Half-centuries from the Australian duo of Peter Handscomb and Shaun Marsh frustrated India as the third Test between the two teams in Ranchi ended in a draw on Monday.

Starting day five on 23/2, trailing India by 129 runs, Matt Renshaw and captain Steve Smith saw off the first hour without losing a wicket. But both would soon fall within four balls of each other to seemingly open the door for the Indian bowlers.

Handscomb and Marsh, though, had other plans as they batted the entire post-lunch session without giving away their wicket. They would go on to add a 124-run partnership to all but end India’s hopes of winning the Test.

Marsh was finally dismissed for 53 [off 197 balls], while Handscomb stayed on until the end – unbeaten on 72 from 200 deliveries to guide Australia to a memorable draw.

For India, Ravindra Jadeja was the pick of the bowlers – taking four wickets in Australia’s second innings to make it a nine-wicket haul in the match for himself.

With the series level at 1-1, the two teams will now move to Dharamshala for the deciding encounter.

BRIEF SCORES

Australia 451 all out [Smith 178*, Maxwell 104, Jadeja 5/124] and 204/6 [Handscomb 72*, Marsh 53, Jadeja 4/54] vs India 603/9 [Pujara 202, Saha 117, Cummins 4/106] ends in a draw.

Player of the Match – Cheteshwar Pujara