India vs. Australia 5th Test: On Sunday, January 5, Australia defeated India in Sydney with a solid opening session of the third day of the fifth and final Test match.

Australia is just 91 runs away from winning the SCG Test and the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the first time in more than a decade after scoring 71/3 in their second innings in 13 overs at lunch on the third day while pursuing the 162-run goal.

Australia scored with a run rate of 5.46 to stay in the match after losing early wickets.

Sam Konstas hit three boundaries and played a fast knock of 22 off only 17 balls with the aid of three fours, giving Australia a furious start as they chased the mark.

In the fourth over, Prasidh Krishna got rid of Konstas Washington Sundar, who produced a brilliant catch to give India the lead.

After defeating Marnus Labuschagne (6) and dismissing Steve Smith for only four runs in the tenth over, Prasidh claimed two more vital wickets. After a spectacular catch by Yashasvi Jaiswal, Smith was only one run away from reaching 10,000 Test runs.

Due to Jasprit Bumrah’s ongoing injury concerns, India is now lacking a bowler in the second innings.

India had earlier started their second innings at 141/6, but they were bowled out for only 157 runs in 39.5 overs after failing to add much to their total.

Prior to Scott Boland’s last dismissals of Mohammed Siraj (4) and Jasprit Bumrah (0), Pat Cummins took the vital wickets of Ravindra Jadeja (13) and Washington Sundar (12).

Boland ended with the outstanding statistics of 6/45 and took a spectacular five-for, making him the best bowler for the hosts.

Cummins claimed three wickets for forty-four runs, while Beu Webster, who was making his debut, also claimed a scalp.

With a scorching performance of 61 runs in only 33 balls, supported by six fours and four sixes, Rishabh Pant was India’s highest scorer. Yashasvi Jaiswal contributed twenty-two runs.

5th Test Playing XIs for AUS vs. IND:

Australia: Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland, Alex Carey (w), Steven Smith, Travis Head, Beau Webster, Sam Konstas, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, and

India: Rishabh Pant (w), Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah (c), Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, and Yashasvi Jaiswal