The fifth and final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy between India and Australia at the iconic Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) may be affected by rain in the last two days of the match, Wisden Cricket reported. The final Test will be a New Year’s Test which begins on January 3 at the SCG. Additionally, the Test is a special event as it marks ‘Jane McGrath Day’, the wife of legendary pacer Glenn McGrath who lost her life in a battle with cancer. “On the third day of the match, the match venue is covered in a sea of pink and millions of dollars are usually raised for support and awareness of cancer in Australia.
According to Google Weather cited by Wisden, on the first day the game will begin under thick cloud cover. There is a 25 percent chance of rain, which will decrease to just 5 percent on the second day. The second day will be bright and sunny, just like Sunday, with temperatures also climbing into the mid-30s.
The final two days of the match could be affected by bad weather, with showers starting on the fourth day and continuing overnight. Steady drizzle is also likely on the fifth day of the test.
Additionally, according to BBC Weather, there could be rain on Friday afternoon. On the weekend, there will be sunshine. There is a 68 percent chance of rain Monday night, the fourth day of play, but it will likely be clear during the day. The fifth day, however, will likely be marked by heavy showers, which will continue throughout the day.
India are affected by the form of their key hitters Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant, who have scored just one fifty-plus score throughout the series combined. Despite some incredible bowling from Jasprit Bumrah, who took 30 wickets in four matches at an average of 12.83, India failed to make a big impact in the series and trailed 1-2.
Australia, on the other hand, are facing injury problems with pacer Josh Hazlewood ruled out of the series due to calf injuries. Furthermore, recent reports suggest that another front-row pacer, Mitchell Starc, was sent for scans two days before the Sydney Test.
The series is 2-1 in favor of Australia and they are in a good position to join South Africa in the ICC World Test Championship. However, if India wins the match and draws the series, not only will they retain the trophy again, but they will also keep themselves alive in the race for the WTC, given that the results of the Australia-Sri series Lanka next year will be favorable to him.
Australian team: Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Travis Head (vc), Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Jhye Richardson, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster
Indian team: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Devdutt Padikkal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep , Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar. Reserves : Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed, Yash Dayal.
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