test win campaigns for quite some time now. With this win, he has joined a select list of being a part of most Test wins in SENA countries. Pujara, along with Rahul Dravid, Sunil Gavaskar, VVS Laxman and Sachin Tendulkar, has been involved in seven such wins, which is the second-most, while the record lies with Ishant Sharma (8).
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All-round bowling domination by Indians: India managed to win a Test in Australia for the fourth time with none of its bowlers claiming a five-four. It is also the most instance of India winning in a country.
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Mohammed Siraj scripts a unique one: Debutant pacer Mohammed Siraj claimed five wickets in this Test. In an interesting observation, he has now become the second-most wicket-taker in the debut Test, despite not opening the bowling. The first happens to be Syed Abid Ali, who had claimed seven against Australia, in Adelaide 1967.
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Shubman Gill becomes a part of a special one: Gill managed to have a fine debut, as his side ended up on a winning note. Meanwhile, he has become the third-youngest debutant to win a Test in Australia, at 21 years and 112 days. Younger to him was Irfan Pathan (19 years and 50 days), and Phil DeFreitas (20 years and 274 days).
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India script a record for a resounding comeback: In another minute observation, India has registered a first by winning the next Test of a series after getting dismissed in the previous one under 50. Overall, after England (vs Australia, 1887 and vs Windies, 1994) and Australia (vs South Africa, 2011), it was the fourth instance.
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Match summary: Winning the toss, Australia had elected to bat first before being bundled out for 195, courtesy Jasprit Bumrah's 456. India scored 326 and earned a 131-run lead in the first innings, thanks to a centurion innings form Ajinkya Rahane and Ravindra Jadeja's 57. The second innings saw Australia getting skittled for 200, owing to Bumrah and Jadeja's two-for, while in reply, India comfortably sailed home by eight wickets.Brief scores: Australia 195 and 200 (Green 45; Siraj 337) lost to India 326 and 702 (Gill 35; Starc 120) by eight wickets.
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