Rishabh Pant and Washington Sundar: The two young left-handed batsmen sealed an unimaginable chase for India at the Gabba.
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During the fifth day of the fourth Test of the ongoing India’s tour of Australia, India have become the first team to beat Australia in Brisbane for the first time since 1988. The fascinating five-day match will doubtlessly go down as one of the most remembered ones in the history of the sport.
Chasing a 328-run target, the odds were always against the visitors but the sheer determination with which Shubman Gill (91) and Rishabh Pant’s (89) brisk run-scoring complimented Cheteshwar Pujara (56) holding his end up by copping blows on his body was second to none.
Needing 145 runs to win the match in the last session, India started positively on the back of Pant taking on the opposition bowlers after Australia captain Tim Paine missed a stumping chance off Nathan Lyon.
While one has to give it to the likes of Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood for giving their best at the Gabba, them still getting outperformed by the Indian batsmen speaks highly of the visitors’ skills in this series.
Despite Pujara and Mayank Agarwal (9) getting out in the final session, Pant played the dual role of saving his wicket and scoring quick runs. From hitting some classic drives through the off-side to taking Lyon to the cleaners, the 23-year old player potentially registered a career-defining innings.
With the last 20 overs of the match becoming like a tight ODI run-chase, Pant put on display his exceptional white-ball skills to always keep India in the match. Much like Pant, his ICC U-19 World Cup 2016 teammate Washington Sundar (22) also played a vital cameo to power India to a series victory.
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