Australia Reclaimed the Border-Gavaskar Crown By 3-1 Against India and Marches to WTC Battle With SA .

AUSTRALIA VS INDIA, 5TH TEST, SYDNEY : Australia Reclaimed the Border-Gavaskar Crown By 3-1 Against India and Marches to WTC Battle With SA .

India slumped to a six-wicket defeat to Australia on Day 3 of the fifth and final Test in Sydney, thereby losing the Border-Gavaskar trophy after 10 years. Australia successfully hunted down 162 with Travis Head (34 not out) and Beau Webster (39 not out) steering the team home. It was a 1-3 loss for India in the five-match series. Resuming day three on 141 for six, India lost their last four wickets for 16 runs to be dismissed for 157 in the second innings. The wickets in the session were shared between Cummins and Scott Boland who picked up a six wicket haul. Australia have also qualified for the World Test Championship final against South Africa with this win. Australia Reclaimed the Border-Gavaskar Crown By 3-1 Against India and Marches to WTC Battle With SA .

TOSS-

India won the toss and batted first.

PLAYING XI-

Australia Squad:

Sam Konstas; Usman Khawaja; Marnus Labuschagne; Steven Smith; Travis Head; Beau Webster; Alex Carey (wk); Pat Cummins (c); Mitchell Starc; Nathan Lyon; Scott Boland

India Squad :

Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah (c), Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj

DAY 1-

Before India could collect themselves, Rahul edged a leg stump half-volley from Mitchell Starc directly to square leg. Jaiswal drove when he should not have off Scott Boland’s relentless lines and lengths, increasing the angle on the ball, and ended up giving a nick to the debutant Beau Webster in the slip cordon.

Gill had a few lucky escapes, an inside edge missing the stumps and an outside edge flying over the cordon. But for much of the 40-run partnership of 106 balls, he too minimised the unforced errors just like Kohli. But on lunch’s stroke he danced down to Nathan Lyon and nicked to slip, pushing India further back.

Kohli’s vigil too did not last long as he poked outside off and was caught in the slip cordon for the seventh time in the series. Had Smith not put down a catch off Ravindra Jadeja then, the metronomic Boland would have had him too early.

Rishabh Pant at the other end took a few blows on the body but did not go for the flamboyant option during a fighting knock. The Australian pacers had given nothing away, so Pant had to manufacture any opportunity for a boundary when he danced down the wicket and sent Webster down the ground for a six.

He was given another boundary on Tea’s stroke with a hit to a short ball from Lyon, in what was otherwise a grind before he miscued a pull off Boland to midwicket and eventually perished in the final session. Scarcely had he walked off berating himself on the way back than he was joined by Nitish Reddy who fell in the slip cordon first ball. Ravindra Jadeja, who had scratched out a 95-ball 26 before he played across to Starc and was caught plumb in front. Washington Sundar cracked a few much-needed boundaries before the third umpire after Australia’s review ruled him to have gloved his attempted pull, letting the lower-order keep going up against the fight. Bumrah swung his bats for 22 before becoming the last man out. It extended India’s wretched streak of first innings scores of below 300 in Tests, being bowled in under 80 overs for the seventh time in the last eight Tests.

India had theirs moment gain when Jasprit Bumrah had Usman Khawaja (out for the sixth time in the series) nicking behind after exchanging pleasantries with non-striker Sam Konstas. The theatrical finish provided India some cheer on an otherwise gloomy day in the middle.

DAY 2

India had got some good early success with the ball with Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj testing the batters in the first hour of play on Day Two. It was out and it made a little difference to how much of an ordeal batting was going to be on that green-pitch with considerable seam movement. But Bumrah was at it again early on Day Two — he swung one back to take Marnus Labuschagne’s edge behind, and it initially was given not out, before the review showed it hitting the glove.

Sam Konstas went the adventurous route out against Bumrah, reverse-lapping him for boundary or walking out to drive him down the ground. It allowed Australia to hit back but the hit back did not sustain. Siraj also settled into a good line outside off, the ball moved away from a good length. Eventually it got the better of Konstas, who jabbed to gully. While he was able to get one on the pads which was clipped away by Travis Head, the left-handed opener was nicking it to the slip cordon in the same over, as they precariously placed at 39/4 inside the first hour.

The pace attack had done well to limit Australia to 181 and take a slender four-run first innings lead. With Bumrah missing through that second session, it was a junior brigade for India that delivered. Nitish had a double wicket over when both Cummins and Starc nicked off. The slip cordon had not spilled anything all this day, and it was only fortified when Webster was caught at gully by Prasidh Krishna for 57. Webster was the only batter who kept taking the blows, playing percentage cricket all the way through and holding the Australian innings together. He had originally assisted them in overcoming a top-order stumble with Steve Smith in the first session.

They carried that confidence with the bat with Yashasvi Jaiswal getting into the act with four boundaries in Mitchell Starc’s first over. The attacking opening stand of India however was ended by Scott Boland who uprooted the stumps of both KL Rahul and Jaiswal in the same over. The pitch — offering considerable assistance to seam movement all day — ended up being Boland’s greatest ally alongside his nagging lines and lengths. He got Virat Kohli too soon after that, getting him to nick to the slip cordon once again. Pant was India’s answer to Boland as he danced down the track first ball to clobber the pacer off his length for a boundary.

That attacking instinct remained throughout Pant’s innings, though he watched as Shubman Gill floundered in a counter-attack strategy, becoming debutant Beau Webster’s first Test victim. But just like Webster was with the bat for Australia, Pant was a key man in the Indian innings. But they had come through in contrasting fashion, being the only half-centurions on the day. The counter-attack of Pant helped him his land quick-fifty off 29 deliveries, the second fastest in Test history for India. During that period he added 44 runs for the fifth wicket with the only player who had been contributing — Ravindra Jadeja (2 runs in that partnership). Against the likes of Boland, Webster and Starc, Pant flicked, pulled, cut and swung his way to boundaries.

He was dismissed shortly after the final drinks break of the day though when Pat Cummins pitched one up and angled it across him, the slash producing the edge through to the ‘keeper. This was the fourth time that Cummins had got Pant through the series, much like Boland vs Kohli. Boland showed all the focus in the world set the run-rate alight too, before Reddy went back to the well and hit up the mid-off as Australia limited the scoring to a minimum after his dismissal. All those runs, though in challenging conditions, which took away part of the good work by India’s bowlers earlier in the day.

DAY 3-

The day started with Scott Boland and Pat Cummins stifling India’s effort to extend their overnight lead to make a match of things. Cummins removed the two batters from Day 2 —Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar — with the kind of subtle but effective seam movement. Jadeja nicked one that left him alone and Sundar was strung up by the one that pitched on middle stump then surged in. Boland took two more at the other end – Siraj taken at slips and Bumrah bowled – and led his team off the ground, under the applause of the SCG crowd, just at the halfway mark of the morning session. Australia were chasing down a target of 162 runs.

Bumrah had a spasm in his back and he wasn’t available to bowl. The absence of its captain was apparent early; the two pace front-liners Siraj and Krishna started with profligate wide-fours — and conceded 13 runs each in their first overs. This was followed by Sam Konstas falling, top-edging across the line against Krishna to be caught by Sundar at mid-off. The pacers used uneven bounce to keep themselves in the game despite a miserly score to defend.

India stayed alive in the game as Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith fell in quick succession. Labuschagne poked a ball on the back-of-a-length to Yashasvi Jaiswal at gully, while the excess bounce had Smith caught in the same fashion. The ball, to use a cricketing term, flew off the outside edge of his bat, and Jaiswal made an excellent leap forward to take a catch.

India was troubled by the absence of a third frontline pacer and when the second session started Australia still needed 91 runs. Siraj and Krishna had to bowl on after lunch, and understandably fell away in speeds and bite. Siraj still had Usman Khawaja nicking one behind and had Australia going but Webster combined with Head and it was smooth sailing from there. The runs and boundaries came easy as the partnership built. Webster laid the foundations just after the drinks break with a four off Sundar to put the final pieces in place.

Brief Scores:

India 185 (Rishabh Pant 40; Scott Boland 4-31, Mitchell Starc 3-49) & 157 (Rishabh Pant 61; Scott Boland 6-45, Pat Cummins 3-44) lost to Australia 181 (Beau Webster 57; Prasidh Krishna 3-42, Mohammed Siraj 3-51) & 162/4 (Beau Webster 39\*, Travis Head 34\*; Prasidh Krishna 3-65) by 6 wickets