The tourists lost Matthew Kuhnemann early, but Marnus Labuschagne and Travis Head dragged the game deep with a strong 139-run partnership for the first wicket. Head fell 10 runs short of what could be a stunning hundred. In the end, with more than an hour left on the clock for stumps, both teams decided to shake hands.
With that, India won their 16th consecutive series win at home. Notably, both teams have also booked their berths for the 2023 WTC final. While the Aussies had done it first, India reached the final after New Zealand’s thrilling win over Sri Lanka in the Christchurch Test.
The match was a high-scoring encounter, with both sides putting up big totals in their first innings. However, India had the upper hand, thanks to Virat Kohli and Shubman Gill‘s brilliant hundreds. Kohli, in fact, ended his century drought, smashing his 28th ton in the longest format on Day 4 of this game. The former India skipper ended up scoring 186 runs. Similarly, Shubman also shined with the bat, smashing 128 runs.
“It was a hard fought series. There were moments where we were put under extreme pressure and we managed to respond. Rohit led the way with the hundred in the first Test, capped off by the big one by Virat here. In the middle we had Jadeja, Axar, Shubman, probably missed a few. We needed to find people to respond and we found that. To be able to compete and get the better of them is a proud achievement. It’s been an exciting 4-5 months for Shubman. Exciting to see a young player coming in and maturing. Great sign for us, long may it continue. Lovely kid, works hard on his skill. Great exposure for him to learn from the likes of Virat, Rohit, Steve Smith,” said India head coach Rahul Dravid after the match.
Here is how Twitter reacted:
And that's a wrap! ?#TeamIndia retain the #BGT with a–
series win over ??#INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/c3I0ZqXJS3
— SunRisers Hyderabad (@SunRisers) March 13, 2023
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