Zaheer Khan wreaked havoc as India punctured Australia’s aura of invincibility by inflicting a crushing 320-run defeat on the visitors with more than two sessions to spare in the second cricket Test in Mohali on Tuesday.

With Zaheer breathing fire, India took just one-and-half hours and 18.4 overs to complete the formality and Australia, thoroughly bruised and battered, were subjected to one of their worst defeats in recent past as India went 1-0 up in the four-match series.

Australia needed well nigh a miracle to chase down the monumental 516-run target for an improbable win and with the top order blown away cheaply, their pursuit looked doomed right at the outset.

It was too much to expect the lower middle order batsmen and tail-enders to do what their front-line willow-wielders could not and Australia eventually folded for 195.

Zaheer’s triple strikes in the first hour maimed Australia and since then, their collapse was just a matter of time and formality, which was completed in due course.