And in conditions that didn’t offer the bowlers much, this exorcism was distinctly Australian: disciplined, clinical, perfect
Alex Malcolm30-Dec-2024Australia’s cricket team performed an exorcism at the MCG on Monday. They exorcised the ghosts of the Gabba.Modern Australia is one of the most secular societies in the world. Most wouldn’t know what an exorcism is, let alone ever need one performed.Cricket isn’t a religion like it supposedly is in India. But it is fundamental to the national psyche, even if at times Australians show a clear indifference.Related
Golden-arm Head was helping with Australia's over rate
Report – India lose seven in final session, Australia go 2-1 up
WTC final scenarios: India need a win in Sydney to stay in contention
All-time attendance record for a Test in Australia broken at MCG
Stats – A sorry end to 2024 for India and Rohit
Regardless, this exorcism wasn’t sacramental. It was very Australian; disciplined, clinical, perfect. A bowling unit working as a collective. No dropped catches. No wasted reviews. Some Joel Wilson decisions got in their way, like at Headingley in 2019. Australia might have exorcised that ghost as well keeping all three reviews intact and overturning two key decisions that made victory possible.It was fitting too that Nathan Lyon claimed the winning wicket. Having been denied at Headingley and nullified at the Gabba, there was special feeling in the celebrations of both his wickets, snaring India’s first-innings hero Nitish Kumar Reddy before pinning Mohammed Siraj lbw for the win.That it all happened in front of a final-day crowd of 74,362, in a week where the Australia-Test-attendance record was smashed, added to the sweetness of the victory for Pat Cummins and his team.”When you take all that into account, it’s probably the best Test match I’ve been involved in,” Cummins said. “Eighty thousand [each] in the first three days, don’t know what the crowd was today but it was huge. It felt like [the Test] swung a lot as well, never felt like we were so far ahead of the game that it [a win] looked certain. So overall, just one of those great wins.”Sam Konstas and Pat Cummins celebrate Australia’s win•Getty ImagesIt was clear that the Gabba ghosts weighed heavily on Australia’s minds. This surface did not appear to suggest a similar chase was possible. Plenty of rational judges thought Australia were exceedingly conservative in not declaring last night, and even batting on again on the final day with 333 already in the bank. But three of the four key bowlers had been in Brisbane in 2021. They knew what Pant was capable of, what India was capable of. Only two days earlier they had India 221 for 7 and Nos. 8 and 9 combined for a 127-run stand to drag them back into the game.In the end Australia had around 13 overs up their sleeve and didn’t even need the second new ball to take all ten wickets.”I thought the wicket was pretty good,” Cummins said. “You saw our tail bat reasonably comfortably on it. So I felt like we needed at least 300-odd. It wasn’t playing too much tricks. You saw today, it didn’t really spin heaps, didn’t play too many tricks.”We had 90-odd overs that gave us 12 or so overs with potentially a second new ball today. So I felt like there was enough time. And also it felt like the way it had played out, [if] we had a good first session and kind of took the win out of the equation for them, then we could really go in for the attack with plenty of catchers, and didn’t have to worry about the runs as much.”
“Eighty thousand [each] in the first three days, don’t know what the crowd was today but it was huge. It felt like [the Test] swung a lot as well, never felt like we were so far ahead of the game that it [a win] looked certain. So overall, just one of those great wins.”Australia captain Pat Cummins
That is where this exorcism was distinctly Australian. Unlike the Gabba four years ago where India made an aggressive start reaching 132 for 1 to set up the chase, Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Scott Boland sucked the life out of India’s chase with a suffocating spell of sustained fast bowling. For 26.1 overs before lunch the trio hammered away with pristine lines and lengths, and only four overs of support from Mitchell Marsh and Lyon. Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma survived 16 overs without losing a wicket, but had progressed to just 25 for 0. Starc, bowling in pain with a sore back, beat the bat eight times, all past the edge of Jaiswal with 140kph outswingers. Boland beat the edge five times and Cummins once.Rohit was 9 off 39 and his patience eventually cracked, slicing a catch to gully trying an expansive whip wide of mid-on. Cummins breached the resolute defence of KL Rahul five balls later. Starc got his reward on the stroke of lunch as Kohli nicked another wide one. Usman Khawaja, who had dropped three critical catches early in the series, pouched two sharp ones at first slip. India were 33 for 3 and going nowhere.”I reckon that first session today was close to perfection from a bowling point of view,” Cummins said. “I thought we were excellent. All the guys didn’t really give any bad balls away. I don’t know what their plan was going to be but, honestly, I don’t think we really gave them a chance to fight back at us too much.Two hours later though the win looked improbable. India were still three-down at tea with Jaiswal and Pant cruising. Australia had one moment where they could have lost all hope. Starc thundered one into Jaiswal’s pad only to see Wilson shaking his head to a huge lbw shout. The review showed two reds and an orange. You could almost see Australia’s souls leave their bodies as the ball-tracking projection showed what looked like 49% of the ball smashing leg stump.Australia fans in the stands react to a close call•Associated PressThe pitch looked slow and flat. On the same surface yesterday Australia had been cruising at 85 for 3 and Jasprit Bumrah took three wickets in 11 balls to change the course of the match. Australia did not have Bumrah. They instead conjured some ethereal magic from an unlikely source: a Travis Head long hop, which Pant hoicked down Marsh’s throat at long-on.It opened the door and Cummins seized the moment. He pulled Head from the attack and brought back Boland. The MCG specialist extracted life from a lifeless surface to spit one at Ravindra Jadeja’s gloves on the way to Alex Carey.Lyon then roared as Steven Smith held a gem at slip to claim Reddy.Then Cummins dug deep as only he can. A brute of a bouncer off the pillow-like surface hurried Jaiswal hooking on 84. Wilson kept his finger down. Cummins, armed with three reviews had no hesitation. Jaiswal protested the third umpire’s finding but even Rohit admitted he had hit it after the match.
The pitch looked slow and flat. On the same surface yesterday Australia had been cruising at 85 for 3 and Jasprit Bumrah took three wickets in 11 balls to change the course of the match. Australia did not have Bumrah. They instead conjured some ethereal magic from an unlikely source: a Travis Head long hop
A similar sequence happened when Boland had Akash Deep caught at short leg. Smith then held another beauty at slip to remove Bumrah before Lyon roared again. It was shades of Old Trafford in 2019 when Australia got to celebrate twice, first with Michael Gough’s raised finger and then again when the DRS showed three reds.But just like 2019, Australia’s job is not done. They blew a 2-1 lead with an emotional let down in the final Test on a short turnaround. They face the same challenge here.”It’s a short turnaround,” Cummins said. “I think we’ll definitely savour this one. You work so hard over five days to win a Test match like this, and I’m sure there’ll be a lot of sitting around tonight and a couple of beers, a couple of boys might have a beer, some others might have water and some protein shakes and an early night. But we’ll savour this for a couple of hours at least, and then it’ll be recovery for the next few days. I’m sure the batters will have a hit. The bowlers, I dare say, will be very light on [training], and then you gear up again for the last Test of the [home] summer.”The ghosts of Gabba might have been exorcised, but the Border-Gavaskar series and a World Test Championship final is still up for grabs. A weight has been lifted off Australia’s shoulders for now, but they must put their shoulder to the wheel again in Sydney if they want to claim the Border-Gavaskar trophy for the first time in a decade.