India qualify for WTC Final, win Border-Gavaskar Trophy for 4th consecutive time

Marnus Labuschagne (63) and Steve Smith (10) were at the crease when the two team agreed on not playing the full quota of the overs for the day.

Here's the full match report:

Ahmedabad:On an uneventful day of cricket, India qualified for the World Test Championship (WTC) final and clinched the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the fourth successive time after the fourth and final match against Australia ended in a drab draw, here on Monday. India's spot in the WTC final against Australia was locked before the post-lunch session when Sri Lanka lost the Christchurch Test to New Zealand by two wickets as Kane Williamson's magnificent hundred steered his side to one of the most thrilling wins in Test cricket.

Australia were 175 for 2 in 78.1 overs in their second innings with a lead of 84 runs when the two teams agreed to settle for a draw. India have now beaten Australia by an identical 2-1 margin in the last four series -- 2017 (home), 2018-19 (away), 2020-21 (away) and now 2023 at home. It was a 'Memorable Monday' for India as a country in both performing arts and sports with 'RRR's song 'Natu Natu' getting the Oscar for the best song and Elephant Whisperers winning the 'Best Documentary Award'.

By the afternoon, cricket added to the list of global accomplishments and now Rohit Sharma would love to break the decade-long ICC Trophy jinx.

Draw was only result possible

With a featherbed of a track on offer, which former Australian opener Mark Waugh sarcastically said can host a "22-day Test match", an outcome favouring either side was almost impossible, with only two completed innings in four days. For Australia, it was important that their batters made the best use of the flat surface without being under pressure as they had already qualified for the WTC final.

Travis Head (90 off 163 balls) will certainly put pressure on David Warner when he comes back while Marnus Labuschagne (63 not out, 213 balls) also did well. The Indian team could feel chuffed after back-to-back WTC final qualification but head coach Rahul Dravid and captain Sharma would know well that Australia will be a different proposition in the final where the track will certainly not aid the Indian spinners like it did in the first three Tests at home.

An Australian attack, comprising Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, skipper Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon on an early June English track, could prove to be a handful but India have won two series against this attack in Australia. In England, India will have to play with a single spinner and that will be all-rounder Jadeja if he remains injury free. But not having Jasprit Bumrah and Rishabh Pant will hurt them in England way more than it would have in Indian conditions where spinners did bulk of the job in favourable conditions.

Kona Bharat (101 runs in 4 Test) isn't cut out for elite cricket and as a wicketkeeper isn't great shakes as he struggled against turning deliveries as well as when the wobbly seamers were bowling. He dropped three catches on the day and having him as a keeper-batter in England would be a risk that Indian team management can ill-afford.

KL Rahul's form deserted him big time but there were two very significant gains that will boost the Indian team's confidence. No one would have believed at the start of the series that Axar Patel (264 runs) will end up as the team's No. 2 run getter behind Virat Kohli (297 runs) with three half-centuries in four games.

His batting has improved tremendously but less than five wickets in a four-Test series, where he was grossly under-bowled, doesn't do justice to his abilities. Also, the Indian spin attack's limitations on a batting belter was once again exposed. Ashwin had a tremendous first innings where he took six wickets and also ended up as the highest wicket-taker (25) in the series.

Ashwin, by far, looked the best spinner when the going got tough but the same couldn't be said about Jadeja and Patel, who were pedestrian and slightly out of sync the moment the surface had nothing to offer.

On the day, Head and Labuschagne hardly faced any difficulty while playing the two left-arm spinners as they moved between front-foot and back-foot at will. The only delivery from Patel that turned and bounced was the one that denied Head a well-deserved century. (PTI)

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Australia reached 158 for 2 in their second innings at tea on the fifth and final day of the series-deciding fourth Test against India. Steve Smith (0) was giving company to Marnus Labuschagne (56) during the break with Australia leading by 67 runs. Overnight batter Matthew Kuhnemann (6) was the first batter to be dismissed in the morning session after Australia resumed the final day at 3 for no loss.

Travis Head (90) then missed out on a hundred after being cleaned up by Axar Patel. On Sunday, India posted a mammoth 571 in their first innings to take a crucial 91-run lead. Australia had posted 480 in their first essay.

Brief Scores:

Australia: 480 and 158 for 2 in 64 overs (Travis Head 90, Marnus Labuschagne 56; Ravichandran Ashwin 1/24, Axar Patel 1/31).

India:571 all out.

• A good news for the Indian team. India have qualified for the WTC finals and will be facing Australia after they were beaten by New Zealand in their last segment. The Indian team earned their qualification after Sri Lanka was beaten in the first test against New Zealand.

Australian batters adopted a risk-free approach to reach 73 for 1 at lunch on the final day of the fourth Test against India as the match meandered towards a dull draw, here Monday. Australia still need 18 runs to erase the first innings deficit of 91 runs after India scored 571 in their first essay. Australia had score 480 in their first effort.

With Sri Lanka not likely to win the opening Test against New Zealand in Christchurch, the Indian team will be a happy unit, going into lunch as they are all set to enter the World Test Championship final. With the Motera track showing no signs of wear and tear, a result looked improbable even after end of day four but the academic interest was whether India can effect a collapse on day five.

However there was no such drama during the fifth morning as Travis Head (45 batting, 96 balls) continued his good form while Marnus Labuschagne (22 batting, 85 balls) was happy to play an ultra-defensive game with no result in sight. Australia had no chance of forcing a win and their batting unit was justified as they played for a draw on a good batting track.

There were hardly any deliveries that turned and despite their best batter Usman Khawaja's absence due to a leg injury, Australians didn't break any sweat. Matthew Kuhnemann (6 off 35 balls) did the job given to him as he played the tricky overs in the fourth evening and would consider himself distinctly unlucky to be adjudged leg-before off Ravichandran Ashwin.

Since he wasn't a top-order batter, Head advised him against taking a DRS but replays showed that it wouldn't have been a bad call as the angular delivery was missing the left-hander's leg-stump. Head on his part didn't play too many attacking shots save one lofted six over long off Ashwin's bowling. He also had five fours in his kitty. Ashwin did try to attack but both the left-arm spinners Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel looked ineffective as they are not known to get appreciable turn off the surface if there isn't much help on offer. (PTI)

Brief Scores:

Australia: 480 and 73 for 1 in 36 overs (Travis Head 45; Ravichandran Ashwin 1/24).

India:571 all out.

Scoreboard at lunch on the final day

Australia 1st Innings: 480

India 1st Innings: 571

Australia 2nd Innings:

Matthew Kuhnemann lbw b Ashwin 6

Travis Head not out 45

Marnus Labuschagne not out 22

Extras: 0

Total: (For one wicket; 36 overs) 73

Bowling: Ravichandran Ashwin 14-7-24-1, Ravindra Jadeja 10-3-21-0, Mohammed Shami 5-0-12-0, Axar Patel 5-1-13-0, Umesh Yadav 2-0-3-0.

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• Matthew Kuhnemann (6) is the first scalp for India, having dismissed by R Ashwin. He was given lbw by the umpire after the ball spun inwards, and hit the pads which brings Marnus Labuschagne at the crease who will be batting along with Travis Head.

Earlier yesterday, India's batting mainstay Virat Kohli finally ended a near 40-month wait for his 28th Test hundred as his scrappy but brilliantly effective 186 set up a gripping final day of the fourth Test against Australia. Kohli's epic knock helped India amass 571 in response to Australia's first innings score of 480.

With a lead of 91 runs, India had a go at Australia in the six overs before stumps but visitors managed to keep all wickets intact. With a lead of 88 at close, India will have to go for the jugular on day five on a track where there is finally some turn and bounce on offer but not something that batters can't tackle.

A draw still looks the most likely result but if any team wins the Test from here, it will be India, who would then go on to win the series 3-1 and directly qualify for the World Test Championship final, without having to wait on the fate of Sri Lanka's Test series versus New Zealand. For the 15,000 odd people present at Motera, it was a Sunday to remember as Kohli guided Nathan Lyon towards mid-wicket to complete his first Test hundred since November 2019. The hundred, his 75th in international cricket, came off 241 balls.

The celebrations were muted as there was still some way to go before India would be in driver's seat and hence he didn't want to lose focus by getting elated. There was a smile of satisfaction and a now familiar kiss on his engagement ring. It was an innings of different character from Kohli. Having had his troubles dealing with deliveries outside the off-stump, he traded caution in exchange of flair and hardly played those beastly cover drives till he reached his hundred. There were shades of Sachin Tendulkar's 241 at Sydney in 2004 in this innings of Kohli's, when one compares the sheer discipline of the two knocks. Kohli showed copious amount of patience on way to a gritty hundred before changing gears.

A supremely fit athlete, Kohli ran 84 singles, 18 doubles and twice he took three runs, including once when he was batting in his 160s. By sheer volume of running between the wickets, he collected 126 of his 186 runs with 15 hits to the fence. Wife Anushka Sharma put up an Instagram post which informed that Kohli showed this enormous composure despite being sick.

It was pity that Shreyas Iyer couldn't turn up for batting due to recurring back pain and Kohli was the ninth and last Indian man to be dismissed after his 364 ball knock that spanned over 8 hours and 36 minutes. No one deserved those 14 runs more than him. As he dragged his tired body towards the pavilion, rival skipper Steve Smith and bowler Todd Murphy along with other Aussie players came to shake his hands and the crowd near dressing room gave a standing ovation.

He did have some significant partnerships but no better than the 162 that he added for the sixth wicket with an ever- improving Axar Patel (79 off 113 balls). Never had Kohli shown determination of this kind and a testimony to that was not being impatient for a boundary for 162 balls. In fact, in the first session, he couldn't add to his overnight five hits to the fence.

He decided to complete the coveted ton in singles and doubles and then hit 10 boundaries in his next 86 runs. The first expansive cover drive only came in his 140s off Cameron Green. That the track was good for batting was evident from the fact that all partnerships for the first six wickets was worth more than 50 runs.

Australian bowlers though had a good morning session as India managed only 73 in the 32 overs that were sent down. Kona Bharat (44, 88 balls), who has had a dreadful run with the bat, looked impressive as he hit three sixes in his innings but would curse himself for not getting a big one and cementing his place in the Indian team.

In the post lunch session, it was Bharat who attacked, pulled and hooked Cameron Green for a couple of sixes when he tried bouncing the batter from around the wicket. His best shot was slog swept six off Nathan Lyon over cow corner but he would rue his luck after being out to a bat-pad catch at short-leg off Lyon's bowling. (PTI)