A relentless Scott Boland and Mitchell Starc yesterday sliced through an India batting lineup missing Rohit Sharma to put Australia in a commanding position after the first day of the fifth and final Test.
The visitors were all out for 185 after Jasprit Bumrah — captaining the side with Rohit “rested” — sent his team in at a sold-out Sydney Cricket Ground.
Boland was the chief destroyer with 4-31, while Starc took 3-49.
Photo: AFP
In reply, Australia lost Usman Khawaja for 2 on the last ball before stumps, with Bumrah doing the damage, leaving them at 9-1 with Sam Konstas on 7.
“It was disappointing losing a wicket on the last ball of the day, but it’s a pretty good position after they won the toss,” Boland said. “I felt like I bowled pretty good ... a bit stiff still from Melbourne, but happy with the way the day went. Hopefully the sun’s out and we can bat all day [today]. There’s still a nice covering of grass on the wicket and hopefully another good day for us tomorrow.”
None of the India batsmen fired, with kingpin Virat Kohli again falling cheaply, while Nitish Kumar Reddy, who made a brilliant century in the previous Test at Melbourne, was out for a golden duck.
Kohli had a huge let off on his first ball and finally departed for 17, following K.L. Rahul (4), Yashasvi Jaiswal (10) and Shubman Gill (20).
Rishabh Pant made a battling 40, but that was as good as it got for India.
Regular captain and opener Rohit was rested, India said, after failing to get past 10 runs in any of his five innings during the series, which Australia lead 2-1.
It was a significant move and could spell the end of the 37-year-old’s 67-match Test career.
Australia would regain the Border-Gavaskar trophy for the first time since 2014-2015 if they win or draw.
Fellow veteran Kohli, 36, has similarly been under pressure since an unbeaten century in the first Test at Perth, with his inability to again build a big score set to intensify the scrutiny.
Rahul reverted to opener alongside Jaiswal, with Gill returning at No. 3, but the ploy backfired with Rahul out softly when Starc tempted him to clip a full delivery to Konstas at cover.
There were concerns ahead of the Test over seamer Starc’s fitness, but he showed no discomfort and routinely troubled the batsmen.
Boland came on after an opening barrage from Pat Cummins and took the big wicket of in-form Jaiswal in his first over, collected smartly at slip by debutant Beau Webster, in the side for the axed Mitchell Marsh.
The hosts were convinced Boland had Kohli out next ball.
The India star edged to Steve Smith at second slip and diving low to his right he got his hand under the ball and scooped it up for Marnus Labuschagne to complete the catch, but in a big call by third umpire Joel Wilson, he ruled that part of the ball feathered the ground and Kohli survived.
India seemed destined to reach lunch without further loss, but Nathan Lyon drew an outside-edge from Gill and Smith took the catch.
Australia tightened the screws when they returned with Kohli adding just 5 more runs before Boland struck again with a ball that nipped away, taking an edge to Webster at slip.
The ebullient Pant was criticized for throwing his wicket away in the fourth Test at Melbourne, which Australia won, and he was far more conservative this time.
Peppered with bouncers that repeatedly hit his body, he worked hard for 40 before Boland again weaved his magic.
Pant miscued a short ball with Cummins holding the catch at mid-on, then Boland sent Reddy packing on his next delivery to send the crowd wild.
Ravindra Jadeja made the most of being dropped twice to compile 26 before Starc trapped him leg before wicket, with the tail briefly wagging before the end came.
For the first time in almost 36 years, a Parisian derby will be played in French soccer’s top flight when reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain FC take on the nouveau riche Paris Football Club (PFC) today. Not one of the players involved in today’s match — PFC’s 38-year-old third-choice goalkeeper Remy Riou is almost certainly not going to be involved — was born the last time there was a Parisian derby in Ligue 1. That was on Feb. 25, 1990, when Moroccan midfielder Aziz Bouderbala scored a brace as Racing Paris 1 beat PSG 2-1 at the Parc des Princes home that
BOUNCING BACK: Antetokounmpo had just returned from an eight-game injury absence last month, leading the Milwaukee Bucks to their third win in four games Giannis Antetokounmpo threw down the game-winning dunk with 4.7 seconds remaining to lift the Milwaukee Bucks to a 122-121 victory over the Charlotte Hornets and grab a slice of NBA history on Friday. The Bucks trailed by as many as 16 on their home floor, but Antetokounmpo scored 12 of his 30 points in the final quarter to help seal the win in a frantic finish that saw five lead changes in the final 45.7 seconds. The two-time NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) added 10 rebounds and five assists. It was his 158th regular-season game with at least 30 points, 10 rebounds and
Stan Wawrinka’s 40-year-old legs did not let him down over three-plus hours in his first singles match of a farewell tour yesterday. Three-time Grand Slam singles champion Wawrinka beat Arthur Rinderknech of France, who is ranked 29th to Wawrinka’s 157th, 5-7, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5). The match went 3 hours, 16 minutes. Wawrinka last month announced that this year would be his last on the ATP tour. “Today was a tough battle ... it’s amazing to come here for the first time, to have so much support,” Wawrinka said yesterday. “Twenty years on tour, you kind of always play in the same place
Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka yesterday got her season off to a winning start for Japan in the United Cup, after the UK’s Emma Raducanu pulled out of their singles clash with a fitness issue, while in Brisbane, Taiwan’s Latisha Chan and Wu Fang-hsien crashed out of the women’s doubles. In Perth, despite Osaka’s win, the UK took the match 2-1 with a deciding mixed doubles victory. Osaka was too strong for reserve and 276th-ranked Katie Swan, winning 7-6 (7/4), 6-1 as Raducanu watched from the sidelines. “I’m proud of how I fought,” Osaka said. “I’d never played here, it was tough.” Britain
RSS