Ashwin, Vihari's Persistence Eclipses Australia's Victory Dream

The third Test played between India and Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground witnessed the sheer determination required for this format of the game. Chasing a mammoth target of 407, Indian batsmen defied the fierce Aussie bowling attack and ended the match at draw, albeit the odds were in favor of Australia's victory. With this chase, India also batted for most number of overs in fourth inning of a Test since 1979. Earlier, India had batted for so long only against Pakistan (131 overs) and England (150.5 overs). All-rounders Hanuma Vihari and R Ashwin emerged as heroes of the match since they faced 259 deliveries for their 62-run partnership, denying Australia an once easy-looking win. Vihari, who was unable to run after suffering a hamstring injury, scored 23 runs off 161 balls, while Ashwin played a tenacious inning of 39 runs off 128 despite being struck by vicious bouncers. Earlier, a crucial partnership between Rishabh Pant (97) and Cheteshwar Pujara's (77) had already eclipsed the Australia's victory dream.