Australia collapses against India in Dehli disaster after starting the day with a lead: cricket series defeat

Australia’s hopes of conquering the final frontier are dashed after being dashed for the second time in a week by India’s ruthless spin sensations Ravi Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin.

India will retain the Border Gavaskar trophy for a fourth consecutive year after winning the second Test in Delhi by six goals to forge an unbeatable 2-0 advantage in the four-game series.

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After losing in less than three days in the series opener in Nagpur, Australia suffered another collapse in their second inning to put India on their way to a comfortable win.

On a rapidly deteriorating pitch on Day 3 at Arun Jaitley Stadium, India had no trouble reaching the 115-run goal as Cheteshwar Pujara (31 no) hit the winning runs in his 100th Test.

India has remained unbeaten in tests at its fortress in the country’s capital since 1987.

After flying to India in confidence, they claimed the Border Gavaskar trophy for the first time since 2004 and Australia’s tour has imploded in less than six days of cricket.

Since a side led by Adam Gilchrist and Ricky Ponting saluted in India 19 years ago, Australia have won just one – at Pune in 2017 – of 16 Tests they have contested in the country.

Despite being the No. 1 Test team in the world, Australia are still not certain of reaching the Test World Cup final in June if they lose that series 4-0 and other results weigh against them.

Australia’s title hopes were ablaze during a chaotic 90-minute brawl on Sunday as Jadeja – with a career-best 7-42 – and Ashwin (3-59) raged.

After starting Day 3 in Delhi with a 62-run lead and nine wickets in hand, Australia seemed on track to build a crucial lead to level the series 1-1.

But Jadeja and Ashwin quickly set about destroying Australia’s line-up, unleashing carnage similar to the first Test in Nagpur.

Australia went from 1-61 to 113 overnight in less than a session, setting India a target of just 115 to win.

After appearing to handle the difficult conditions at 2-85, the Tourists lost 8-28 in one of the worst breakdowns by an Australian Test team.

The tourists lost 4-0 in 11 balls to fall from 3:95 to 7:95 in a devastating time before drinks on Sunday morning.

The tourists lost three wickets in as many balls – one to Ashwin and two to Jadeja – as Matt Renshaw, Peter Handscomb and captain Pat Cummins were unable to contain India’s turning brilliance.

Handscomb got an unplayable delivery from Jadeja, but Cummins’ shot was a wild, T20-like swing to a ball that slammed into his stumps.

Given his first opportunity to open in Test cricket after David Warner was substituted with a concussion on Saturday, Travis Head (43) added just four to his overnight score before being eliminated by Ashwin on the last ball of the first over .

Marnus Labuschagne (35) and Steve Smith appeared stable on the kink for a short while but when the latter fell Australia crumbled on a rapidly deteriorating place.