1 day Ago
On DAY 3 of the fifth and final Test at Sydney cricket ground in the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 , Pat Cummins-led Australia needed just 162 run to win the match and series against India. But there was no guarantee if they could make citing India's stealth in the bowling department . Opening the second innings for Australia, both Sam Konstas and Usman Khwaja were under tremendous pressure.
Nineteen-year-old Konstas appeared he was in hurry and quickfired 22 runs off just 16 deliveries, but then India's Prasidh Krishna departed him when he carved into the off side. Following Konstas, both Marnus Labuschagne and Steven Smith went to pavilion as Kirshna did not allow them to settle. However, Khwaja kept his calm and made a partnership with Travis Head for sometime.
But he again became a victim of Mohammed Siraj's pace and was dismissed after scoring 41 runs. Understanding the importance of the Test and World Test Championship 2025 qualification at stake , Head with debutant Beau Webster displayed remarkable patience and led Australia to win the fifth Test at Sydney by 6 wickets. Though the main prize was the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, however, this victory secured Australia their place in the World Test Championship final against South Africa at the Lords'.
What Pat Cummins said? "Being a five-Test series, it helps [to allow time to fight back]. But as you saw with the Gabba, you do start thinking anything can happen. Then MCG goes down in the last hour, you feel like you might play really well and not have a series win to show for it.
I think when you start a series behind, a lot of things get questioned, fairly and unfairly," ESPNCricInfo quoted Cummins as saying. "But it shows a strength of the group to stay strong, know that we weren't [at] our best, but we can be better, not get caught up in a lot of the external noise and clutter, and just focus on what makes us good players and a good team. That's one of the most rewarding parts of this series win," he added.
Unusual suspects of the series: Undoubtedly, Australia's three players – Sam Konstas, Beau Webster and Scott Boland – emerged as the three unusual suspects in the fifth Test at Sydney. While Australia brought in Konstas to fix the opening disasters in place of Nathan McSweeney, he appeared more interested in altercations with Indian greats like Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah . Konstas was not that great with the bat, but his altercations somehow shifted India's focus a little.
Next is Beau Webster, who made his debut at SCG in place of Mitchell Marsh . His first-innings 57 was one of just two half-centuries in the Test and unbeaten 39 in the second innings took away the game from India. Last but not the least was Scott Boland, who dismissed Virat Kohli 5 times in the series and twice in the SCG.
He picked 10 wickets for 76 runs in SCG, his first ten-wicket haul in a 14-year first-class career..
