Feroz Khan/Zeenews Sports
Adelaide: Australian bowlers needed just an hour to remove the remaining four Indian batsmen on the last day of Adelaide Test on Saturday to complete a clean sweep. India managed to cross 200-run mark but were soon bundled out at the score of 201 runs to lose the final Test by 298 runs.
Scorecard: India Vs Australia »
Since 1967/68 series, this was the first time India were inflicted a series whitewash by the Australians and with this they have now lost eight consecutive Tests on foreign shores.
Overnight pair of Wriddhiman Saha and Ishant Sharma were dismissed in similar manner, though by different bowlers in consecutive overs.
Sharma (2) was the first to depart as he poked a Harris delivery to be dismissed in the third over of the day. The next over, Saha (3) feathered an away moving Siddle’s good length delivery to Haddin.
Next to go was Zaheer Khan, who was out after attempting a slog but got an outside edge instead towards cover where David Warner held on to a sitter.
Nathan Lyon, who once worked at the Adelaide Oval as a groundsman, completed the formality by removing Umesh Yadav to hand Australia a comprehensive win, ending the match with four wickets.
Man of the match, Peter Siddle ended with six wickets in the Test while Michael Clarke, with an aggregate of 626 runs in the series, was adjudged man of the series.
For India, the 0-4 score-line will all the more hurt as it is the second consecutive occasion in the past seven and a half month on overseas tour when they have been subjected to such an abject humiliation.
The dejected performances from the Indian batsmen might spell the end of their formidable middle-order comprising of Laxman, Dravid and Tendulkar.
For India, the top scorer Virat Kohli and right arm pacer Umesh Yadav were the only positives from the series.
For Australia the series, as their captain Michael Clarke has often said, will be a beginning to their ascension towards the top of the Test rankings.
Clarke in particular was the stand out performer for them with a triple and a double century in the series becoming the first ever captain do so.
Ricky Ponting who was under immense pressure prior to the start of the series, came to his best after the much awaited century in Sydney and went on to score a double at Adelaide taking his tally to 544 runs—the second best in the series.
Their bowlers were spot on, bowling with intent and came charging every delivery. Ben Hilfenhaus made a remarkable return to Tests as he returned with 27 wickets--the most in the series—at an excellent average of 17.22 and found a perfect ally in Peter Siddle (23 wkts).
Australia began their routing of India by winning the Boxing Test at Melbourne by 122 runs. The next Test at Sydney washed away any hopes of the India’s batting great-- Laxman, Tendulkar and Dravid--to register a Test series win Down Under. This time they lost by an innings and 68 runs.
Perth was touted to be the turnaround India were looking for but instead, ended up being a David Warner show. This time, they were beaten within three days. Warner blasted India with an aggressive ton—the fastest by a Test opener ever—to set up another innings win for Australia.
The batting friendly conditions at Adelaide weren’t any helpful either but for the first time in the four Tests, the match went on till the fifth day. However, it took only 59 minutes for the Australians to finish of the Indian tail as they completed a clean sweep on the last day.
First Published: Saturday, January 28, 2012, 05:16