India Wins against Aussies - Spinners Excel while Ponting condemns Mumbai pitch!
Ajit Parker, Special Correspondent
November 06, 2004

It was the spinner trio and the pitch that humbled Aussies in the fourth test in Mumbai. Harbhajan Singh bagged five wickets as India beat Australia by 13 runs on the third day of the fourth Test. 'This was nowhere near a Test wicket,' Australia's captain said after his team lost to India in the fourth Test.

So Australia's top order capitulated. It was bizarre. There were demons in the pitch but Australia batted like they were in a horror movie.

Off spinner Harbhajan Singh continued his dominance over Australia on Friday, routing them for 93 on a crumbling pitch to bowl India to a dramatic 13-run win in less than three days of the fourth and final test. The 24-year-old, who has taken 53 wickets against Australia in his last six tests at home, finished with five for 29. The world champions, however, still lifted the Border-Gavaskar trophy by winning the series 2-1, their first triumph in India since 1969.

Left-arm spinner Kartik added three scalps on a minefield of a track for the visiting batsmen, who were unable to cope with the uneven bounce and sharp turn. Only Matthew Hayden put up any real resistance, scoring 24 with four boundaries but the writing was on the wall for Australia after his dismissal made it 48 for five. Jason Gillespie (nine not out) held on for 72 minutes but Harbhajan got the last two batsmen as Australia folded in 30.5 overs. 

"We would’ve liked 150, but the way the guys bowled and fielded was quite extraordinary," stand-in captain Rahul Dravid said. Occasional left-arm spinner Michael Clarke had earlier picked up extraordinary career-best figures of six for nine, as India were dismissed for 205 in their second innings after fighting half-centuries by Vangipurappu Laxman and Sachin Tendulkar. Laxman (69) and Tendulkar (55), both struggling for form, shared in a 91-run fourth wicket stand before Clarke dented local hopes by taking all his wickets in 29 balls, including Rahul Dravid (27) and Mohammad Kaif (25). He finished with astonishing figures of 6.2-0-9-6 on a bustling day in which 20 wickets fell.