Only a miracle can prevent a draw

God works in mysterious ways, so the saying goes, but the chances of a result in the fourth and final Test would appear to be over after the fourth day was again dominated by the batsmen. India lead by eight runs with nine wickets in hand but they simply don't have enough time to force a result, which means Australia will win the series 2-1.

Centuries from Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke effectively ended any chances of an India win and though Australia could conceivably skittle India on the final day and chase the runs for the win, the draw looks nailed on.

Bet365 make it 1/9 (1.11) that it ends in a stalemate while Australia are 5/1 and India are a massive 33/1, which is probably about right.

I can't really see India trying to set Australia a getable total and hoping they can bowl them out as the Adelaide pitch has been as flat as a pancake and it also is not worth risking the defeat, at least in their eyes.

Virender Sehwag might fancy his chances of getting a hundred on the final day though, having already notched up 31. Bet365 make it 5/6 that he gets to 61, which is a pretty fair price I think.

Rahul Dravid, unbeaten on 11, is the same price to get to 42 or more, but realistically, this match is as good as over and there is little to be gained from trying to make money on the final day when it's even harder to know what the players' motivation really is.