R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja’s exceptional bowling, combined with some questionable strokeplay, saw Australia lose nine wickets in 19.1 overs on the third morning in Delhi. Some records tumbled in the process.
Having squeezed a one-run lead in the first innings, Australia were 61-1 after 12 overs at stumps on the second day of the second Test match against India. They relinquished the upper hand over the hour and a half, collapsing to 113.
Barring the overnight batters, Travis Head (43) and Marnus Labuschagne (35), no other Australian reached double figures. Australia were bowled out in 31.1 overs, their second-shortest innings against India. Back in 2004/05, they were bowled out for 93 in 30.5 overs in Mumbai.
Australia lost their last nine wickets for 110 balls, the fewest by any side against India where data is available. Back in 2004/05, Bangladesh had gone from 30-1 to 124 in a comparably inexplicable collapse in the span of 122 balls.
This is Australia’s fifth-shortest second-to-tenth-wicket collapse as well (where data is available). The top four entries – 76 balls in Cape Town 2011/12, 100 balls in Cape Town 2017/18, 106 balls in Trent Bridge 2015, 109 balls in SSC 2016 – are all from ‘iconic’ Test matches.
Bowling unchanged through the innings, Ashwin claimed 3-59 (out of the first five wickets), while Jadeja claimed 7-42, the fifth-best for India against Australia, after Jasu Patel’s 9-69, Harbhajan Singh’s 8-84, Kapil Dev’s 8-106, and Anil Kumble’s 8-141.
Jadeja also became the 10th Indian to take a 10-wicket haul against Australia (Harbhajan has done it thrice and Kumble twice).
Jadeja’s figures are also his personal best in Test cricket, eclipsing his 7-48 against England at Chennai in 2016/17. His 10-110 here are also his best match figures (and second 10-wicket haul): he improved on his 10-154 in the same Chennai Test match.
Jadeja’s last wicket, of Matt Kuhnemann, was his 80th against Australia, which took him past Kapil Dev’s tally of 79. Among Indians, only Kumble (111), Ashwin (103), and Harbhajan (95) have more.
Jadeja’s bowling average of 23.82 (across 259 wickets) is the second-best among spinners with 200 Test wickets, after Muttiah Muralitharan (800 wickets at 22.72). At third place is R Ashwin (463 wickets at 23.98).
This is the seventh time that three Indian bowlers – Jadeja (10-110), Ashwin (6-116), and Mohammed Shami (4-70) – shared all 20 wickets in a Test match. This is also their third instance against Australia, after Melbourne 1977/78 (Bhagwat Chandrasekhar 12-104, Bishan Bedi 6-129, Karsan Ghavri 2-66) and Chennai 2012/13 (Ashwin 12-198, Jadeja 5-143, Harbhajan 3-142).
