Chasing a record 468 for victory, New Zealand were teetering at 31 for two at the break with Tom Latham 10 not out and Ross Taylor unbeaten on five. Images from Day 4 of the first Test between Australia and New Zealand in Perth on Sunday.
Quarantine restrictions might hamper the Indian team's preparations for next month's ICC World Test Championship final against New Zealand but bowling coach Bharat Arun and fielding coach Ramakrishnan Sridhar feel that the players' abundant experience will be enough to counter that challenge.
Australia maintained their perfect record against the south Asians on home soil and continued their recent good form in Tests since retaining the Ashes in England.
Pakistan, who have lost 13 consecutive Tests in Australia, were in big trouble at 39 for three when rain forced an early end
Australia made a good start before a dramatic collapse saw them slip from 144 for two in the run chase to be 207 all-out.
Australia buried India under an avalanche of runs for a 51-run drubbing in the second ODI and an unassailable 2-0 series lead after the majestic Steve Smith produced another master-class in the form of a 64-ball 104, in Sydney, on Sunday.
Victory in the fourth Test at Old Trafford meant the Australians could not lose the series and the 2-2 scoreline meant they retained the urn.
All-rounder Mitchell Marsh leads a 14-man squad packed with international experience, a group featuring Alex Carey, Ashton Agar, Peter Handscomb, Head, Jon Holland, Usman Khawaja, Joel Paris, Matthew Renshaw and Chris Tremain.
The Australia batsman has overtaken New Zealand captain Kane Williamson and is now only nine points behind India skipper Virat Kohli.
Smith's (28) ODI haul of 568 runs at 63.11 from 10 innings were enough to pip Finch (23) who scored 673 runs at 56.08 from 13 innings.
A few bruised egos will eye redemption when India square off against Australia in the second Test in Melbourne from Saturday, ready to bounce back in skipper Ajinkya Rahane's hour of reckoning after their batting debacle in the series opener in Adelaide.
Purnendu Maji and Srinivas Bhogle list the Most Valuable Players during the India-Australia ODI series.
Nathan Lyon took 5-68 as a dominant Australia dismissed New Zealand for 251 before the home batsmen took over to extend their lead to 243 by the close of play on the third day of the third and final Test in Sydney on Sunday. Already 2-0 down in the series after thumping defeats in Perth and Melbourne, New Zealand have been ravaged by illness and injury and now face a huge battle to avoid a third heavy loss before they head home. Images from Day 3 of the third Test in Sydney on Sunday.
Australia likely to play the same squad in Sydney; Both teams to pay tribute to firefighters.
Coming into the series at the back of a convincing series win over Pakistan, Australia will look to seal their seventh day-night Test win when they face New Zealand in the opening Test beginning in Perth on Thursday.
India showed commendable character in Rajkot to level the series, proving that the panic buttons were pressed prematurely following the 10-wicket loss in Mumbai.
Images from Day 4 of the fourth Ashes Test, at Old Trafford, Manchester.
Pujara has been criticised for his ultra-defensive approach in the series so far and instead of propping up his team's response to Australia's first innings total
Chappell still believes that Australia might have a slight edge in Test matches
Left chasing shadows in the first two games, a listless Indian team would most certainly tweak its bowling combination in order to avoid a second successive clean-sweep when it takes on Australia in the third and final ODI, in Canberra, on Wednesday.
Images from Day 2 of the second Test between India and Australia, at the Arun Jaitley stadium in Delhi, on Friday.
IMAGES from Day 3 of the 1st Ashes Test played at the Gabba in Brisbane on Friday.
On the upcoming ODI series in India, Steve Waugh feels the home team starts favourites despite Australia winning the five-match series 12 months ago.
On the back of some great all-round performance, Australia thumped New Zealand by 247 runs to win the Boxing Day Test and take a 2-0 series lead. Images from Day 4 of the Boxing Day Test played at the MCG on Sunday.
With the Sydney Cricket Ground reliably Australia's most spin-friendly wicket, the hosts may find it tough going to manufacture a face-saving victory and square the series.
'I think there'll be a huge fallout from this (defeat). There's not too many times that you lose to the second or third (choice) side.'
The second Test between India and Bangladesh at Kolkata's Eden Gardens will be the first day-night Test on Indian soil, making India the seventh country to host a day-night Test.
Jasprit Bumrah, the fastest Indian pacer to 50 wickets, is now seventh in the bowlers' list after a leap of nine places owing to his five-wicket haul against the West Indies.
Battle commences at Edgbaston on Thursday and the last time Australia won there was the opening match of the 2001 series which they ended up dominating 4-1.
Peter Siddle has been brought into Australia's squad while uncapped fast bowler Kyle Jamieson has been called into the New Zealand squad.
India suffered the ignominy of being restricted to its lowest-ever total in Test cricket, collapsing to 36 for 9 in a terminated second innings against Australia on the third morning of the Day/Night first Test, in Adelaide, on Saturday.
Images from Day 2 of the fourth Test between Australia and India, at the Gabba, on Saturday.
Steve Smith's unconventional technique will warrant a slightly wider line from Indian bowlers, the iconic Sachin Tendulkar said, urging the pacers to target the 'fifth stump' to blunt the redoubtable batsman during the upcoming series in Australia.
India will embark on a bid to end 70 long years of fruitless attempts to win a Test series in Australia from a similar position of strength, 2-1 up with one to play after a crushing victory in Melbourne.
India have never won a Test series on Australian soil, but go into the series-finale starting Thursday with a 2-1 lead. The visitors need only a draw to claim a piece of history.
Root, Williamson, Rizwan and Afridi nominated for ICC Men's Cricketer of Year
Virat Kohli and Indian cricket remained an enduring love story and Sourav Ganguly held out promise for a path-breaking reign off the field in a year during which the country finally embraced pink ball Tests. There were the heartbreaks, the biggest one being a World Cup semi-final exit, and not to forget the anxious wait on what Mahendra Singh Dhoni might do next after being on a sabbatical for half the year.
Australia coach Justin Langer lamented a lack of world-class batsmen in his side's line-up and pointed out that Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara have been the difference for the visitors in the ongoing four-match Test series.
Rajneesh Gupta offers insights about the World Test Championship Final.
India put together their second highest team total on Australian soil, piling up 622/7 declared on the second day of the match. Their highest team total, 705/7 declared, was also incidentally scored at this venue, in 2004.
