Australia’s bowlers batter India to keep home fires burning for World Championship tilt
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In the very end, it was less fizz than fizzle, though something else had earlier threatened. Mind you, the very end came right in the middle, Australia winning the fifth Test against India halfway through the third day in Sydney. It wasn’t even the middle if you counted overs bowled, the match using 197 of a possible 450 on a pitch that grew less fit for purpose with each passing day. That tallied with the broader contest: early finishes in Perth and Adelaide, rain in Brisbane, all resulting in the third-fewest deliveries ever bowled across a five-Test series.
![[Australia reclaimed the Border-Gavaskar trophy after beating India by six wickets in Sydney.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/ef6f5c9352ee0ff9df4e8d9d4c35f13a150d2d4c/18_608_7499_4502/master/7499.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
The series outcome is what should be regarded first, Australia going to 3-1 after chasing 162 in Sydney with six wickets in hand. The future significance is that this qualifies Australia for the World Test Championship final against South Africa in June, regardless of what happens on their upcoming tour to Sri Lanka.
![[Fast bowler and people’s champion Scott Boland won player of the match for his 10-wicket haul.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/cac556829dd54e6479c88b2af7178efddcfaaeb1/0_80_2404_1443/master/2404.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
The longer-term significance was a return to home-ground advantage after India won the previous two series in Australia, and Australia winning custody of the Border-Gavaskar trophy after doing that last in 2015. In the short term, the significance was Australia coming back from the belting they received first up in Perth.
![[After 32 wickets in the series, Jasprit Bumrah was lost to injury midway through the SCG Test.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/030ffe2d80026a2e384d552e511dad1546c6e8ed/0_219_6564_3938/master/6564.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
At that point, the home team got panned - there were predictions about an Indian walkover, analyses that the Australian batting was frail and that nobody in it had a clue how to play Jasprit Bumrah. And broadly, those things remained true. The difference came from Australia’s bowlers. A ram-raid in Adelaide, the better of the draw in Brisbane, and a nerveless last-session extraction in Melbourne preceded the Sydney smash. India had won in Perth after declaring on 487, but six of their other nine innings were all out for under 200.
