Australia lose nine wickets in one session in humiliating second Test defeat to India

Australia’s hopes of conquering the final frontier are over after being crushed by India’s ruthless spin sensations Ravi Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin for the second time in a week.

India will retain the Border-Gavaskar trophy for the fourth straight time after winning the second Test in Delhi by six wickets to take an unbeatable 2-0 advantage in the four-match series.

After losing in less than three days in the series opener in Nagpur, Australia suffered another collapse in their second innings to set India on path to a comfortable win.

On a rapidly deteriorating day-three pitch at Arun Jaitley Stadium, India had little trouble reaching the 115-run target as Cheteshwar Pujara (31 not out) hit the winning runs in his 100th Test.

India remain unbeaten in Tests at their fortress in the nation’s capital since 1987.

After flying to India full of confidence they could claim the Border-Gavaskar trophy away for the first time since 2004, Australia’s tour has imploded in less than six days of cricket.

Since an Adam Gilchrist and Ricky Ponting-led side saluted in India 19 years ago, Australia have won just one – at Pune in 2017 – out of 16 Tests they have contested in the country.

Despite being the world’s No 1 ranked Test team, Australia are still not assured of reaching the World Test Championship final in June if they lose this series 4-0 and other results go against them.

Australia’s hopes of securing the trophy went up in flames during a chaotic 90 minutes of batting on Sunday as Jadeja – with a career-best 7-42 – and Ashwin (3-59) ran riot.

After starting day three in Delhi with a 62-run lead with nine wickets in hand, Australia looked on track to build a match-winning advantage in seeking to level the series at 1-1.

But