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Australia has undeniably been the best team across formats since the turn of the century, boasting innumerable winning streaks beyond the realms of imagination. Their domination at home in front of packed houses and hostile crowds has intimidated visiting teams to surrender midway through matches and capitulate meekly.
Yet, on a few occasions, teams have displayed incredible resilience to overhaul the mighty Aussies in their backyard. And more remarkable has been the ability of the lower-order and tail-end batters of the opposition to frustrate the vaunted Aussie attack even in their home arena.
The mental fortitude and never-say-die attitude to produce such rearguard actions when the Australians are on top at home rank among the most memorable theatres of Test cricket.
In that context, the ongoing D/N Test against the West Indies at Brisbane has been a tale of the Aussies getting frustrated and losing their early advantage. Having won the opening Test by ten wickets and reducing the West Indies to 64/5, the hosts looked set for an early finish.
However, a brilliant 149-run sixth-wicket partnership brought the visitors back into the contest. Unperturbed, the Aussies struck twice to seize control with the West Indies at 225/7.
But a defiant West Indies outfit was not to be denied as they added another 86 runs for the final three wickets to breach the 300-run mark. Pacer Alzarri Joseph scored a quick-fire 32, and fellow speedster Kemar Roach added a valuable 40-ball eight to provide adequate support for the well-set Kevin Sinclair.
The West Indian tail helped the side reach a competitive total of 311 in their first innings to rejuvenate the bowlers.
Despite being renowned for their killer instinct, the Aussies have suffered such roadblocks through the opposition's tail at home.
On that note, let us revisit five instances where the tail wagged and frustrated Australia in a home Test.
#1. South Africa, 2008
South Africa stands alone when it comes to teams to have dominated Australia Down Under in Tests. The Proteas pulled off three consecutive series wins on their 2008/09, 2012/13 and 2016/17 tours.
The first of the three came thanks to their lower-order batting in the second Test of the 2008/09 series at the MCG. After pulling off a sensational win in the opening Test at Perth, South Africa were handed a thrashing in the first half of the second match.
After posting 394 in their first innings, the Aussies reduced the Proteas to 184/7. With a mammoth deficit looking inevitable, the series was heading towards a thrilling decider at the Sydney.
However, the South African tail had other ideas as left-arm spinner Paul Harris scored a 67-ball 39 and added 67 runs with the well-set JP Duminy. Following Harris' dismissal, speedster Dale Steyn extended the Aussie woes by scoring a hard-fought 76 off 191 deliveries to keep the Aussie attack at bay.
His 180-run stand with Duminy, who scored a majestic 166, helped the visitors score 459 in their first essay. A shell-shocked Aussie side could never recover and succumbed to a below-par 247 in their second innings.
The Proteas chased the target of 183 with nine wickets in hand to shock the hosts and take an unassailable 2-0 series lead.
#2. India, 2008
The 2008 Sydney Test between India and Australia is often remembered for all the controversial moments, including the poor umpiring and the Harbhajan Singh-Andrew Symonds incident. While the game lives in the infamy of the two proud cricketing nations, the action on the field was riveting.
It involved one of the finest rearguard actions from the Indian tail in the wake of a hostile Sydney crowd. After riding their luck and scoring a massive 463 in their first innings, Australia reduced the Indians to 345/7.
However, Harbhajan Singh, buoyed by all the off-field controversy, scored a miraculous 63 against all odds at No.9. He added a game-turning 129 runs with Sachin Tendulkar before pacers RP Singh and Ishant Sharma combined to score another 36 runs.
The 187 runs from the final three partnerships sucked the life out of the Australian attack and propelled India to a score of 532.
Unfortunately, the sizable first-innings lead wasn't enough, as the Indians lost in a heartbreaking finish by 122 runs with negligible time left on the final day.
#3. Pakistan, 2019
Who will ever forget Yasir Shah's famous century at the Adelaide Oval in the second Test of the 2019 series?
After an innings defeat in the series opener, Pakistan were all but done in the following Test, conceding a massive 589/3 to the hosts and sinking to an embarrassing 89/6 in their first innings.
However, leg-spinner Yasir Shah produced the impossible by scoring a magnificent 113 and adding 105 with Babar Azam for the seventh wicket. Even after Babar's dismissal, Yasir continued his vigil with an 87-run stand with pacer Mohammad Abbas, who scored 29 off 78.
He was finally the last man dismissed after adding another valuable 21 with No.11 Muhammad Musa to take Pakistan to 302.
Despite the admirable resolve shown by the tail, Pakistan only delayed the inevitable and suffered another innings defeat.
#4. England, 2011
For all the humblings England have repeatedly been subjected to in their tours of Australia since 2000, their one path-breaking moment came in the 2010/11 Ashes.
Having already retained the urn with a 2-1 lead heading into the final Test at the SCG, the English were looking to complete the domination by winning the series outright.
After bundling the hosts for 280, England raced to 487/7 but were unfinished in piling on the misery. The last three batters, Tim Bresnan, Graeme Swann, and Chris Tremlett, combined to score 83 runs and were involved in crucial partnerships to propel the visitors to a massive 644.
The tail-ender runs seemed to have broken Australia's back and their will as they surrendered meekly to lose by an innings and 80 runs.
#5. New Zealand, 2015
The third and final Test of the 2015/16 series between the Trans-Tasmanian rivals, Australia and New Zealand, was a low-scoring humdinger.
After both teams scored 202 and 224, the Kiwis looked to erase the 22-run deficit and set the Aussies a formidable target.
Yet, they were reduced to 118/6 on a seamers' paradise before a gritty display by the tail. The final four wickets added a pivotal 90 runs, worth much more in the context of the scores in the game.
Doug Bracewell scored an unbeaten 27, while Mark Craig and Tim Southee added 15 and 13, respectively. By scoring 208, the Kiwis set Australia 187 for victory, which the hosts eventually huffed and puffed their way to with three wickets in hand.
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