Australia will rue this missed opportunity in Delhi to beat India, especially having dominated much of the Test match.
Having been put in to bat by Rohit on a green pitch, Australia were 302-8 at close of day 1. Warner hit a cavalier 53, Labuschagne a mature 65, Mitch Marsh smashed 4x6 during his 67, while Smith was effortless for his 73. Thakur took 5-70 and Siraj 3-50 as India reduced the tourists to 314 all out on day 2.
The 2nd day saw Australia bowl well on a decent batting pitch to reduce India to 249-8 (Agarwal 99, Rahul 60). Starc, with 4-70, rounded up the Indian innings to 278, an Australian lead of 36. However, the tourists' progress was held up by the poor light which restricted play on day 3.
On day 4 Australia took the game by the scruff of the neck as Smith majestically strode to an undefeated 129. India needed 366 to win on a pitch taking spin, and lost Agarwal to Starc on the 4th evening. When Carey and Lyon combined for the final day stumpings of Rahul and Pant, Australian hopes were buoyant. Just before tea, Travis Head's off spin removed Iyer for 42 and India were teetering at 184-7. But 73no from Sundar and some stubborn tail end resistance saw India to safety. Had bad light not blighted day 3, Steve Smith's superb batting and 2 second innings wickets might have brought victory. Nevertheless, he is a worthy man of the match.
India 2020s: S Gill, MA Agarwal, RG Sharma (c), KL Rahul, SS Iyer, RR Pant (wk), MS Washington Sundar, SN Thakur, AR Patel, JJ Bumrah, M Siraj
Australia 2020s: DA Warner, Usman Khawaja, M Labuschagne, SPD Smith, TM Head, AT Carey (wk), MR Marsh, MA Starc, PJ Cummins (c), NM Lyon, JR Hazlewood
Australia 2020s 1st Innings 314-10 (94.4 Ov)
SPD Smith 73, MR Marsh 67, M Labuschagne 65, SN Thakur 5-70, M Siraj 3-50
India 2020s 1st Innings 278-10 (89.5 Ov)
MA Agarwal 99, KL Rahul 60, RR Pant 50, MA Starc 4-70, JR Hazlewood 2-40, PJ Cummins 2-47
Australia 2020s 2nd Innings 329-10 (115.3 Ov)
SPD Smith 129*, MA Starc 48, TM Head 46, JJ Bumrah 2-37, M Siraj 2-55, AR Patel 2-63
India 2020s 2nd Innings 245-8 (106 Ov)
MS Washington Sundar 73*, S Gill 48, SS Iyer 42, NM Lyon 2-33, MA Starc 2-40, SPD Smith 2-52
Match Drawn
Man of the Match: SPD Smith
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