Australia finally broke the resistance to win the World Test Championship for the first time, despite India’s valiant efforts throughout six sessions beginning on the third day to offer themselves some chance on the final day. India, the last two times runners-up, has defeated Australia in their last four Test series—two in India and two in Australia—but Australia was the better team in the circumstances in England, where they will now face the hosts in The Ashes.
India continued to urge Australia to play their best on days three and four, demonstrating why they have been the best Test team since the World Test Championship started. However, Australia had fallen so far behind on the first two days that even on day five, they had little hope. Hope it was, especially after seeing how lifeless the pitch appeared on the fourth evening.
However, Scott Boland delivered the kind of performance you would expect from a champion on the fifth morning. With seven wickets remaining, India started the day needing 280 runs, but the fourth-wicket partnership between Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane was already worth 71 runs. Boland continued to bowl the sucker ball fuller and wider in the seventh over of the day after being persistent with his length and line. A diving Steven Smith at second slip snatched the edge off a drive by Kohli.
Ravindra Jadeja was bowled by Boland in the same over with the ideal ball for a left-handed batter: it was pitched on a length, seaming against the angle, and taking the edge through to the keeper while angling in from behind the stumps.
Rahane, who was India’s greatest batter in the first innings, continued to battle, adding 33 runs with KS Bharat for the sixth wicket, but he eventually played a careless drive away from the body into a Mitchell Starc length ball. It was the first wicket for the wasteful Starc, whose participation in the opening Ashes Test may put in question if Josh Hazlewood is healthy.
Once Rahane was expelled, it was simply a matter of time. Before noon, Nathan Lyon ended the game by trapping Shardul Thakur lbw from close to the wicket, Umesh Yadav mishandled a short ball from Starc, and Lyon took out the final two.
As the only team to have won at least one of each trophy—five ODI World Cups, two ODI Champions Trophies, one T20 World Cup, and now the World Test Championship—this was Australia’s eighth ICC triumph.
