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By Nick Mulvenney

SYDNEY, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Australia held their
collective nerve to clinch a blockbuster five-test series against
India 3-1 on Sunday and take custody of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the first time in a decade.


In keeping with a pulsating series where momentum swung
back and forth by the session, the fifth test remained on a knife
edge until the final hour when Australia eased to a six-wicket triumph.


Perhaps helped by Jasprit Bumrah's inability to bowl because of a back
injury, Travis Head and debutant Beau Webster guided Australia to their victory target of 162
runs with an unbroken fifth-wicket stand of 58.

The win in front of a packed house at a Sydney Cricket Ground
bathed in pink for Glenn McGrath's cancer charity also ensured Australia will
defend their World Test Championship title against South Africa at Lord's in June.


"It felt like it was kind of seesawing throughout the whole series so to finish it 3-1, to hold the trophy, is an amazing feeling," said Australia skipper Pat
Cummins.

"I'm immensely proud, I absolutely love playing with these guys and it's been a lot of fun along the way as well."

The match had been played on fast forward over the first two
days with 15 wickets falling on Saturday, and Australia removed four more in the first hour on a sunny Sunday morning to dismiss India for 157.



In the absence of Player of the Series Bumrah, his fellow pace bowlers Prasidh Krishna and Mohammed Siraj kept Australian nerves on edge by removing four top-order batters on the spicy wicket.


Krishna sent back opener Sam Konstas for 22, Marnus Labuschagne for six and Steve Smith for four before
lunch, while Usman Khawaja was caught behind off Siraj for 41 after
the break to leave Australia on 104-4.

Smith was particularly forlorn as he trudged back to the dressing
room on 9,999 career runs, having been dismissed one run shy of becoming the fourth Australian to pass
the 10,000-run milestone.

Head, who scored 34 not out, and Webster, who was unbeaten on 39, got
the job done, however, the latter continuing his nerveless debut by clubbing the
winning runs with a straight four.

"It was a little frustrating but sometimes you have to respect your body," said Bumrah, who took 32 wickets over the five matches before the
back spasms struck on Saturday.

"It was a great series. The whole series was well fought and we were still in the match today. Our young players will take a lot of learnings for the future."

Australia's victory was all the more impressive for
having been achieved despite a 295-run thumping in the series opener in Perth.


BATTERS ON BACK FOOT

What Australia coach Andrew McDonald described as
the "generational" bowling talent on both teams ensured that the batters were
on the back foot for much of the series with big scores at a
premium.

Only five centuries were scored, two of them by Head with
140 in Australia's win in the day-night second test in Adelaide and
152 in the drawn third test in Brisbane.

The series felt like the end of an era for India, who
had overpowered Australia on their last two tours having finally
found a way to win Down Under in 2018-19.

All-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin retired mid-series
and out-of-form captain Rohit Sharma was dropped
for the fifth test at his own request, while Virat Kohli failed
to fire on what was surely his final test tour of Australia.



In Bumrah, though, they had the best player on the field and
while he was bowling, their hopes of a third straight triumph in Australia to keep the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for a fifth straight series remained alive.


As England bowlers have discovered to their cost over the years, playing five tests in Australia is tough and the 31-year-old's herculean efforts
finally caught up with him in Sydney.

In Rohit's absence, Bumrah had captained the tourists to victory in the series opener in Perth and
the momentum seemed to shift to India every time he was bowling.


Australia's 19-year-old opener Sam Konstas took him on with ramp shots on debut in Melbourne and verbal
barbs in Sydney to assure his place in Australia's plans for next year's Ashes.



Smith, who made his test debut when Konstas was
four, hit 140 in Australia's dramatic 184-run win in Melbourne to probably assure
him of one final battle with the English at the end of the
year.

For all the bowling talent on display over the series, it was back up Australian paceman Scott Boland
who was named Player of the Match in Sydney after finishing with
figures of 6-45 for a 10-wicket match haul. (Reporting by Nick Mulvenney;
Editing by Jacqueline Wong and William Mallard)

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