Australian bowling attack once again demonstrated why they are one of the best. While Josh Hazelwood was unavailable in the test match, the other three bowlers didn't let the spectators feel his absence and showcased a clinical performance with the ball in the dominating victory against India. The Man-of-the-match award was given to Travis Head for his exceptional 140 in the first training, but the credit for this ten-wicket victory goes to the Australian pacers, too.

 

Before the match, it was expected that Australia would feel the absence of Josh Hazelwood, who has an excellent track record in the pink ball. Mitchell Starc, captain Pat Cummins and Hazelwood replacement Scott Boland did all the work flawlessly. In the match, Precious took all the 20 wickets with a fifer from Mitchell Starc in the first inning and a fee from Pat Cummins in the second inning, while Scott Boland took two wickets in the first innings and three in the second innings.

 

Mitchell Starc - 8 wickets(6 & 2)

Pat Cummins - 7 wickets(2 & 5)

Scott Boland- 5 wickets (2 & 3)

Starc Pink Ball masterclass

Mitchell Starc once again proved why he is called the Pink Ball specialist. With a clinical performance of 8/108, he set the tone of the match from the very first ball, where he took the wicket of Yashasvi Jaiswal on the very first bowl of the match. Jaiswal became the eighth Indian batter to get a platinum duck(getting out on the first ball of the match). Starc's abilities to move the pink ball, especially under the light, have been proved lethal.

Captain Cummins's five-wicket haul.

 Pat Cummins's fifer in the second innings was monumental in stopping India inside 200. With good line and length and crucial breakthroughs like Nitish Reddy and KL Rahu, he played an essential role in Australia's victory during the match; he also made bowling changes when needed, which converted into regular wickets.

 

Scott Boland: a perfect replacement for Josh. 

Scott Boland, considered the slightly weak bowler in front of Starc, Cummins, and Hazelwood, stepped into Hazelwood's shoes perfectly. Doing what he was expected of, he took a total of 5 wickets, including an essential wicket of Virat Kohli in the second innings. He was hitting in the right areas and extracting movement from the surface.

 

In the meantime, one bowler who was disappointed was Nathan Lyon laughingly. A spinner with vast experience around the wickets and hundreds of wickets was given only one over during the match, only a single over. 

 

Pat Cummins commented lightheartedly about Lyon's role in the match, which made everyone laugh.

 "He will jump in the ice bath; he has had a big week." 

 

This collective clinical performance from the Australian pace bowling attack pushed India on the back foot, allowing them to make a strong comeback in the series and level it at one all.