Indian cricketer Rishabh
Pant has a history with decisive fourth innings knocks and he produced another
gem on the final day of series against Australia on Tuesday, scoring a match-winning
89 to help India chase down an imposing 328-run total and register a historic
win at the Gabba in Brisbane.

The wicketkeeper-batsman boasts an average of 43.52 over 27 innings in 16 Tests, scoring two centuries and four fifties in his career. In the fourth innings, with scores including the memorable 114 against England at the Oval in 2018 and the 97 against Australia in the Sydney Test, his average skyrockets over 87.  

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Walking out
after skipper Ajinkya Rahane’s (24 from 22) dismissal with the score at 167/3, the
young southpaw had a long road to victory. Together with Cheteshwar Pujara (56
from 211), Pant added 61 runs to the board and was cautious in his approach,
scoring 34 from 84 balls in the partnership.

Following Pujara’s dismissal, Pant reverted
to what he knows best, breaking the shackles to score 55 runs in 54 deliveries as
he took on the responsibility to chase down the target.

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His innings, for which he was adjudged man-of-the-match, featured nine boundaries in total, including some delicious cover drives off Cummins and Hazlewood and a big six over mid-wicket off Nathan Lyon. He even brought on the T20 stokes with an audacious paddle sweep to keep the runs flowing. 

However, Pant was lucky to survive a couple of scares in the innings. Aussie skipper Tim Paine missed a stumping chance when Pant was batting at 16. Coming down the track, the southpaw was deceived by the turn from a Lyon delivery, which beat both keeper and first-slip and ended up as four byes. 

After pulling Josh Hazlewood for a boundary off the very first delivery of the decisive 97th over, Pant looked to seal the victory in style with another six. But he only managed to slice the ball over backward-point and was lucky as it landed between the fielders at point and cover. 

Having thrown away his wicket after a good start in the first innings, it was fitting that he scored the winning runs and give India a dream finish to the series. 

“When the chips are down. You push harder. A series we can never forget. Through the tough times we always believed and backed ourselves and this series win proves with belief you can achieve everything,” he wrote on Twitter.