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Spurred on by pace ace Scott Boland, Australia appear in control of the fifth and decisive Test match <i>against India </i>for the Border-Gavaskar trophy.
AUSTRALIA V INDIA: Day one of the fifth Test at the SCG
SCORE: India 185. Australia 1-9.
SUMMARY: Australia took the upper hand on the first day of the fifth and decisive Test against India at the SCG. Dropping out-of-form captain Rohit Sharma for Shubman Gill, India won the toss and elected to bat under lights and cloudy skies. But the batting changes misfired, new No.3 Gill (20) the most prolific of the top three, who were all in the dugout as India fell to 3-57 by lunch. Scott Boland (4-31) was enforcer-in-chief for the Australian attack and snared India's top-scorer Rishabh Pant (40) and MCG centurion Nitish Kumar Reddy (0) in back-to-back balls during a dominant third session. Debutant Beau Webster (0-29) held his own on his first day as a Test cricketer, before Washington Sundar (14) gloved to Alex Carey to signal the end was nigh for the tourists. Usman Khawaja (2) edged nemesis Jasprit Bumrah to KL Rahul on the last ball of the day.
THE MOMENT: It took only eight overs for controversy to strike at the SCG. Scott Boland looked to have dismissed pantomime villain Virat Kohli for a first-ball duck when Steve Smith dived low in the cordon, flicking the veteran's outside edge up to Marnus Labuschagne with one hand. But third umpire Joel Wilson determined the ball had touched the grass as Smith attempted to control it with his fingers, denying the Australians a chance to push India to 3-17. Boland eventually dispatched of Kohli (17) in the second session, the ex-captain's outside edge flying to debutant Beau Webster in the cordon.
THE PLAYER: On a green, seaming wicket, Scott Boland produced his best Test figures since the 6-7 he managed in the second innings of a miraculous MCG debut three summers ago. He twice combined with Big Bash teammate Webster to dismiss Kohli and in-form opener Yashasvi Jaiswal (10), before a pair of wickets that allowed Australia to tighten the screws following India's best partnership of the day - a 48-run stand from Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja. Boland came within a sliver of a first Test hat-trick as his next delivery squeaked past Washington Sundar en route to Alex Carey.
THE STAT: Replacing out-of-form Mitch Marsh, Australia's new allrounder Beau Webster bowled 13 overs on debut, more than Marsh had sent down in any Test innings since September 2019.
