On this day in 2017: R Ashwin becomes quickest to 25 five-fors as India defeat Australia in Bengaluru Test – Firstcricket News, Firstpost

Five years ago on this day, 7 March 2017, the Indian cricket team defeated Australia by 75 runs in the second Test held at Bengaluru. The game was a special one for Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who reached the milestone of 25 five-fers in Test cricket.

The match also saw four bowlers — Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Nathan Lyon and Josh Hazlewood — scalp six wickets or more in an innings, making it the first-ever such instance in a Test.

India had suffered a thumping 333-run defeat against Australia in the first Test at Pune and the team had had to bounce back hard in the second Test to level the ground.

In the second Test of the 4-match series, India won the toss and chose to bat first. KL Rahul was the top scorer with 90 runs, but Aussie bowlers were quick to bundle out India for 189. Australia’s Nathan Lyon picked a total of 8 wickets, while the Mitchell Starc and Steve O’Keefe took one wicket each.

Australia couldn’t take much of an advantage of the good work done by the bowlers as they managed 276. Shan Marsh and Matt Renshaw made 66 and 60 respectively, while Mathew Wade’s valuable 40 and David Warner’s 33 helped the team take an 87-run lead. On the bowling side, India’s Ravindra Jadeja took 6 wickets in the first innings. Australia had expected more from their batters especially given the fact that India are giants at home and you need to capitalise on the situation as much as you can, else India have the capability to bounce back and hurt any team.

And it did happen. In the second innings, the Indian batters put on a much better performance as Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane helped the team out of troubled waters by stitching a brilliant 118-run partnership. Pujara scored 92 while Rahane contributed with 52 and helped India set a 188-run target. KL Rahul’s valuable 51 also contributed in taking India to a total of 274 in the second innings. Hazlewood was the star of the second innings for Australia as he picked up six wickets. The visitors still had an upper hand though as they required just 188 to win.

Chasing a target 188 runs, the Australian team displayed an under-par performance in the second innings. Top-scorers Steven Smith and Peter Handscomb added a mere 28 and 24 respectively for the team, while David Warner posted just 17. On the bowling side, India’s ace off-spinner, Ravichandran Ashwin wreaked havoc and scalped six wickets. Warner was trapped plumb in front by Ashwin at 42/2 and Mitchell Marsh was the next to be bowled by Ashwin.

The off-spinner took his third wicket by dismissing Matthew Wade and the Aussies were reduced to 103 for seven wickets when Ashwin cleaned up Mitchell Starc in the 29th over.

The spinner led India’s revival from the front and bundled the Aussies out for mere 112 runs in the second innings. Ashwin finished the game with  figures of 6/41 in just 12.4 overs.

India defeated Australia by 75 runs and levelled the 4-match series at 1-1. It was a stunning comeback as India fought back from being 189 all out to winning the match comfortably by 75 runs.

Off-spinner Ashwin took his 25th five-wicket haul, making him the fastest bowler to reach the milestone in just 47 Tests, according to a report by ESPNCricinfo. KL Rahul was awarded Player of the Match for his brilliant 90 and 51 in the first and second innings respectively.

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