India produced one of cricket's greatest turnarounds here in Calcutta yesterday, beating Australia in the second Test - only the third team to win a Test after following on. They also put an end to the longest winning streak in Test history and levelled the series at 1-1.
After the miracle of the fourth day when Vangipurappu Venkata Sai Laxman and Rahul Dravid batted throughout to turn a 274-run first-innings deficit into a lead of 383, the offspinner Harbhajan Singh took six for 73 and Australia were finally all out for 212, losing by 171 runs.
The only other time a team has won after following-on was in Sydney in 1894-5 when England beat Australia by 18 runs. When Glenn McGrath was out leg-before to Harbhajan for 12, the Indians ran to each other, embraced and formed a circle.
The tourists' captain Steve Waugh came on to the field to greet the hosts. "Once India got 300 ahead they were in the box seat," he said later. "We were probably never going to get a victory from there."
Australia had been set 384 off a minimum 75 overs but were never in the hunt, losing wickets too regularly for a demanding run-chase. The loss was their first since Sri Lanka beat them in September 1999. It ended a record winning streak of 16 matches and an unbeaten sequence of 18.
India's second innings ended an hour into this fifth day when Sourav Ganguly declared with the score on 657 for seven, the highest total made against Australia since the 1938 Ashes series in England. The men who put India into their winning position, Laxman and Dravid, both fell in that first hour, the former for 281 and the latter for 180. Their fifth-wicket stand had been worth 376.
When Laxman, no doubt exhausted by 12 hours of batting in two innings over three days, finally hit a ball from McGrath in the air to Ponting it was difficult to tell who was the most surprised - the batsman, the bowler or the fieldsman.
Laxman was named man of the match, just ahead of Harbhajan who finished with match figures of 13 for 196. "I must thank the Australians for their competitive cricket," said the gracious Laxman. "They play it very hard but they are very sporting as well. And I would like to congratulate them on their winning sequence."
A required run-rate of 5.12 an over was always a tough ask of Australia, but it was made more difficult when the they lost momentum to be 116 for three in the 31st over. From there batting became more a matter of survival than an adventurous run-chase.
At tea they were 161 for three, still needing 223 off a minimum of 32 overs. Matthew Hayden was not out 59 and Steve Waugh 23. But when the captain fell soon after for 24, caught around the corner to give Harbhajan his 10th wicket, Australia had a real fight on their hands.
Ponting fell in the same over, being caught for a duck, and Adam Gilchrist was presented with the rare challenge of holding at bay a confident attack. He was out leg-before to Sachin Tendulkar's first ball to complete a golden pair.
