28 January 2008
Australia had already retained the Border-Gavaskar troply after the Sydney victory but the series was still alive because of the win by India in Perth. Going into day 5 of the Adelaide test match there was still a chance that had India not batted properly they would have lost the test match.
India began the day cautiously with Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag. Dravid was his usual self untill he was hit by a rising Lee delivery on his fingers. It was later learnt that he had fractured his fingers and retired hurt at that moment. Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag then took India past the 100 runs lead before Sachin got out trying to go for an impossible single. Sehwag on the other end was playing blazing innings and completed his first century in second innings of Test match cricket.
After lunch India lost Ganguly and Laxman but Sehwag remained solid and soon after tea he completed his 150 runs before edging a ball into hands of Gilchrist. The Indian tailenders ensured that there was no sudden collapse and the match ended in a draw. Sachin Tendulkar was declared the man of the match for his 153 runs in first innings.
Adelaide test will be most remembered for the retirement of Adam Gilchrist from the test cricket. He will still be playing the ODI cricket for 2 months before retiring from all forms of cricket. |