India won the first Test match of the two-match series against Australia by defeating their opposition by one wicket at Mohali. It was an amazingly exciting fifth day that saw both teams having a good opportunity to win the game and it would have probably been justice had the game ended in a tie instead. 
India needed to score 216 for a win and were 55/4 overnight when the play resumed on the final day. Zaheer Khan hung around for 30 minutes with Sachin Tendulkar, but Nathan Hauritz had the better of him – getting him to edge the ball to the slips. 
Tendulkar was then joined by VVS Laxman, and the pair looked very aggressive in their intent. It was a surprise that both the players were after their strokes and that only meant that the Aussies knew that a wicket was around the corner.
As it turned out, Doug Bollinger sent back the maestro Tendulkar, and this was followed by MS Dhoni (run-out) and Harbhajan Singh departing one after the other to leave the Indians struggling at 124/8 and looking like being out of the game.
As it turned out, the Indians fought back through a ninth-wicket stand of 81 runs between Laxman and Ishant Sharma. Isharma blocked most of the deliveries that came his way and did not get ruffled by the short stuff, whereas Laxman grew confident enough to not only play some rasping strokes but also give the strike back to Ishant at the other end.
By the time the umpire had wrongly adjudicated Ishant out lbw, the Indians needed only 11 to win which Laxman and Pragyan Ojha got after some tensed moments in the centre.
Laxman remained unbeaten on 73 that came off only 79 balls while Zaheer Khan was named the man of the match for his eight wickets.