India has secured a nail-biting one-wicket victory in the First Test against Australia in one of the great Test match finishes.

Australia's nemesis once again was V.V.S. Laxman who defied back spasms and the burden of a runner to score an unbeaten 73 and haul his side over the line. Just like at Eden Gardens in 2001, Laxman again proved the immovable object denying the irresistible force of Australia's pace attack - an attack that has now failed to take 20 Indian wickets in five of their last six encounters.

The incredible finish was prefaced by a contest that simmered gently for three days before coming to the boil spectacularly on days four and five.

After both sides accumulated over 400 in their first innings it was hard to foresee the mayhem that would follow.

The game's intensity changed midway through the third day though as India looked to not only achieve a first-innings lead but do so at break-neck speed. It's testament to modern scoring-rates that M.S. Dhoni deemed it necessary to chase the game so forcefully so early to guarantee a result following Australia's first innings run-rate of 2.82. The outcome was a series of cheap dismissals leading to the home side crumbling from an aggressive 4/354 to 402 all out.

That hardly seemed to matter however as, after Shane Watson's bright start, India took Australian second-innings wickets at regular intervals. The revival of Ishant Sharma and some unfortunate umpiring decisions led to the hosts requiring just 216 to win.

216 might not sound a lot but it represented the highest ever fourth-innings run chase on the ground and India's seventh highest successful fourth-innings chase. And it must have sounded like 516 to India at stumps on day four after some hostile short-pitched bowling, particularly from Ben Hilfenhaus, left them reeling at 4/55. Indian wickets then fell consistently during the final morning but Sachin Tendulkar (38) ensured steady progress was made towards the modest target.

Tendulkar's dismissal midway through the session, fending at another rising delivery from Doug Bollinger, felt like the game's dénouement. His wicket left just captain Dhoni and the crocked Laxman as recognised batsmen with India still 100 behind. But Laxman, who so often reserves his best for Australia, was following a different script. His run-a-ball effort in partnership with a focussed Ishant Sharma took India to within touching distance at lunch with Ricky Ponting fast running out of options.

The tension in the afternoon session was unbearable with each run greeted like a match-winner by the growing local support. Australia toiled, Ponting threw the ball to all likely recipients but to no avail. Sharma and Laxman could not be moved.

Australia's likeliest wicket-taker Hilfenhaus finally made the breakthrough, removing Sharma, but by then there were only eleven runs still to chase. Unfortunately for the Australians a strong LBW shout was turned down off Johnson's next over and from the same delivery four overthrows were conceded to put India within one ball of victory. Two balls later two leg-byes were run to spark joyous scenes amongst the Indian players and supporters.

The win puts India dormie one-up in the two match series and adds credence to their status as the number one ranked test playing nation.

For Australia, the match represents a major opportunity lost and continues a worrying inability to put away the top sides.

Beginning with the last Indian tour, Australia has taken twenty wickets against the number one ranked side only once in their last six encounters. Against South Africa it is also once from six and England once from five. Explanations can be found in the volume of cricket played overseas during this time and countered by the overwhelming success against the other test-playing nations - particularly at home. The evidence however suggests that when the going is toughest, this current Australian unit is unable to take enough wickets to get over the line.

Poor Nathan Hauritz (3/161) was treated with disdain by the Indians. His lack of turn and inability to generate any drift rendered him cannon fodder for most of a match in which he was expected to shoulder a considerable burden. North and Watson were under-bowled while Katich and Clarke went unused.

To even be in with a chance of winning a test match a side needs to take twenty wickets. Without changes in strategy it is difficult to see Australia reversing recent history and achieving that feat consistently.

The caustic Zaheer Khan broadcast this weakness when these sides last met back in 2008. He told a press conference following the Bangalore test, "they know they can't take twenty wickets and they are on the back foot...They couldn't get me or Bhajji [Harbhajan Singh] out. So we are in with a big chance. They are under pressure, we know that."

Encouragingly for Australia, this match has also offered a glimpse at a solution to this problem with their lower order batting proving more than capable of accommodating an extra bowler.

Tim Paine's assured first-innings 92 allied with Brad Haddin's test average of 39 indicates both have the capability to bat in the top half of the order. The likely beneficiary of a five-bowler policy would currently be leg-spinner Steve Smith, a man whose first-class batting average of 47 indicates he is more than capable of easing himself into test cricket at number seven. Positive contributions should also be expected from Mitchell Johnson and Nathan Hauritz who both showed in this match that they are a long way from tail-enders.

In this scenario it is hard to believe the batting would be significantly diminished. Harder still when considering the batsman most under threat, Marcus North, has registered just two scores over 21 since December 2009 and averages just 26 during this period.

The other alternative involves placing more responsibility on Shane Watson and part-timers Katich, Clarke and North. Unfortunately the first three in that list are all impeded by chronic injuries and are unlikely to start a match as a genuine fifth bowler. Watson's situation in particular is a significant loss as his ability to swing the old ball both ways is a weapon almost unique to his arsenal amongst the current attack.

Shorn of legends like McGrath and Warne, Australia needs its fifth bowler to be more than a bits-and-pieces operator capable of making up overs without leaking runs. To take twenty wickets consistently they need an attack with enough variety to operate in all conditions and with enough depth to allow spearheads Johnson and Bollinger to operate in short, aggressive bursts.

This series was always going to be more about pre-Ashes conditioning and this first test then has shown that despite being oh-so-close, Australia has a few crucial issues unresolved. How the selectors address these concerns will be interesting and the line-up for the second test in Bangalore on 9 October will give a big insight into the likely starting XI at The Gabba.

What a finish; what a test match. Cricket is well and truly back.