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Following his ten-wicket haul during the fifth and final Test against India, Australian pacer Scott Boland has touched a new high in his career, securing the best bowling average in men's Test cricket since the days of first World War, Wisden reported.
Boland was exceptional throughout the series, troubling Indian batters with his tough-to-handle, relentless line and lengths. His highlight was taking star batter Virat Kohli's wicket four times in the series. He emerged as the biggest thorn in the eyes of the Indian team during this series. He took 21 scalps in three matches at an average of 13.19, with best figures of 6/45. He took a ten-wicket haul in the fifth Test. He was the third-highest wicket-taker in the series. In the first innings of the Test, Boland took 4/31 while in the second innings, he followed it up with even better figures of 6/45 to bundle out India for just 157 runs and give Australia an easy target of 162 runs, which they chased down. His match figures of 10/76 are fourth-best at the venue, with Australia's Charlie Turner (12-87 in 1888-89) having the best figures. Boland made his Test debut for Australia in 2021 and has not made a lot of international appearances due to the presence of the much-accomplished trio of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood. In 13 Tests, he has taken 56 wickets at an average of 17.66 and best figures of 6/7. He has also played 14 ODIs and three T20Is, having taken 19 wickets in these formats combined. Boland made his international debut in 2016 against India. Boland's Test average is the eighth-best overall in Test history and the best since the first WW (1914-18) among bowlers with a minimum of 50 wickets to his name in the format. The best-ever bowling average belongs to England's George Lohmann, who took 112 wickets in 18 Tests from 1886 to 1896 at an average of 10.75, as per Wisden. Among Aussies with 50 Test scalps, only Turner has a better bowling average of 16.53, with 101 wickets in 17 Tests. Coming to the modern-day contemporaries with 50 Test wickets, Axar Patel (55 wickets at 19.34) has the next-best bowling average, followed by Jasprit Bumrah (205 at 19.40) and Kyle Jamieson (80 at 19.73). Betty Wilson of Australia tops the bowling average charts among women players with 50 Test scalps, having taken 68 wickets in 11 Tests at an average of 11.80. Coming to the SCG Test, India won the toss and elected to bat first. India was off to a disappointing start yet again as the top order threw away their wickets, especially Virat Kohli (17) who continued his struggles with outside off-stump deliveries.However, the fight by Pant (40 in 98 balls, with three fours and a six), Ravindra Jadeja (26 in 95 balls, with three fours) and skipper Jasprit Bumrah (22 in 17 balls, with three fours and a six) pushed India to 185/10 in 72.2 overs. Boland (4/31) was the pick of the bowlers for the Aussies and once again a thorn in the eyes of Indian batters. Mitchell Starc took 3/49 while Pat Cummins got 2/37. In their first innings, Australia lost wickets at regular intervals even when Jasprit Bumrah (2/33) walked off the field due to an injury scare. Under the stand-in skipper Virat, India continued to dominate the Aussies, skittling them out for just 181 runs and taking a four-run lead. Debutant Beau Webster (57 in 105 balls, with five fours) had a fine showing with the bat and Steve Smith (33 in 57 balls, with four boundaries and a six) showed some attacking intent. Prasidh Krishna (3/42) and Mohammed Siraj (3/51) were the top bowlers for India. With a lead of four runs, India was off to a promising start thanks to Yashasvi Jaiswal (22 in 35 balls, with four boundaries) and KL Rahul (13) as they put on a 45-run stand. But Boland (6/45) troubled the Indian batting once again. Pant did put up a counter-attack with 61 in 33 balls (six fours and four sixes), but India were bundled out for 157 runs, setting up 162 for the Aussies to win. Bumrah could not bowl in the final innings. Australia was in trouble for a while during the chase of 162 runs at 58/3, but knocks from Usman Khawaja (41 in 45 balls, with four boundaries), Travis Head (34* in 38 balls, with four boundaries) and Webster (39* in 34 balls, with six fours) guided the team to a six-wicket win, despite fight put up by Prasidh Krishna (3/65). Boland was the 'Player of the Match' for his ten-wicket haul while Bumrah walked away with the 'Player of the Series' award with 32 wickets. (ANI)
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