Honestly, walking into the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) for the Australia vs India 5th Test, you could almost feel the weight of a decade's worth of frustration hanging in the humid air. For ten long years, the Border-Gavaskar Trophy had stayed firmly in Indian hands.
But then, the final ball was struck.
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Australia didn't just win; they reclaimed a sense of dominance that had felt lost since 2014. It was a chaotic, three-day whirlwind that basically flipped the script on everything we thought we knew about this rivalry. If you’re looking for a match that perfectly summed up the 2024-25 series—vicious bounce, batting collapses, and a fair bit of "wait, did that really just happen?"—this was it.
The Pitch Decision That Backfired
Cricket is a game of "what ifs," and the biggest one from the Australia vs India 5th Test will always be the toss. India's regular captain Rohit Sharma was out. Jasprit Bumrah was leading the side. He looked at a green, spicy SCG deck under heavy clouds and decided to bat first.
It was a bold call. Some might say it was a mistake.
The ball zipped. It seamed. It behaved like a wild animal. Within the first hour, the Indian top order looked sort of shell-shocked. Mitchell Starc and Scott Boland didn't just bowl; they dismantled. Boland, especially, was a nightmare. He finished the first day with figures of 4 for 31, sending Jaiswal, Kohli, and Pant back to the pavilion. India crawled to 185, a total that felt thin even on a "bowler's paradise."
Scott Boland: The Man Who Couldn't Miss
If there’s one player who won't have to buy a drink in Melbourne or Sydney for a long time, it's Scott Boland. He was the difference-maker. Period.
In the second innings, when India needed to build a lead to stay alive in the series, Boland went into "overdrive" mode. He ended up with a six-wicket haul (6/45) in the second innings and 10 wickets for the match. He stayed at a length that made the Indian batters feel like every ball had their name on it.
- Total Wickets for Boland: 10 in the match
- Player of the Match: Scott Boland (obviously)
The Rishabh Pant Counter-Punch
We have to talk about Rishabh Pant. Even when India was falling apart, Pant was doing Pant things. In the second innings, he smashed a 29-ball half-century. It was the second-fastest Test fifty for an Indian ever. For about 45 minutes, it felt like he might actually pull off another Gabba-style miracle.
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He was hitting 99-meter sixes and making the Australian fielders look a bit panicked. But when Pat Cummins finally got him for 61, the air just left the balloon. India ended up setting a target of 162. In modern cricket, that’s usually a "lunchtime snack" for a chasing team, but on this pitch? It was tricky.
The Tragedy of 9,999
Cricket can be a cruel, poetic game. Steve Smith, the man who has spent a decade haunting Indian bowlers, walked into this match needing just a few runs to reach the legendary 10,000-run milestone.
He fell for 4.
He finished the Test summer on 9,999 career runs. One run short. It’s the kind of thing that drives fans crazy, and honestly, seeing the look on Smith's face as he trudged off was a highlight in a "tragically hilarious" sort of way. He'll have to wait until the Sri Lanka tour to get that final single.
Australia vs India 5th Test: The Final Moments
The chase was anything but smooth. Australia was 4/104 at one point. The nerves in the stands were palpable. But then, Travis Head (34*) and the debutant Beau Webster (39*) stepped up.
Webster, the towering Tasmanian, looked like he belonged on the big stage from the first ball. He wasn't scared to play his shots. He eventually hit the winning boundaries off Washington Sundar to seal a six-wicket victory and a 3-1 series win.
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Why This Match Matters for the World Test Championship
The result of the Australia vs India 5th Test wasn't just about the trophy on the table. It effectively knocked India out of the World Test Championship (WTC) final race. Australia, meanwhile, booked their ticket to Lord’s to face South Africa.
Key Stats to Remember
- Series Result: Australia won 3-1.
- Player of the Series: Jasprit Bumrah (32 wickets in 5 matches).
- Match Duration: Just over two and a half days.
Actionable Takeaways for the Next Series
If you're an India fan, the "lessons learned" list is long. If you're an Australia fan, you're just enjoying the view from the top of the rankings.
- Selection Overhaul: India’s middle-order transition is no longer a future problem—it’s a "right now" problem. Expect more young faces like Nitish Kumar Reddy to get extended runs.
- The Bumrah Dependency: India struggled whenever Bumrah wasn't at 100%. Managing his workload while finding a second "strike" bowler is priority number one for the BCCI.
- Boland's Blueprint: Teams visiting Australia will be studying Boland’s tapes. He proved that you don't need 150kph pace to be deadly if you can hit the same 10-centimeter spot on the pitch six times an over.
Check the upcoming ICC schedules to see when these two giants meet again, likely in the next WTC cycle. You’ll want to keep an eye on domestic performances from the debutants like Webster and Konstas to see if they can hold their spots when the veterans return.