A clinical India mopped up Australia's tail to win the third Test in Melbourne on Sunday by 137 runs and take an unassailable 2-1 lead into the final clash at Sydney.
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The home team resumed at 258 for eight after the morning session was wiped out by rain in their unlikely quest to hunt down a huge 399, which would have been a record fourth-innings chase at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
No team before had made more than 332 to win, and that was in 1928 by England.
But they fell well short of the target, with Jasprit Bumrah taking the key wicket of dogged Pat Cummins and Ishant Sharma snaring Nathan Lyon to secure the emphatic win.
India, the world's top-ranked nation, are now zeroing in on a first-ever series win Down Under in Sydney later this week, where they only need a draw to smash the long-time jinx.
It is a feat that skipper Virat Kohli has so publicly coveted since his team men arrived in Australia last month.
Tailender Cummins, who is rapidly proving himself to a very capable all-rounder, some even say a future Australia captain, had kept his side in the hunt with an impressive 61 not out on Saturday.
But he only added two more to be out for a career-best 63 to follow his career-best 6-27 with the ball and be one of the few successes for Australia. Lyon added just one to his overnight total.
Paceman Jasprit Bumrah finished with 3-53, following his six-wicket first innings haul, and left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja 3-82.
Cummins aside, no other Australian passed 50 in Melbourne, exposing their lack of batting depth and reinforcing how much they are missing the banned Steve Smith and David Warner.
The pair's year-long suspensions for ball-tampering run out in late March and it is widely believed that they will be reintegrated quickly into the team.
