Boland's Sydney haul topples magical Melbourne debut

It was always going to take something special to top Scott Boland's magical Boxing Day debut, but in the space of three days at the SCG he may have just done so.

A cult hero from the moment he took 6-7 to seal the Ashes on his home ground three years ago, Boland has now put himself among the greats.

His spell back in December 2021 came at a time when Australia as a country was battling, caught in the grip of the Covid-19 crisis amid record numbers stuck at home with the virus.

But on the field, Boland ran through an England side clearly on its knees, as Australia took a 3-0 lead after three Tests to ensure they would retain the Ashes urn.

This week at the SCG, Boland's match haul of 10-76 has arguably been more important.

With the Border-Gavaskar Trophy on the line in the first Sydney series decider in 21 years, the 35-year-old was player-of-the-match in Australia's six-wicket win.

"He's just so good, Scotty," said Australia captain Pat Cummins.

"Whenever he comes in, you just know he's a seasoned pro. He's been doing it for years for Victoria.

"He's well and truly good enough in Test cricket. He proves it time and time again. As a captain, he's a dream, because he just loves bowling."

Boland took the four most crucial wickets in the first innings, removing rising star Yashasvi Jaiswal, megastar Virat Kohli, dashing wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant and Melbourne century-maker Nitish Kumar Reddy.

And after India claimed a slender four-run first-innings lead, it was Boland who did the job again for Australia.

Brought on earlier than normal after a counter-attacking start from Jaiswal, Boland produced the ball of the match to bowl the left-handed opener.

He had Kohli out for a fifth time in five matches and ran through India's top order on the evening of day two.

Any hope of India setting a target of above 200 on the third morning was then also killed off by Boland, who helped ensure the tourists lost their last three wickets for one run.

Most notable too was the fact Boland's second-innings 6-45 came as Mitchell Starc appeared to be tiring, after a rigorous five-Test summer left him with rib soreness.

Boland, himself, remains ever modest, content only being called into Australia's side when one of Cummins, Starc or Josh Hazlewood are out.

His chance this time came due to Hazlewood's calf strain, but the calls are growing for him to have a more regular place in Australia's attack.

The Sydney returns marked his first 10-wicket haul in 13 years of first-class cricket, while he now has the eighth-best bowling average in the history of Test cricket with 56 wickets at 17.66.

"It's been a really enjoyable couple of months," Boland said after Australia secured the Border-Gavaskar Trophy on day three.

"I probably didn't expect to play too much of a part this series but I prepared as if I was going to. The last few weeks have been awesome."

NRMA Insurance Men's Test Series v India

First Test: India won by 295 runs

Second Test: Australia won by 10 wickets

Third Test: Match drawn

Fourth Test: Australia won by 184 runs

Fifth Test: Australia won by six wickets

Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Travis Head (vc), Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Jhye Richardson, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster

India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Devdutt Padikkal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar. Reserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed, Yash Dayal