Australia claimed the fifth and final Test of the summer against India, winning the series 3-1 and claiming the Border-Gavaskar trophy for the first time since 2014/15. Australia won the final Test by six wickets, with debutant Beau Webster hitting the winning runs at the Sydney Cricket Ground on the third day.
What happened
On the third and final day of the match, Australia went into their final innings needing 162 runs to win the Test and overall series. Usually an achievable target, the total set by India was on an SCG pitch which gave a strong advantage to the bowling side with unpredictable ball movement. As a result, the highest individual score from the match was a fearless 61-run innings from India’s Rishabh Pant off just 33 balls.
India’s bowling attack missed the presence of Jasprit Bumrah, who didn’t take to the field on day three due to back spasms. After losing the wickets of Sam Konstas, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, and Steve Smith, the winning runs came from a productive partnership between Travis Head and Webster who capped off his first match for Australia with 39 runs off 34 balls. Smith, who scored four runs, fell one run short of reaching the significant milestone of 10,000 Test runs.
Australian bowler Scott Boland was named the Player of the Match for taking 10 wickets across the two innings, and Indian captain Jasprit Bumrah was named the Player of the Series after recording an impressive 32 wickets across the five Tests.
Australia are now undisputedly the world’s number one Test side and the current holders of every bilateral trophy they play for.
The emergence of Sam Konstas
The final two Tests of the series saw the emergence of a potential future star in 19-year-old Sam Konstas. In his first ever innings for Australia, at the MCG in the Boxing Day Test match, Konstas scored a superb half-century which included risky and creative strokes. He also became Australia’s youngest batting debutant since Ian Craig in 1953. In the three other innings he played during the series Konstas scored 8, 23, and 22.
Konstas received plenty of attention from the media and fans for not only his batting prowess but also a run-in with Indian superstar Virat Kohli. The two players walked into each other during the Australian’s debut innings, prompting speculation as to whether Kohli had shouldered Konstas on purpose.
What they said
Australian captain Pat Cummins said: “It’s been an amazing series. [We’re] immensely proud. We’ve spent a lot of time together as a group over the years, so we knew we weren’t at our best at Perth, but it was never as bad as it seems. So you stick tight and double down on what makes us a really good side.”
What’s next?
The Aussie men’s Test team will be in action later this month when they visit Sri Lanka for a two-Test series. The side’s victory against India has also earned them a spot in the final of the World Test Championship against South Africa in June.
