Australia v India 4th Test

A fortress and a patched-up side

The Gabba had not produced an Australian defeat since 1988, a run of 32 years that had become one of the most discussed streaks in the sport. India arrived for the deciding Test of the Border-Gavaskar series in January 2021 with a squad reduced by injury through the tour to the point that several of the bowlers who took the field in Brisbane had barely played international cricket together. Ajinkya Rahane captained in place of Virat Kohli, and T Natarajan and Washington Sundar both made their Test debuts in this match, called into an attack that had already lost frontline options earlier in the series.

Tim Paine won the toss for Australia and chose to bat first on a pitch that, true to the Gabba's reputation, offered pace and bounce without being especially difficult to score on. The series itself had already produced one of the more dramatic turnarounds in recent Test cricket: India had been bowled out for 36 in Adelaide in the first Test, their lowest Test total, and Kohli had returned home after that match on paternity leave. What followed the Adelaide defeat was a series of injuries to India's fast bowlers through the Melbourne and Sydney Tests, so that by the time the sides reached Brisbane, India were naming an attack with a combined experience far short of what a touring side would normally field in a decider.

Labuschagne and Paine set a target

Marnus Labuschagne made 108, the only century of Australia's first innings, and was well supported by Steven Smith with 36, Matthew Wade with 45 and Cameron Green with 47. Tim Paine added a further 50 down the order before Nathan Lyon and Mitchell Starc pushed the total past 350. Australia were all out for 369, with the bowling shared evenly across India's inexperienced attack: T Natarajan, Shardul Thakur and Washington Sundar each took three wickets.

India's reply featured contributions from most of the top order without a single large score at first, Rohit Sharma making 44, Mayank Agarwal 38, Ajinkya Rahane 37 and Cheteshwar Pujara 25. Rishabh Pant, promoted up the order, made a brisk 23 from 29 balls before he was caught, one of five Indian batters to reach twenty without going on to a fifty. It was the lower order that gave the innings its shape: Washington Sundar made 62 and Shardul Thakur 67 in a stand that pushed India to within 33 runs of Australia's total, batting with a freedom that the top order had not quite managed against Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood. India were all out for 336, Josh Hazlewood taking 5 for 57 from his 24.4 overs, with Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins taking two wickets apiece.

Sundar and Thakur hold on

That lower-order stand from Sundar and Thakur mattered more than the scoreboard alone showed, because it kept Australia's first-innings lead down to 33, a margin the depleted India attack could work with. It also meant Australia had to bat again with only a modest cushion rather than a commanding one, and it denied Australia the chance to set an imposing target on a pitch that was still playing reasonably well for batting on the third day. Sundar, on debut, had shown the same composure with the bat that he would need again later in the match with the ball, part of a group of debutants and fringe players who ended up deciding the Test.

Siraj and Thakur strike back

Australia's second innings never got away from India. Marcus Harris made 38 and David Warner 48, and Steven Smith top-scored with 55, but wickets fell steadily around them: Marnus Labuschagne for 25, Cameron Green for 37, Tim Paine for 27. Mohammed Siraj, playing his first Test series and reportedly still dealing with the recent death of his father back in India, took 5 for 73, and Shardul Thakur added 4 for 61. Australia were bowled out for 294, with Pat Cummins unbeaten on 28, leaving India a target of 328 to win the match and the series.

The second-innings collapse against Siraj and Thakur was notable for how few big stands Australia were able to put together after Warner and Harris had given them a solid start. Only the sixth-wicket stand between Paine and Green, worth 31, passed thirty after that, and the last four wickets fell for 67 runs, a sequence that turned what had looked like a potentially defensible total into one within range of a chasing side batting with confidence.

Gill and Pujara build the chase

A target of 328 on the final day, against an Australian attack that included Cummins, Hazlewood and Lyon, was expected to be a defensive rearguard at best. Rohit Sharma fell early for 7, with the score on 18, but Shubman Gill, twenty-one years old and playing only his third Test, batted with a freedom that changed the tone of the chase. He added 114 with Cheteshwar Pujara for the second wicket and made 91 before he was caught, the top score of the innings. Pujara absorbed pressure at the other end, batting 211 balls for 56 and repeatedly taking blows from the short ball rather than give his wicket away.

Pant finishes it

With Pujara and Rahane both gone, and Mayank Agarwal and Washington Sundar following, India's chase fell to Rishabh Pant. He had already shown intent throughout the series, and in Brisbane he combined care with attacking strokes, adding 53 with Washington Sundar for the sixth wicket and finishing unbeaten on 89 from 138 balls, striking the boundary that brought up the target. Navdeep Saini stayed with him at the end. India finished on 329 for 7, winning by three wickets. Pant was named player of the match.

The record that fell

The win ended Australia's 32-year unbeaten run at the Gabba and gave India the series 2-1, retaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy with a squad that had used several uncapped and inexperienced players by the end of the tour. The full scorecard from Brisbane, including every fall of wicket and partnership across all four innings, is on this page, and the two sides can be explored on the Australia and India team pages. In The Follow-On you can pick either XI and try the chase, or defend the total, yourself.

Sources

• CricArcade Test archive: the full scorecard, fall of wickets and partnerships on this page
• ESPNcricinfo: Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2020/21, fourth Test scorecard and report
• Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 2022: India's tour of Australia