page_title: Indian cricket team in Australia in 2007–08
section_title: 3rd Test
hierarchical_section_title: Indian cricket team in Australia in 2007–08 / Test series / 3rd Test
caption_attribution_description: en:Irfan Pathan at en:Adelaide Oval
context_page_description: The Indian cricket team began a tour of Australia in December 2007, playing the 4 match Test series for the Border Gavaskar Trophy, followed by a single Twenty20 match on 1 February 2008. They also participated in the Commonwealth Bank tri-series against Australia and Sri Lanka from 3 February to 4 March.
context_section_description: Day One
  India won the toss for the first time in the series, and elected to bat first. Virender Sehwag got his first chance in the series and played a typically attacking innings, providing the team with a good start along with Wasim Jaffer. Both openers went within two runs of each other and Australia slowed the scoring for some time. Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid then came in and steadied the ship, taking the team to a relatively safe score with individual fifties before being dismissed, Dravid missing his century by seven runs. Australia took a few wickets at the end of the day to leave the day's honours even with India batting at 297/6 at the end of the day's play. Stuart Clark and Brett Lee were the standout performers for Australia.
  Day Two
  The Indian batsmen took a few runs before Australia took four wickets for just two runs, closing the innings at 330. In reply, India's young pace attack kept Australia down with some fine swing bowling, pushing Australia down to 5/61. Andrew Symonds and Adam Gilchrist then put up an attacking 102 run partnership to engineer an Australian revival but were soon dismissed in quick succession. Indian captain Anil Kumble claimed Symonds as his 600th Test wicket. The pacers then cleaned up the tail, overcoming a few minor scares from tailenders Mitchell Johnson and Shaun Tait. Australia finished at 212, 118 runs behind, leaving the Indian batsmen to negotiate the last hour of the day's play. Stuart Clark took an early wicket, dismissing Wasim Jaffer, leaving India with a lead of 170 with nine wickets remaining at stumps with Sehwag and nightwatchman Irfan Pathan at the crease.
  Day Three
  The morning session was finely balanced, with Australia reducing India to 125 for 5. Sehwag fell to Clark, while Brett Lee took the wickets of Rahul Dravid and Tendulkar, and Mitchell Johnson dismissed Sourav Ganguly. India's day was saved by the lower order, led by the 79 of VVS Laxman. Pathan finished on 46 and Mahendra Singh Dhoni a gritty 38, but the biggest irritant to Australia proved to be RP Singh, who scored a career-high 30 as part of a 51-run ninth-wicket partnership with Laxman that took the India lead over 400 runs. India were finally dismissed for 294 when Laxman edged a Lee delivery to Gilchrist. Australia were set a daunting target of 413 to win—greater than all but one successful run chase in Test history to date. Pathan took the wickets of Chris Rogers and Phil Jaques before stumps, leaving Australia on 65/2.
  Day FourRicky Ponting and Mike Hussey stayed at the crease for a major part of the morning session. Ishant Sharma troubled Ponting throughout this period, with the Australian captain unable to take control. After a seven-over spell, Anil Kumble was about to replace Sharma with RP Singh, when Virender Sehwag asked him to retain Sharma. The ploy worked and Ponting was dismissed off the first ball of that over. This triggered the fall of the Australian resistance, as they lost four wickets in the session after lunch (including the contentious dismissals of Hussey and Andrew Symonds). Sehwag was brought in to bowl and responded with the prize scalps of Adam Gilchrist and Brett Lee. Towards the end, Michael Clarke (61) kept up the resistance in partnerships of 50 and 24 with Gilchrist and Mitchell Johnson. Johnson himself made his first Test fifty and was involved in a whirlwind partnership of 74 with Stuart Clark, but once last man Shaun Tait came in at the fall of Clark, it was only a matter of time before India took the match; RP Singh did the honours with a yorker that went hit Tait's foot outside the leg stump and rolled onto his stumps, half an hour before the close of the day's play.
  The game was widely praised for the high standard of cricket on offer throughout. The Indians were particularly praised for coming back from two games down in the series to deny Australia a record seventeenth consecutive Test victory at a venue whose pitch has, over the years, proved to be the downfall of almost every visiting team. Indian captain Anil Kumble considered this win as his best win
caption: Irfan Pathan
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