Australia Wins Border-Gavaskar Trophy After 10 Years
Australia Wins Border-Gavaskar Trophy After 10 Years
Without Bumrah, India's hopes faded away as Australia wrapped up the win within three days, won the BGT series 3-1.
Australia claimed their first Border-Gavaskar Trophy victory since the 2014-15 series, winning on Day 3 at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG). This win also secured them a spot in their second straight World Test Championship final, where they will face South Africa – unless they receive penalties for slow over rates.
Debutant Beau Webster and Travis Head, who often performs well against India, guided Australia to victory with an unbeaten 58-run partnership. India struggled to defend the small target without their key bowler, Jasprit Bumrah, who was sidelined by injury. Prasidh Krishna sparked some hope for India in the morning session by taking three quick wickets, but Head and Webster ended those hopes with steady batting.
The day started with Australian bowlers Scott Boland and Pat Cummins preventing India from adding to their overnight lead. Cummins dismissed Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar using sharp seam movement – Jadeja edged one to the slips while Sundar was bowled by a ball that moved in sharply. Boland then claimed two more wickets, catching Mohammed Siraj at slip and bowling Bumrah, taking his fifth and sixth wickets of the innings. India’s innings ended in just 7.5 overs, leaving Australia with a target of 162 runs.
Without Bumrah, India’s bowling lacked sharpness. Both Siraj and Krishna gave away boundaries in their opening overs, conceding 13 runs each. Sam Konstas was the first to fall, miscuing a shot to Sundar at mid-off. Despite the low target, the uneven bounce in the pitch gave Indian bowlers some hope.
Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith fell in quick succession, keeping India in the game. Labuschagne hit a short ball to Yashasvi Jaiswal at gully, while Smith was caught by Jaiswal diving forward after the ball bounced unexpectedly off his bat’s edge.
Australia still needed 91 runs after lunch, but India’s lack of a third specialist fast bowler made it difficult to maintain pressure. Siraj and Krishna continued to bowl but began to tire and lose speed. Siraj managed to dismiss Usman Khawaja, keeping India’s chances alive briefly. However, Webster and Head calmly steered Australia to victory. As their partnership grew, runs became easier to score. After the drinks break, Webster hit the winning boundary off Sundar to complete the chase.
WTC Point Table
|
Team
|
Mat
|
Won
|
Lost
|
Draw
|
Points
|
PCT
|
|
SA
|
11
|
7
|
3
|
1
|
88
|
66.67
|
|
AUS
|
17
|
11
|
4
|
2
|
130
|
63.73
|
|
IND
|
19
|
9
|
8
|
2
|
114
|
50.00
|
|
NZ
|
14
|
7
|
7
|
0
|
81
|
48.21
|
|
SL
|
11
|
5
|
6
|
0
|
60
|
45.45
|
|
ENG
|
22
|
11
|
10
|
1
|
114
|
43.18
|
|
BAN
|
12
|
4
|
8
|
0
|
45
|
31.25
|
|
PAK
|
11
|
4
|
7
|
0
|
40
|
30.30
|
|
WI
|
11
|
2
|
7
|
2
|
32
|
24.24
|