Only the second draw with scores level

India 482 (Ashwin 103, Tendulkar 94, Dravid 82) and 242 for 9 (Kohli 63, Sehwag 60) drew with West Indies 590 (Bravo 166, K Edwards 86, Powell 81) and 134 (Ojha 6-47, Ashwin 4-34)
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

	Virat Kohli forged his second Test fifty in two days to seal his place at No. 6 for the Boxing Day Test © AFP

The draw was the predicted result at the start of the final day at the Wankhede. It was a draw alright, but instead of the widely expected bore, India and West Indies served up one of the most extraordinary days of Test cricket, with the match ending with the scores level for only the second time in history.

R Ashwin was the Man of the Match and Man of the Series, but wasn't the man of the moment for India when they needed two off the final delivery - he took a single, but didn't set off immediately for the tight second that could have sealed the win, and the clean sweep for India. Ashwin was run out, ending an hour of almost unbearable tension that showcased Test cricket's slow-burn thrills. Fidel Edwards, a man renowned for securing nail-biting draws with the bat, had done the job with the ball in the final over this time.

A comatose Test had sprung to life on the final morning in Mumbai, as Pragyan Ojha and Ashwin ran through the West Indian line-up courtesy a combination of quality spin and atrocious shot selection. That left India a tricky 243 to get in 64 overs. Virender Sehwag then concocted another brisk half-century to set the early pace, before Virat Kohli forged his second Test fifty in two days to seal his place at No. 6 for the Boxing Day Test and keep India's pursuit on course.

With ten overs to go, India were well in control - 42 away with Kohli and Ashwin at the crease, both youngsters brimming with confidence after making plenty of runs on the fourth day, and having their places for the tour of Australia confirmed earlier on the fifth. The pair took India within 19 runs of the target, and victory seemed a formality. That was when Kohli top-edged a catch to a hobbling Darren Sammy at gully.

That put Ashwin in the spotlight. He revelled under responsibility all series, but the biggest test of his temperament had just arrived, as the required-rate increasingly gained significance. He was remarkably composed, often counselling the tailenders as the match wound its way to an impossibly tense finish. The most common chant in Indian grounds is the "Sachin, Sachin" mantra - the first word stretched out, the second short and sharp. A similar chant went around the Wankhede, only Sachin was replaced by Ashwin.

As the light faded, so too did the West Indian fielding. They missed several direct hits, including two off successive deliveries in the penultimate over. One precise throw could have been a match-turner. Ishant Sharma began with a classic off-drive for four, and then scraped singles with Ashwin to bring it down to four runs needed off eight, with two wickets remaining.

Ravi Rampaul then got reward for his give-it-everything burst, getting a ball to swerve past Ishant's bat and take out leg stump. The debutant Varun Aaron walked out, under far more pressure than he would have ever faced in his fledgling career. He inside-edged a single to keep strike for the final over. Three needed.

Edwards bowled with a packed in-field, with only third man and fine leg deep to prevent any edged boundaries. His first ball was too quick for Aaron, the second was sharply fielded at cover, and third was a tailenders' mow that connected with nothing. A take-it-easy mid-pitch conversation followed. Rather than the batsman, it was the West Indian fielding that took it easy though, as yet another misfield provided an opening, with Marlon Samuels conceding a single to bring Ashwin on strike.

Two off two then. Ashwin edged the penultimate ball onto the pad. No run, but with two wickets in hand, an India defeat had now been taken out of the equation. He pummelled the final delivery to long-on, and though Aaron was haring back to the non-striker's end, Ashwin was slow to turn around for the second, giving more time for a run-out at the wicketkeeper's end. When it mattered, the throw was spot on, Ashwin was run out with the scores level.

The drama at the death made the topsy-turvy events of the morning seem humdrum. It had taken India nearly six sessions to get eight West Indian wickets in the first innings, but the same feat required little more than an hour on the final morning. The difference between West Indies' totals was 456, the fourth-largest in Test history, yet again highlighting their inability to put together two solid innings.

Ojha sparked the collapse by removing West Indies' best batsman of the series, Darren Bravo, and their most experienced, Samuels, in one over. He snared the first five wickets of the innings, before Ashwin joined the party, and the two were in a race to top the series' wickets chart. It ended Ashwin 22, Ojha 20.

While one Caribbean meltdown a Test is almost the norm, it was expected that even if India lost a few early wickets, the stalwarts in the middle order would at least hold out for a safety-first draw - especially against an attack that was missing Sammy, troubled by a leg injury. Devendra Bishoo was also hampered by a thigh injury. Sehwag made the most of three dropped catches, and though it wasn't his usual blast-from-the-start innings, there was plenty of typical audacity as he powered India along at five an over.

It was all India as they motored past 100, before the twist duly arrived. Sehwag, the great entertainer, found an unusual way to get out - top-edging a full toss outside leg to short fine leg after attempting an insouciant reverse-paddle. Samuels then made up for the eyesore of a stroke he attempted earlier in the day, by wheedling out the wickets of Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid.

India still had the iron-clad guarantee of VVS Laxman, perhaps the finest final-innings player around. For once, he couldn't stay till the end, and when another famous finisher, MS Dhoni, followed him soon after, it was down to the new boys, Kohli and Ashwin. They might not have taken India over the line, but were instrumental in one of the most dramatic denouements in Test history.

If Test cricket's obituarists hadn't been daunted by Zimbabwe's brave but failed chase in Bulawayo, or the twists-and-turns of the South Africa v Australia series, this match should certainly keep them at bay.

© ESPN EMEA Ltd.

Strauss shines as Somerset dominate in draw

Somerset 425 for 3 dec (Suppiah 156, Compton 88, Strauss 78) and 260 for 2 dec (Strauss 109*, Trego 85*) drew with Indians 224 (Raina 103*, Willoughby 6-76) and 69 for 0

	Suresh Raina's sparkling ton was the only bright spot for India in Taunton © Getty Images

If the forthcoming Test series goes well for Andrew Strauss and England, Somerset should be top of his Christmas card list. After finding form in the first innings, he made the most of his second knock with an unbeaten 109 as India were left with precious little to take from the match other than Suresh Raina's 103 earlier on the final day.

However, like in the first innings where Arul Suppiah outshone the England captain with a career-best 156, the limelight was taken away by another Somerset batsman as Peter Trego hammered a 57-ball 85 off the struggling Indian attack before the home side, somewhat sympathetically, declared at tea to allow the visitors another brief innings. At least Gautam Gambhir and Abhinav Mukund eased themselves to an unbroken 69 before another shower ended the match, and India headed to London with their tail between their legs.

Trego arrived with Amit Mishra on a hat-trick but wickets were soon a long way from the legspinner's mind as he was left watching the ball sail regularly into the stands. Trego's half-century came up with the third of four consecutive leg-side sixes, and the umpires twice needed to find replacement balls. At one stage Mishra had bowled three overs for 61 and it went from a being a tough warm-up for the tourists to something of an embarrassment, although they will try to play down the significance.

It was no surprise that the home side didn't enforce the follow-on after the Indians were bowled out and the Somerset opening pair again made comfortable progress. Zaheer Khan didn't take the field - and neither did Sachin Tendulkar - but the team manager insisted he was purely resting which seemed an odd decision after a wicketless first innings where Zaheer looked in far from peak form. And if he didn't want to show himself to Strauss again, that suggests the pressure has shifted.

The remaining Indian bowlers went through the motions and the pattern was similar to the first innings. Munaf Patel was steady but unthreatening while Sreesanth was expensive. Strauss dominated the scoring, although not quite in the fashion of the opening day as Suppiah rode on the confidence of his first-innings hundred.

Strauss had barely an alarm as he cruised past fifty and tucked into some friendly bowling. He took three consecutive boundaries off Sreesanth, who kept dropping short, and also came down the pitch at Mishra to drive him for a straight six - many more of those would follow. Trego's onslaught meant he was quickly catching Strauss, but the England captain went to his hundred from 122 balls with a late cut shortly before tea.

Mishra had provided the Indians with momentary relief when he claimed two wickets in two balls but they were costly successes. His figures would soon take an even greater hammering, probably leaving him wishing he hadn't broken the opening stand. Suppiah lost his shape when he came down the pitch and got an outside edge to backward point then James Hildreth edged a legbreak behind first ball.

Earlier, Raina gave the Indians their one bright spot for the match as he raced to an unbeaten century to lift the visitors to 224. He added a final-wicket stand of 84 in 12 overs with Munaf of which the No. 11 contributed six. Raina needed just 37 balls to go from his fifty to a hundred as he cut loose after Sreesanth had lost his off stump to become Charl Willoughby's sixth wicket.

Rania drove, pulled and flicked five sixes which damaged Willoughby's figures while Alfonso Thomas also took some punishment. His hundred arrived from 110 balls courtesy of a misfield at mid-off but he didn't have the chance to add many more as Munaf was lbw to legspinner Max Waller soon after.

Raina's innings - and Yuvraj's duck on the second day - will have sealed the debate over India's No. 6 spot for Lord's. Strauss probably would not have minded having an extended look at Raina, someone England haven't faced before in Tests. He has gained more than he may have expected from his brief stint in the south-west. © ESPN EMEA Ltd.

Gritty Gambhir leads India to 1-1 draw

South Africa 362 (Kallis 161, Amla 59, Sreesanth 5-114) and 341 (Kallis 109*, Boucher 55, Harbhajan 7-120) drew with India 364 (Tendulkar 146, Gambhir 93, Steyn 5-75) and 166 for 3 (Gambhir 64)

In pic: Gautam Gambhir's 64-run vigil led India's resistance as they batted out the fifth day at Newlands and earned a 1-1 series draw © AFP

An insipid performance from India's bowlers on the fourth day had broken their aspirations of a maiden Test series victory in South Africa but, on the fifth, the batsmen ensured they achieved at least a draw for the first time in the country. In an anticlimactic end to an enthralling contest, Gautam Gambhir was at the forefront of the Indian resistance, Rahul Dravid blocked lots of balls, and South Africa's bowlers toiled 82 overs for three wickets, when they needed ten.

South Africa fell behind early in their pursuit of victory and eventually took only one wicket in each session. The key to their chances lay in how many they dismissed with the new ball, and India won a decisive battle by surviving the first 11 overs without damage. Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel weren't as hostile as they were in the first innings but still bowled aggressively in the morning. Once that threat passed, India's passage was easier. They survived one more flutter of anxiety, soon after Dravid fell late in the second session, when AB de Villiers failed to catch an extremely tough chance off Gambhir. The game was called off with umpteen fielders waiting for catches that never came, and South Africa were still winless in a series at home since Bangladesh's visit in November 2008.

India did not try to win this deciding Test on its final morning - the target of 340 was always out of reach - but because they focused on survival and scored at about two runs an over, Graeme Smith was able to place as many close catchers as he pleased. Steyn got the ball to seam and swing away, though he wasn't as terrific as he was on the third day. Morkel posed the greater threat, targeting the bodies of both openers with balls that jagged into them from short of a length. One screamer from round the wicket rose so steeply that even Gambhir's best efforts to avoid it failed. The ball thudded painfully into his left arm, just below the elbow. It was the same injured arm that kept him off the field during South Africa's second innings and has ruled him out of the ODI series. Gambhir got it treated, and took guard again.

It made sense for Gambhir to try and face Steyn, while Sehwag countered Morkel. Steyn's swing into the left-hander's pads made it easier for Gambhir to face him. Sehwag, however, struggled against Morkel, getting hustled by deliveries that homed in at his body and beaten by others that straightened.

South Africa's first chance came when Lonwabo Tsotsobe replaced Steyn in the 11th over and Sehwag slashed him. The ball flew towards JP Duminy, standing deeper at point, and burst through his hands as he mistimed his jump. The let-off cost South Africa only a few deliveries, though, for in the next over Sehwag hung his bat out and edged Morkel to Boucher. Umpire Ian Gould asked the third umpire to check if Morkel had overstepped. He hadn't, by the smallest of margins. Sehwag's dismal tour was over; 144 runs in six innings was all he got.

The pressure eased when Tsotsobe and Harris were operating. Gambhir and Dravid blocked, left, and blocked some more. Dravid was careful to play Harris with bat in front of pad, ensuring nothing would pop up to the close catchers. The ball was turning, and it was seaming, but it was doing both slowly. India passed 50 when Gambhir jumped down the pitch and drove Harris to the cover boundary, but runs were of little consequence.

On either side of the lunch break, Smith brought himself on to bowl offbreaks and a couple spun sharply. He changed his bowlers frequently but for the majority of the second session Gambhir and Dravid were untroubled and they collected easy runs by exploiting unprotected boundaries. Gambhir slashed and cut Steyn through point twice and reached a valuable half-century. Dravid simply used up deliveries and scored when he could, scoring three soft fours in a Smith over. Before those boundaries he had played 89 balls for 18 runs.

In the 44th over, just when the Test seemed to be entering a phase of defensive torpor, Harris began to make things happen off the pitch. He ripped and bounced one sharply across Dravid and later in the over struck him low on the back foot in front of middle stump. The ball hit pad before bat but Gould said not out. Dravid played only 15 more balls, though, before edging Tsotsobe off the front foot to the cordon.

The opportunity to dismiss Gambhir, on 62 off 146 balls, came soon after, when a leading edge flew quickly to de Villiers at silly point. He grabbed repeatedly at the sharp chance but spilled the ball and Harris held his head. Gambhir played 37 more balls. Tendulkar was solid for 91 deliveries and he remained unbeaten, walking off Newlands with the series shared. VVS Laxman too couldn't be budged, after Gambhir had gloved Steyn's short ball down the leg side for 64. It was Boucher's 499th catch.

Steyn and Morkel's spells after tea were South Africa's last chance. They returned for one final attempt, an over each with the second new ball. Both were fruitless. India scored only 166 runs today and saved the series. -ESPNcricinfo

England moral victors in drawn first Ashes Test

Brisbane: (AFP) England head to this week's second Adelaide Test with all the momentum after dominating Australia over the final two days of the Ashes opener which ended in a draw at the Gabba today. England ensured they would not be beaten in the first match of their Ashes defence after conceding a 221-run innings deficit when Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott shared in England's highest partnership in Australia of 329 runs.

In pic: Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott take the applause after their record stand of 329 which secured a draw at Brisbane

Cook became only the fourth Englishman to score a Test double-century in Australia with his unconquered 235, while Trott hit 135 not out before skipper Andrew Strauss called a halt at 517 for one, 40 minutes before tea. Australia tried to avoid further collateral damage in their 26 overs to the close and were 107 for one when the match finished in a draw. Ricky Ponting scored his 56th Test half-century to be 51 not out and Shane Watson was on 41. Records and personal bests kept tumbling for England on the anti-climactic last day as Cook and Trott pummelled the Australian bowlers.

Cook joined Wally Hammond (3), Reg Foster and Paul Collingwood as double centurions with his 625-minute epic off 428 balls in the highest score by either team in 19 Ashes Tests at the Gabba. Their unbroken partnership surpassed the previous highest stand by England in this country of 323 held by Jack Hobbs and Wilfred Rhodes at Melbourne in 1911-1912. When Trott's 100 came up it was the first time three English players have scored a century in an innings of a Test match since 1924. On that occasion the top three batsmen -- Jack Hobbs (211), Herbert Sutcliffe (122) and Frank Woolley (134 no) -- all scored hundreds against South Africa at Lord's. Cook surpassed his previous highest Test score of 173 and also passed Ian Botham's 138 as the highest English run scorer at the Brisbane ground, set back in 1986.

It was also only the second match in Test match history to feature two 300-plus partnerships following Mike Hussey-Brad Haddin's 307-run stand in Australia's first innings 481. The other was the drawn Pakistan v India first Test in Lahore in 2006. England landed psychological blows on the Australians as Cook and Trott had frolicked before a small last-day crowd dominated by England's taunting Barmy Army fans, which made it more like a Test at Lord's. More salt was rubbed into Australia's wounds with two more embarrassing dropped catches, making a total of five for the match.

Vice-captain Michael Clarke put down a regulation chance off Trott (75) at slip off Shane Watson's bowling and Ponting dropped Cook (222) in the slips. It only got worse when Simon Katich was caught at first slip by Strauss off Stuart Broad for four in the sixth over of Australia's second innings. Australia will have plenty to ponder ahead of Friday's second Test at the Adelaide Oval after England came away from the Gabba without losing for the first time since the drawn Test in 1998. Over the course of the five days only 22 wickets fell, and just seven over the last three days on the bat-friendly flat Gabba pitch.

Scoreboard at the close of the fifth day of the first Ashes Test between Australia and England at the Gabba today: England 1st innings: 260 Australia 1st innings: 481 England 2nd innings (overnight 309-1): A Strauss stpd Haddin b North 110 A Cook not out 235 J Trott not out 135 Extras: (B-17, LB-4, W-10, NB-6) 37 Total: (for 1 wkt declared in 152 overs) 517 Fall of wickets: 1-188 Bowling: Hilfenhaus 32-8-82-0, Siddle 24-4-90-0, North 19-3-47-1, Johnson 27-5-104-0, Doherty 35-5-107-0, Watson 15-2-66-0 Australia 2nd innings: S Watson not out 41 S Katich c Strauss b Broad 4 R Ponting not out 51 Extras: (B-4, LB-1, W-1, pen runs 5) 11 Total: (for 1 wkt in 26 overs) 107 Fall of wicket: 1-5 Bowling: Anderson 5-2-15-0, Broad 7-1-18-1, Finn 4-0-25-0, Swann 8-0-33-0, Pietersen 2-0-6-0.