India could not achieve its goal of entering the finals of the World Test Championship as it was defeated by Australia by 6 wickets on Sunday, the last day of the final match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Many would argue that this loss was a defining one because India lost a place in the WTC final for the first time since the format commenced. The loss meant that Australia came away with a commanding 3-1 series victory over India and took back the Border-Gavaskar Trophy after a decade of trying while ensuring their place in the WTC final against South Africa.
It also marks Australia’s second successful entry to the WTC final in a row, as they had beaten India in the final of the previous edition of the series in 2023. On the contrary, India again let millions of opportunities go in vain in its final turn at the Sydney, the first being getting all out 185 and the second a mere 157 runs, showing they failed to provide any chance to their bowlers to upset Australians.
Nevertheless, there was an earnest attempt from the Indian bowlers, especially to restrict Australia to 181 in their first essay; the loss of premier fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah turned out to be a setback. Bumrah, who was leading the Indian side as a stand-in captain for the final Test match, was replaced by a back spasm, which added to India’s woes of a weakened bowling lineup.
Day 3 saw India resuming their innings at 141/6, hoping to add more than 145 runs to their total, but Australians had taken charge. Skipper Pat Cummins (3/44) got rid of Ravindra Jadeja (13) and Washington Sundar (12) early to bring India down to 157/8. Bumrah also got a chance to go in with the bat but could not even open his account as Scott Boland got rid of him. Boland thus took match figures of 6/45 and a match bag of ten wickets. The Australians sailed through to the target thus they sealed a series win and spot in the WTC final.
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