Australia claimed a fifth Test against India in Sydney by six wickets to seal a fascinating 3-1 series on Sunday and book their place in the World Test Championship final.
India were dismissed 45 minutes into the morning session of the third day for 157, adding just 16 to their overnight 141-6 with the irrepressible Scott Boland finishing with 6-45 and 10 wickets for the match.
With 162 to win, the hosts reached the target before tea against an attack that lost injured bowler Jasprit Bumrah to regain the India-Australia Test series trophy known as the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, for the first time since 2014 -15.
Australia lost three wickets before lunch to leave the Test in good standing, including Steve Smith, who agonizingly fell just one short of becoming the 15th player and fourth Australian to reach 10,000 Test runs.
But Usman Khawaja managed a composed 41 before Travis Head (34 not out) and debutant Beau Webster (39 not out) took them home.
“This is unreal, this [a series win against India] It’s one that some of us didn’t have. It’s been an incredible series… it really lived up to all the expectations,” Australia captain Pat Cummins said.
“I am immensely proud. I love playing with these guys, they are such a special group. I feel privileged to have this job and what we have been able to achieve together.
“Pretty satisfied at the moment.”
The victory was enough to ensure Australia will defend their World Test Championship in June’s final at Lord’s against South Africa.
It capped off an exciting tour full of twists and turns that saw record crowds and some spectacular individual performances.
The five-Test series witnessed the emergence of exciting young talents in the form of Australian opener Sam Konstas and Indian all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy.
At the same time, the older veterans, particularly Rohit Sharma, showed that the clock is ticking on their careers.
India won the first match in Perth convincingly before Australia bounced back in the day-night clash in Adelaide.
The rain-lashed Brisbane clash ended in a draw before the hosts took all the momentum in Sydney with a pulsating victory on day five in Melbourne.
Indian pace spearhead and captain Bumrah, who has been dealing with a back problem, batted briefly as his team resumed after bowling just one and leaving the field on Saturday.
But in a major setback, the 31-year-old did not feature again, leaving Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna in charge of the bowling attack, with Virat Kohli in charge.
“It’s a little frustrating, but sometimes you have to respect your body and you can’t fight it,” Bumrah said.
“The whole series was well fought,” he added.
“Younger players have arrived and what we have learned will help us in the future. They have gained a lot of experience and will go from strength to strength.
“It’s about adapting and learning.”
It looked like a difficult chase on a deteriorated surface that offered a lot for the players, but Konstas and Khawaja had other ideas.
They raced to 35 in the first three overs, with teenager Konstas batting.
It proved his undoing when in the 22nd over, he unnecessarily whipped a good length ball from Prasidh only to send it to Washington Sundar mid-on.
Prasidh then bowled Marnus Labuschagne for six, caught by Yashasvi Jaiswal at slip, and the same pair removed Smith for four, fending off a rising ball.
Veteran Khawaja, who had a poor series, smashed a few boundaries on his way to 41 but mistimed a shot from Siraj with wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant taking the lead.
It gave India a ray of hope before Head and Webster took the game away.
India resumed after a counterattacking 61 from Pant helped build their lead in the second innings.
Ravindra Jadeja started with eight and Sundar with six after they dismissed Australia for 181 in reply to their 185 in the first innings.
Jadeja smashed an early boundary off Pat Cummins but got out two balls later, taking a slight hit to wicketkeeper Alex Carey, adding just five to his overnight score.
The Australian captain struck again to bowl Sundar for 12.
That brought Bumrah to the crease and he could only watch as Siraj edged Boland off Khawaja to give the big Australian his fifth wicket.
Boland, whose line and length were impeccable throughout the series, then bowled Bumrah to end the innings.
