Scott Boland has dragged himself ever closer to an Ashes berth with a strong performance during Australia’s emphatic World Test Championship final victory over England at the Oval on Sunday.
It was just the second WTC final played and the first contested by Australia, but India have now played in and lost both, this time by 209 runs. Australia dominated the match from the opening day after being sent in by Indian captain Rohit Sharma."
"Steve Smith claimed this victory had been the aim of the team since the current cycle began two years ago.
“We can’t celebrate as hard as we would like to with a game not too far away, but we have to be proud of our achievements for sure,” he said.
“A lot of hard work has gone into the past few years to get into this situation to play in the final."
“We have dominated the game from day one. Maybe let them back in in glimpses, but outside of that, it was a pretty well-polished performance.”
Boland was the pick of the fast bowlers with 3-46 from 16 overs to go with his two first winnings wickets and an overall economy rate of under three for the match. His two wickets in three balls on Sunday to remove the dangerous Virat Kohli (46) and Ajay Jadeja (0) set Australia on course to claim all seven wickets in the first session.
Nathan Lyon (4-41) and Mitchell Starc (2-77) cleaned up the tail.
Boland is usually Australia’s fourth-choice pace bowler behind the big three of captain Pat Cummins, Starc and Josh Hazlewood, however Cummins insisted leading into this Test that there was no pecking order."
If that is the case it would appear impossible to leave Boland out of the first Ashes Test at Edgbaston, beginning on Friday.
Starc enhanced his chances of retaining his place with a late flurry wickets, leaving Hazlewood likely to be the unlucky candidate given his injury history over the past couple of years. He has been declared fit after a minor side niggle, but his lack of cricket may prove a decisive factor in selection.
Boland claimed five wickets for the game with an economy rate of under three an over, while Starc took four while conceding more than five an over.
Significantly, Cummins preferred to share the new ball with Boland ahead of Starc at the start of India’s second innings on Saturday and again when play resumed on Sunday. It is just the second time since 2015 that Starc has not opened the bowling."
- Malcom Conn
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