ADELAIDE, 29 January 2008 — Virender Sehwag scored 151 runs and batted out most of the final day yesterday as Australia and India drew the fourth cricket Test.

Sehwag led India to 269 for seven before the match ended about 30 minutes before scheduled stumps by mutual consent of the captains.

The last day of the match and series failed to match the drama of many of the days that preceded it.

The acrimony between the teams, which permeated the first three Tests and flared in isolated outbursts at the Adelaide Oval, ebbed away yesterday, as did the prospect of a fourth Test victory to either side.

Australia won the first and second Tests at Melbourne and Sydney before losing the third at Perth.

Sachin Tendulkar, in his last Test innings in Australia, avoided a first ball duck when replays referred to the TV umpire showed his forceful shot off Stuart Clark hit the ground before rebounding from Phil Jaques at silly point to Andrew Symonds at cover, who claimed the catch.

Saurav Ganguly, who might also have played a Test in Australia for the final time, was less fortunate when close scrutiny showed his drive off Mitchell Johnson, which seemed to have bounced, carried on the fly from the bottom of the bat to Michael Hussey at short cover. He made 18. Tendulkar batted 69 minutes for 13, a shadow of his 153 in the first innings, before leaving the Adelaide Oval to lavish applause. He was run out when he set off for a leg-side single off Johnson and saw the bowler deftly field the roll ball on his follow through and hurl down the wicket.

Tendulkar’s final innings in Australia echoed that of retiring wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist who was out for 14 on Sunday in his only bat in his final Test match. Gilchrist had a significant part to play in the events of the final day, taking catches to dismiss Sehwag off the bowling of Symonds and V.V.S. Laxman (12) off Brett Lee. The last two catches on the last day of his Test career left him with 416 Test dismissals (379 catches and 37 stumpings), extending the world record he took from South Africa’s Mark Boucher (413) on the third day. Gilchrist on Saturday announced his retirement from Tests at the end of this match and from one day cricket at the end of the forthcoming tri-series involving Australia, India and Sri Lanka. He later admitted his retirement decision came soon after he dropped Laxman off Lee’s bowling during India’s first innings.

Gilchrist emerged onto the Adelaide Oval at the start of play yesterday through an honor guard formed by his teammates. He also led Australia onto the field, ahead of captain Ricky Ponting, for yesterday’s final session, cheered by the crowd of 11,000.

Along with his dismissals, Gilchrist ended his Test career with 5,570 runs, including 17 centuries, at an average in excess of 47. He scored those runs, batting mostly at No.7 in the Australian order, at a strike rate of 81.97.

When play ended yesterday, Gilchrist left the field to a sustained and poignant ovation. In a sign of friendship peace forged between previously feuding teams, he stepped off the Adelaide Oval in the embrace on Indian captain Anil Kumble.

“I have no regrets,” Gilchrist said. “I feel everything at the moment ... happiness, sadness, a bit of everything. Anyone who has played a sport and loved it will know how I feel.”

Ponting said later that Sehwag took the game away from Australia on the final day.

“I think the chances of us winning at lunchtime were pretty slim,” Ponting said. “We had to come out and keep the run rate down and take wickets and we did that and had them under all sorts of pressure.

“Unfortunately, this morning with Sehwag being out there, he generally keeps the scoreboard ticking over pretty quickly and his little innings there started taking the game away from us and made it realistically pretty difficult for us to win.”

Kumble said the series had been closer than it appeared.

“We had our moments,” he said. “It was pretty close in Sydney and if we had held on for the last seven or eight minutes there it could definitely have been different. Having said that, the Aussies played well… credit to them.

“It goes to show that in the last five years the only team that has won two test matches and challenged Australia in Australia is India.”