Australia thump India at fortress Adelaide to level Test series

ADELAIDE, Australia, Dec 08 (AFP): A resurgent Australia thumped India by 10 wickets to win the second Test on Sunday and level their blockbuster five-match series 1-1 after a batting and bowling masterclass at fortress Adelaide Oval.

Chasing just 19 for victory, openers Usman Khawaja and Nathan McSweeney steered the hosts to the meagre target without loss on day three of the pink-ball clash.

The visitors resumed at 128-5 after their hopes were left in tatters during a final fiery session on Saturday at the hands of an Australian pace onslaught.

They only boosted the total to 175 before meekly surrendering. Danger man Rishabh Pant failed to negotiate the opening over from Mitchell Starc and was out without adding to his overnight 28 while Pat Cummins accounted for Ravichandran Ashwin (7) then Harshit Rana (0).

Allrounder Nitish Kumar Reddy made a plucky 42 before he fell to Scott Boland, who then removed Mohammed Siraj (7) to end the innings. Skipper Cummins ended with 5-57 while Boland grabbed 3-51. Starc took eight wickets for the match."That's a great week. We were far from the team we want to be in Perth but this was good," said Cummins, whose side was well beaten in the series opener.

The captain reserved specialpraise for Travis Head after his match-winning century.

"He loves batting here, again one of those momentum-shifts, it could have gone either way when he walked out to bat," Cummins said.