India shrugs off Bumrah’s injury to claim top spot in first round in Australia | Cricket news

India captain Jasprit Bumrah was forced out due to injury on day two of the fifth Test but Australia failed to capitalize.

India overcame the absence of captain Jasprit Bumrah to dismiss Australia for 181 and reached 141 for six to take a total lead of 145 on the extraordinary second day of the finely balanced fifth Test.

On a day of high drama at the sunny Sydney Cricket Ground, Bumrah took the first wicket to set India on course but left with the team doctor shortly after lunch for scans on his back after suffering convulsions.

Prasidh Krishna (3-42), Mohammed Siraj (3-51) and Nitish Kumar Reddy stepped into the big bowling void left by their captain to defeat Australia and take India to a slender first innings lead by four runs in the T.

However, there was still plenty of action at the wicket, and paceman Scott Boland took 4-42 in the final session to add to his tally. A four-wicket haul on Fridayas Australia cut off the top of the Indian batting and dug deep into the middle order.

Rishabh Pant shook off the shackles and produced some extraordinary shots in a stunning 28-ball half-century to stem the rot, but he also departed for 61 in the final hour, as Australia skipper Pat Cummins took his 14th wicket of the day.

There was still time for Boland to claim his fourth victim in Nitish Kumar Reddy, leaving Ravindra Jadeja, not out on eight, and Washington Sundar, unbeaten in six matches, at the end of the match.

“As many runs as possible would be great for us,” Krishna said when asked how much of a lead the Indian bowlers would be comfortable defending, perhaps without Bumrah.

“We don’t really know how the wicket behaves. It goes up, it goes down. If you’re able to be aggressive, there’s a risk, but you get the reward of a run.

Australia coach Andrew McDonald believed the “generational” bowling talent in both teams was to blame for the number of wickets falling and said his plans for day three were clear.

“First of all, we have four wickets to try and keep that total as low as possible,” he told reporters.

“There’s still a long way to go…so we’ll see what happens.”

The 47,257 spectators soaking up the Sydney sunshine certainly got their money’s worth as the momentum shifted back and forth, as it has throughout the series, which Australia led 2-1.

Debutant all-rounder Beau Webster, whose 57 was Australia’s highest score, was welcomed to the rafters for his half-century and again when he removed Shubman Gill for 13 later in the day to claim his first Test wicket.

Virat Kohli, who had been standing in as India’s captain after Bumrah’s departure, was booed to the crease for what was likely to be his final innings in Australia, and cheered back to the boundary rope after Boland stopped him in the slips for six shy.

Boland quickly became a cult hero in Australia and perhaps the loudest roar came when he bowled a peach of a delivery to take out the off-stump of opener Yashasvi Jaiswal and end a promising innings on 22.

Indian fans had a lot to cheer about too, starting with Bumrah’s dismissal of Marnus Labuschagne in the morning session to take his series tally to 32 wickets at an average of 13.06.

Krishna was also waving Indian flags when Steve Smith was caught in the slips for 33 to break up a 57-wicket fifth-wicket partnership with Webster and leave the former Australia captain five short of 10,000 Test runs.

India, who dropped skipper Rohit Sharma for the match, need a win in Sydney to rank the series and retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Australia’s victory would not only secure the series, but would secure a place in the World Test Championship final at Lord’s in London, UK, against South Africa in June.