The wicket of Usman Khawaja brings an end to day 1 at the SCG.
Jasprit Bumrah strikes and dismisses Usman Khawaja. Australia are 9/1.
Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah are asking some really tough questions from the Aussie openers. Australia are 8/0.
Sa Konstas flicks the first ball of his innings for a boundary. Australia are away, 4/0.
The Aussie openers - Sam Konstas and Usman Khawaja are in the middle.
Pat Cummins gets rid of Jasprit Bumrah for 22. India all out for 185 in 72.2 overs.
Mitchell Starc strikes and claims Prasidh Krishna's wicket. India are 9 down for 168.
Washington Sundar falls to Pat Cummins for 14 off 30 balls.
Mitchell Starc has struck getting Ravindra Jadeja plumb in front and India have lost their seventh wicket. The last hope of getting to 200 for India also goes.
Washington Sundar has walked into the middle to join Ravindra Jadeja.
Scott Boland gets two in two deliveries. Rishabh Pant and Nitish Reddy are back in the dressing room. India are 120/6.
Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja will have to continue with the grind in the final session of the day as India look to dig in having lost four wickets for not many. The pitch is doing its tricks and seems like it might not be a 350 wickets but the visitors will definitely need 250-plus to challenge the Australians.
India have huffed and puffed their way to a 100 as the visitors will be glad that they haven't lost a wicket at the stroke of a break. The session came to a close with India scoring just 50 runs in 25 overs and with just one wicket, of Virat Kohli as Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja have somehow been able to keep the bowlers out for now.
Rishabh Pant has finally broken the shackles as he hit a big one against Beau Webster. The runs have been hard to come by and hence, this six was a sudden adrenaline rush from Pant that paid off straight over the bowler's head. India slowly march ahead, slowly being the keyword.
Rishabh Pant is copping the blows on his body one after the other as he is battling them like a champ, a couple on his fingers, one on his bicep and another near the elbow. Pant is grinding and seems determined to spend time on crease, do the dirty work with the hope of cashing-in later on. Can he do it?
This is outstanding from Scott Boland. Australia are very lucky to have called upon someone like Boland when one of their key seamers is unavailable, who is relentlessly bowling in that same channel, in that same area over and over again and isn't letting the Indian batters take a breather. Boland, on the other hand, is unlucky to have found a calling so late and to be born in the same era as Starc, Cummins and Hazlewood.
It is Scott Boland, who almost had Kohli on the first ball, who gets him fiddling outside the off stump once again and India are four down immediately after the lunch break. Boland has his second of the innings.
The onus will be on Virat Kohli to take his and India's innings forward having lost a wicket at the stroke of lunch. The wicket will get better and India would want to get to that period while losing the least number of wickets.
A lapse in concentration for Shubman Gill and India have lost a wicket on the stroke of lunch, not for the first time just before a break in the series. On the final delivery before lunch, Gill came down the track against Nathan Lyon and the off-spinner saw that. He threw it a little wider, Gill had to make the last-minute adjustment and he could edge it to Steve Smith in the slips. India are three down going into the break as Australia will take the first session.
Kohli and Shubman Gill have had to curb their natural instinct of fishing on the deliveries wide of the stumps and to their credit they have done it so far as India's score goes past fifty with these two in the middle.
The duo of Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli seemed to have settled down a bit after the nervy moments at the start after India lost a couple of wickets in quick succession. Kohli is leaving the balls outside off and playing late while Gill has been his adventurous self but while maintaining restraint.
That was close, very, very close! Steve Smith in second slip dived towards his right as Virat Kohli edged another outside-off delivery. He held on to the ball but it seemed to slip out of his hand as it hit the ground momentarily before he bumped it up towards Marnus Labuschagne in gully. Australia were cock-a-hoop but the third umpire ruled it in the batter's favour. Kohli survives on the first ball he faced off Scott Boland. No harm done.
And Yashasvi Jaiswal departs now. Scott Boland with his accurate line and lengths kept bowling in that channel and Jaiswal edges it to the debutant Beau Webster in the slip cordon. India are two down now, cheaply.
And there goes the first one! India don't miss the feeling of losing an early wicket as KL Rahul departs this time around. Starc bowled into Rahul's pads, who got it a bit finer than he wanted to and handed a simple catch to the square leg fielder Sam Konstas after hitting it in the air. A tame dismissal in the end but a wicket for Australia early in the piece.
India - 11/1 (5 overs)
The Australian bowlers haven't bowled consistently at stumps and the ball hasn't done much extravagantly. Hence, the Indian openers, Rahul and Jaiswal have been able to negotiate Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins safely so far.
The anthems are done and the Indian openers KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal are out in the middle. The conditions, especially during the first hour will assist the pace bowlers and grass on the surface will also get the ball moving and hence, they will have to be careful before they ease out a bit.
The surface has a bit of grass on it. It is likely to settle down later on, however, it will definitely aid the seamers and the overcast nature of the weather will add to the assistance. The captain winning the toss might be tempted to bowl first but Sydney has always been a venue where runs in the first innings matter a lot and if India are able to negotiate the first session safely, there are runs to be had.
Playing XI: Sam Konstas, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Beau Webster, Alex Carey(w), Pat Cummins(c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland
Playing XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah(c), Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj
Indian captain Jasprit Bumrah has won the toss and opted to bat first. Bumrah has officially replaced Rohit Sharma as the captain for the game while suggesting that the first hour or so might be tricky because of the overcast conditions but SCG has always been good to bat. Australian skipper Pat Cummins also wanted to bat first but wasn't too disappointed as he and his pace battery would get to move the new cherry in helpful conditions.
It rained at around 7-8 AM (local time) in Sydney before the showers stopped. However, the clouds have eaten up the surface area of the sky in New South Wales thus far and the bowlers are likely to get some help early on in the first session.
It was increasingly looking like a possibility and it seems to be happening as India are pulling the plug on captain Rohit Sharma. The captain averages 6.2 in five innings so far in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and the pressure was rising given India had the pressure to save the series as well as stay in the hunt for a spot in the World Test Championship (WTC) final.
It has been a messy build-up to the Sydney Test as it seemed like the cracks were building, the tension was simmering for all of it to break down. The consequences are likely to be massive but if the result falls in place, especially for India, everything will be forgotten. So, welcome to our live coverage of the opening day of the fifth and final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy from Sydney.
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