OTD India clinched their first series victory over Australia in 1979

It was on this day, November 7, in 1979, that India registered their first-ever Test series win over Australia. India had played their first Test series against Australia in 1947, but it was not until 1979 that they were able to achieve a Test series win over them.

The occasion was the sixth and final Test of the series between India and Australia, and the match was played at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Sunil Gavaskar, the India captain, won the toss and chose to bat first.

He led from the front, scoring a brilliant 123 in 239 balls, with 17 boundaries. He added 192 runs for the first wicket with Chetan Chauhan, who made 73 with 10 fours to his name. After losing Dilip Vengsarkar and G. Viswanath cheaply, India was saved by a brilliant 101* by Syed Kirmani.

India received some bonus runs as Karsan Ghavri made 86 and powered India to 458/8d. For Australia, Geoff Dymock, Rodney Hogg, Jim Higgs, and Allan Border took two wickets each.

Graham Yallop’s fighting 60 was the best score for Australia in their first innings, which ended on 160 runs. The next best score was Allan Border’s 23, as Indian bowlers were on top of the Australian batters. Dilip Doshi took 5/43, while Shivlal Yadav took four wickets.

Gavaskar asked Australia to follow on, and the visitors fared ever poorly in the second innings, with only two batters reaching double figures. Allan Border made 61 in 182 balls, and captain Kim Hughes made 80 in 144 balls, with the duo adding 132 runs for the third wicket.

With none of the other batters coming to the party, Australia folded for 198 runs. Kapil Dev starred with 4/39, while Dilip Doshi took 3/60 as India won the match by an innings and 100 runs. India pocketed the series 2-0, having won the third Test in Kanpur by 153 runs.