4. Australia vs India at Adelaide (6-10 December) – India won by 31 runs

It was the four-match Test series opener that was played at the Adelaide Oval (Adelaide). Indian skipper Virat Kohli decided to bat first after winning the toss. With the help of Cheteshwar Pujara’s sole fighting knock of 123 runs off 246 balls (7 fours and 2 sixes), India managed to score 250 runs in their first innings.

In reply, Australia was bundled out for 235 runs where Travis Head (72 runs off 167 balls) was the only batsman to make a strong fight.

Starting with the 15 runs lead, India managed to score 307 runs in their second innings, thanks to Pujara’s another 71 runs (204 balls; 9 fours) and Ajinkya Rahane’s 70 runs. At the end of that innings, Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon had the bowling figure of 42-7-122-6.

Chasing down the 323 runs target, Australian middle-orders and tail-enders fought impressively but they were bundled out on 291 runs and India won by 31 runs. While Shaun Marsh (60 off 166 balls) scored the highest runs in that innings, there were some fighting knocks in the end but those were not enough.

Pujara won the Player of the Match award for his brilliant batting performances in both the innings.