Australia regained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, a silverware that had previously eluded them for a decade, and confirmed their spot in the World Test Championship (WTC) final alongside South Africa, after finishing off India inside three days at the SCG.
India’s hopes of staying in contention for the WTC final rested on Jasprit Bumrah but without him those faded away. For someone who had a huge influence on this series, with the most wickets by an India bowler on a tour of Australia, it was a shame he couldn’t play a part in the final act.
After having left the SCG on the second day for scans on his back, Bumrah returned to bat at No.11 on the third day but wasn’t fit to bowl. All the early visuals had portended Bumrah’s absence. He didn’t warm up with the other bowlers and only did a bit of shadow-bowling. Then, after becoming the last India batter to be dismissed, for a duck, he didn’t take the field at all for India’s defence of 161. Given his history of back issues, India wrapped him up in cotton wool.
The target was a substantial one for Australia, especially on this spicy SCG surface, but it did appear a whole lot smaller when Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna sprayed the new ball around. The pair conceded eight runs via wild leg-side wides in the first two overs. Though Prasidh tightened up and took three wickets, including that of Steven Smith, Bumrah’s absence hung like Coleridge’s albatross around India’s neck.
The batters didn’t make it any easier for India’s depleted attack. They lost 4 for 16 in 7.5 overs on the third morning to fold for 157. Scott Boland, who might not have played this series had Josh Hazlewood been fit and might not be a certainty for Australia’s next Test assignment in Sri Lanka, bagged his first ten-wicket haul in professional cricket to hasten India’s collapse. Having taken four wickets on the opening day at the SCG, Boland added six to his tally – his second five-for in Test cricket since his 6 for 7 debut, which was just as glorious.
Boland had started the day with a maiden and continued to stalk both the edges by hitting a perfect length. He had Siraj caught at first slip and castled Bumrah in the 40th over to wrap up India’s innings. Boland then, fittingly, held the ball aloft and led Australia off the field, with the SCG crowd giving him a rousing reception.
His captain Cummins had earlier accounted for Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar. Jadeja had been dropped by Smith in the slips on 6 on day two, but it cost India just 7, with Cummins going much fuller to kiss Jadeja’s outside edge. He then nipped one through Washington’s gate to expose India’s tail to Boland.
Australia capitalised on some wayward new-ball bowling from Siraj and Krishna, running away to 39 for 0 in the fourth over. Prasidh provided India with the breakthrough when he had Konstas miscuing a slog to mid-off for 22 off 17 balls.
After the second day’s play, Prasidh spoke of how he shifted from his stock length (back of a length) to a much fuller one after a chat with the analyst. However, on Sunday, with the harder, newer ball, he gleaned more bounce and seam movement with his natural length. After smacking Marnus Labuschagne on his elbow, Prasidh had him steering a catch to gully.
For the second time in two days, more than 40,000 fans at the SCG were poised to celebrate Smith scaling 10,000 Test runs, but Prasidh had other ideas and snared him one shy of the landmark with a prancing delivery. Smith will now have to wait until the first Test against Sri Lanka in Galle later this month for his next opportunity to become the 15th Test batter to join the 10,000 club.
India had to wait until after lunch to get rid of Usman Khawaja. The opener misjudged Siraj’s length, bottom-edging a pull to Pant for 41 off 45 balls. India felt that they were onto something. Siraj roared while Virat Kohli, who stood in as captain, charged towards his bowler from the slips and animatedly pumped his fist.
Travis Head and debutant Beau Webster, however, changed the mood and the game quickly. When Nitish Kumar Reddy offered up a wide half-volley in his first over, Head stayed leg-side of the ball and unleased a rasping blow through the covers. At the other end, Webster was less adventurous, but still scored at a fast clip, thanks to his long reach, which messed with the lengths of the bowlers.
Brief scores:
Australia 181 in 51 overs (Beau Webster 57, Steven Smith 33; Prasidh Krishna 3-42, Mohammed Siraj 3-51, Jasprit Bumrah 2-33, Nitish Kumar Reddy 2-32) and 162 for 4 in 27 overs (Usman Khawaja 41, Beau Webster 39*, Prasidh Krishan 3-65) beat India 185 in 72.2 overs (Rishabh Pant 40; Scott Boland 4-31,Mitchell Starc 3-49, Pat Cummins 2-37) and 157 in 39.5 overs (Rishabh Pant 61; Scott Boland 6-45, Pat Cummins 3-44) by six wickets
[Cricinfo]
