Bombay, January 3: The relentless Scott Boland once again proved to be India’s nemesis by picking four wickets as Australia bowled out India for a paltry 185 on the first day of the fifth Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground Friday. The choice to bat first on a grassy pitch backfired as India suffered another first-innings failure and were dismissed for scoring below 200 for the fifth time in the ongoing series. Besides Boland’s 4-31, Mitchell Starc took 3-49 while skipper Pat Cummins contributed with two scalps as Australia’s fast bowlers took nine wickets in a pinpoint bowling performance. Jasprit Bumrah and Sam Konstas engage in heated on-field arguments during 5th Test IND vs AUS 2024-25, Day 1, video goes viral.
On an overcast morning, India left out captain Rohit Sharma, with Jasprit Bumrah replacing him at the helm. In the morning, Starc and Cummins had a steep bounce on the SCG green pitch, which showed signs of being slower.
KL Rahul initially showed good judgment on balls outside off stump but fell on four off 14 balls after delivering a half-volley over leg stump to square leg by Starc. Boland struck with his fourth ball during India’s eighth over when he managed to pinch one and extract an outside edge of Jaiswal’s bat, which was caught safely by debutant Beau Webster at third slip , as the opener fell for 10 off 26 balls.
The seamer almost got his second wicket on the bounce when he found Virat Kohli’s outside edge, and Steve Smith dove to catch his right at second slip. But it appeared Smith had gotten his fingers under the ball and swept the grass while picking the ball off Marnus Labuschagne at gully, something TV umpire Joel Wilson spotted when dismissing Kohli. Scott Boland receives a standing ovation at the SCG after taking two wickets in two balls in the 5th Test IND vs AUS 2024-25 (Watch Video).
From there, Kohli, batting with his stance covering middle stumps and off stumps, looked solid in defense, although Gill got off to a good start by collecting four each against Cummins and Starc. Just when he felt India would finish the session unscathed, Gill danced around the field against Nathan Lyon in the final before lunch, but managed to hit him behind to slip and fell for 20 off 64 balls.
The post-lunch session started on a bad note for India as Boland was able to walk away abruptly. Kohli hit the delivery on a fifth-sixth stump line to catch debutant Beau Webster in the slips and fell or 17 off 69 balls. Starc also upped his pace and left Pant with a bruised bicep, besides hitting him on the helmet, leaving the left-handed batter wary. Starc’s pace was too much for Jadeja to handle as he looked to dodge his quick bouncers.
After clipping Starc beyond backward point for four, Pant danced across the field to hit Webster over the sight screen for six, despite taking another blow to his body. Jadeja got his first boundary of the match when he pushed Lyon past the off-spinner for four, before being dropped by the off-spinner at five off Webster. Jasprit Bumrah charges towards Sam Konstas, then stops after dismissing Usman Khawaja on the last ball of the first day of the 5th Test IND vs AUS 2024-25 (Watch Video).
Pant cut back to close Lyon in the gap between back point and cover point to end a slow scoring session for India. After the tea break, Pant tried to remove Boland, but the top went straight to mid on and fell for 40. One brought two as Nitish Kumar Reddy headed Boland’s wide short straight for slide.
Jadeja tried to resurrect the innings with two more boundaries before being trapped by Starc for 22. Washington Sundar hit three boundaries in his 14 off 30 balls before being bounced by Cummins, with Wilson saying the snicko had detected a little peak when the ball brushed past the glove.
Although Jasprit Bumrah trailed by hitting three fours and a six in his 17-ball 22, the highest score by an Indian skipper in the ongoing series, Australia ended the innings as Starc asked Prasidh Krishna to head straight at the deep fielder, while Cummins urged the Indian captain to throw in the same way to end another dismal batting display from the visitors.
Brief scores: India 185/10 in 72.2 overs (Rishabh Pant 40, Ravindra Jadeja 26; Scott Boland 4-31, Mitchell Starc 3-49) vs Australia
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 3, 2025 12:59 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and style life, log in to our website Latestly.com).
