Australian spinner Steve O’Keefe finished with 12/70 as India crashed to their first Test defeat on home soil since December 2012. Chasing 441 to win, the Indians once again wilted against the left-arm spinner’s bowling, and were bundled out for just 107 on the third day of the first Test in Pune.
Australian skipper Steve Smith’s (109) steely 100 helped the visitors take a commanding lead in the second innings. Their middle order chipped in again with useful contributions, which helped them to reach 285.
India’s second essay bore a stark resemblance to their display in the first. Barring Cheteshwar Pujara’s (31) resistance, none of the other batters showed any application at the crease, meekly falling prey to O’Keefe and his spin partner Nathan Lyon (4/53).
This ends Australia’s nine-match losing steak in Asia. It also marked Virat Kohli’s first defeat at home as Indian skipper. Coming into the contest, Australia had seven consecutive losses in India, and registered their first win in the country since 2004.
Brief scores:
- Australia 260 (Matt Renshaw 68, Mitchell Starc 61; Umesh Yadav 4/32, R Ashwin 3/63) & 285 (Steve Smih 109; R Ashwin 4/119, Ravindra Jadeja 3/65) beat India 105 (KL Rahul 64; Steve O’Keefe 6/35) & 107 (Cheteshwar Pujara 31; Steve O’Keefe 6/35, Nathan Lyon 4/53) by 333 runs
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