India win third Test and series

India won a dramatic deciding third Test by two wickets against Australia on Thursday to take the series 2-1 and spark massive celebrations.

India, set 155 for victory on the final day after off-spinner Harbhajan Singh had taken a career-best eight for 84 and a 15-wicket match haul, edged home just after tea, to the delight of the 50,000 flag-waving crowd.

Fittingly, it was Singh who hit the winning runs, jumping for joy and brandishing his bat in the air after driving pace bowler Glenn McGrath square for two.

Sourav Ganguly's players, who fought back from losing the first Test, immediately started spraying each other with champagne after the highly-charged finale.

The result extended Australia's Indian drought. They have not won a Test series in the country since Bill Lawry led his team to a 3-1 triumph in 1969.

It was also a major reverse for Steve Waugh's side after their victory in the first Test in Bombay had given them a world record of 16 consecutive Test wins.

India had looked in total control after passing 100 for two.

But they then lost three wickets for 21 runs to slump to 122 for five, with Sachin Tendulkar, skipper Ganguly and Rahul Dravid all back in the pavilion.

Two more wickets fell quickly after tea, with the last recognised batsman Vangipurappu Laxman making 66 before he pulled a delivery from off-spinner Colin Miller and was brilliantly caught by Mark Waugh at midwicket, diving full-length to his right.

McGrath added to the tension by making it 151 for eight by removing Zaheer Khan for a duck.

Steve Waugh exchanged words with an increasingly tense-looking Singh just before the end but the off-spinner had the last laugh.

Singh was declared joint man of the match with Matthew Hayden, who made 203 in Australia's first innings.

Mail Cricket Editor