India mop up Aussie tail to take 2-1 lead

MELBOURNE: A clinical and "obsessed" India mopped up Australia’s tail to win the third Test in Melbourne on Sunday by 137 runs and take an unassailable 2-1 lead into the final clash at Sydney.

The home team resumed at 258 for eight after the morning session was wiped out by rain in their unlikely quest to hunt down a huge 399, which would have been a record fourth-innings chase at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. No team before had made more than 332 to win, and that was in 1928 by England. But they fell well short of the target, with Jasprit Bumrah taking the key wicket of dogged Pat Cummins and Ishant Sharma snaring Nathan Lyon to secure the emphatic win. India, the world’s top-ranked nation, are now zeroing in on a first-ever series win Down Under in Sydney later this week, where they need only a draw to smash the long-time jinx. It is a feat that skipper Virat Kohli has so publicly coveted since his men arrived in Australia last month.

"We always believed that this was very possible because of the talent we have in the side and the mindset we have been carrying for the last 12 months," Kohli said. "If you want to win a series away from home, it has to be an obsession, so hats off to the whole team for sticking together, believing in themselves and being obsessed about getting results."

India 1st innings: 443-7 dec

Australia first innings: 151

India 2nd innings: 106-8 dec

Australia 2nd innings (overnight 258-8):

M. Harris c Agarwal b Jadeja 13

A. Finch c Kohli b Bumrah 3

U. Khawaja lbw b Shami 33

S. Marsh lbw b Bumrah 44

T. Head b Sharma 34

M. Marsh c Kohli b Jadeja 10

T. Paine c Pant b Jadeja 26

P. Cummins c Pujara b Bumrah 63

M. Starc b Shami 18

N. Lyon c Pant b Sharma 7

J. Hazlewood not out 0

Extras: (lb6, b2, w2) 10

Total: (all out, 89.3 overs) 261

Fall: 1-6 (Finch), 2-33 (Harris), 3-63 (Khawaja), 4-114 (S. Marsh), 5-135 (M. Marsh), 6-157 (Head), 7-176 (Paine), 8-215 (Starc), 9-261 (Cummins), 10-261 (Lyon)

Bowling: Bumrah 19-3-53-3, Sharma 14.3-1-40-2, Jadeja 32-6-82-3, Shami 21-2-71-2, Vihari 3-1-7-0

Toss: India

Result: India won by 137 runs

Series: India lead 2-1

Umpires: Marais Erasmus (RSA), Ian Gould (ENG)

TV umpire: Richard Kettleborough (ENG)

Match referee: Paul Wilson (AUS).