Perth: Perth was always going to be a difficult frontier for India to conquer, but the visitors proved the pundits wrong by stopping the Australian juggernaut here in the third Test match Saturday. Indian captain Anil Kumble rated the win as superb as none thought his team could do it.
"It is a brilliant win and specially on a bouncy Perth wicket. No one gave us a chance here to win. It was brilliant more in the sense after what happened to us in Sydney," said an elated Kumble.
Chasing 413 for An improbable win, the Australians were bowled out for 340 in the second innings to give India a 72-run win at the Western Australia Cricket Association (WACA) Ground, whose pitch was considered to be one of the fastest on the planet.
Australia still lead the four-match series 2-1 but the win here will give the Indian team a much needed boost to square the series in Adelaide. Before coming to Perth, the Indian team was down on morale in the aftermath of the Sydney Test, which was marred with charges of racial slur on off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, some poor umpiring and also the unsporting attitude of the Australian team.
"We had our chances in Melbourne and Sydney. Our batting didn't click in Melbourne and we came to Sydney putting all those behind but unfortunately things were not in our way," said Kumble.
"But here everyone chipped in and it is very important in a team's winning cause. We had a pretty young bowling line up and everyone bowled well. There was intensity from the players and that's what counted in our victory."
The Indian captain felt that his team now has a good chance of squaring the series by winning the final Test in Adelaide, starting Thursday.
"We now have a great chance of squaring the series. Before coming into this match, the idea was to win it and keep the series alive. It will give a major boost in Adelaide, where we had also defeated them in the last series," said Kumble.
India became the first side to beat Australia in Australia for over four years, since their win in Adelaide in 2003. They also became the first team to beat Australia in Perth after a gap of ten years. India also halted Australia's run of 16 consecutive Test victories.
"We had some tough times in this series and I am happy that everyone supported us here and back home. It was a wonderful experience to win here and hopefully we will keep up the spirit in Adelaide as well," said Kumble.
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