Australian team
IND vs AUS: In the third Test match of the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2023 played in Indore, Australia made a strong comeback and defeated Team India by 9 wickets. After facing defeat in the first two Test matches, the Kangaroo team has now opened its account in the series and brought it to 2-1. However, this defeat will not affect the series win or loss of Team India, but due to this defeat, the problems have increased regarding the World Test Championship. If India has to play the WTC final, then it will have to win the last match, whereas with this victory, the Kangaroo team has got the ticket for the final. The final Test match of the series will be played from March 9 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Briefly talking about this match, Indian team captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and decided to bat first. The whole team could not bat even for 3 hours and got reduced to 109 runs in 33.2 overs. In reply, Australia scored 197 runs and took a lead of 88 runs. After this, Team India could not do anything special in the second innings as well. Nobody did much except Cheteshwar Pujara’s 59. The entire team was reduced to 163 runs in the second innings as well. In response, Australia got the target of 76 runs, which they achieved by losing just one wicket. Travis Head scored an unbeaten 49 and Marnus Labushen scored 28 runs.
Nathan Lyon was the hero of Australia’s victory in this match, who took a total of 11 wickets. He took three wickets in the first innings and took 8 wickets in the second innings. Apart from him, Matt Kuhneman, who took 5 wickets in the first innings and one wicket in the second innings, also contributed significantly. Indian batting was a complete flop in this match. Well done by the bowlers. In the first innings, Jadeja took 4 wickets and Umesh and Ashwin took 3-3 wickets. The target was much smaller in the second innings but early in the day, Ashwin dismissed Khawaja for a duck on the second ball itself. After this, Head and Labushen did not make mistakes and took their team to victory.
Team India will have to win the fourth Test at any cost
After losing by an innings and 132 runs in Nagpur and then by 6 wickets in Delhi, the Kangaroo team has made a great comeback here by winning by 9 wickets in Indore. Now the series has reached 2-1. By winning this match, the visitors have not only staked claim to stay in the series but have also confirmed their place in the final of the World Test Championship. The final will be held at The Oval in London from June 7 to June 11. Now the race for the second team is between India and Sri Lanka. Team India will have to win the last match at any cost to secure their place. On the other hand, the Sri Lankan team would like to win both the matches on the tour of New Zealand.