Boland’s first English spell lives up to advance billing

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For a World Test Championship final, much of day two’s proceedings felt uncharacteristically generous, so often were gifts handed out.

One could only imagine how this might have irked the phenomenally stingy, and skilful, Scott Boland, as he waited for his first chance to prove his credentials in these parts. By day’s end, he would show his worth, but not before the following pleasantries.

Scott Boland’s first spell was typically searching.Credit: Getty

Steve Smith’s 31st Test hundred arrived in the space of his first two balls, courtesy of a pair of obliging half volleys on the pads from Mohammad Siraj.

Mitchell Starc gave substitute Axar Patel the chance to run him out by chancing a single to his left hand, and Alex Carey offered himself up to Ravindra Jadeja with yet another ill-judged reverse sweep.

Australia’s loss of 7-108 was certainly more charitable for India than anything on day one, even if the Oval pitch had kept playing tricks throughout.

When they took the ball, Starc and Pat Cummins started out as though bearing gifts for India’s openers, dropping short or drifting full and wide for a flurry of early boundaries.

Boland was in no mood for such indulgence. For the championship cycle, no other bowler had been more economical, nor devastating. His long-awaited first spell with a Dukes ball in the English summer turned the day definitively towards Australia.

Over the past 18 months, Boland has struck fear into the hearts of opponents by asking constant questions of their ability to protect their stumps, pads and both edges of the bat. His lines and lengths whir unremittingly towards the off stump.

Rohit Sharma, who had absorbed Boland successfully enough on a spinners’ surface in Nagpur a few months back, looked immediately discomforted, and succumbed lbw in Cummins’ next over.

But his exit was something of an entrée for Boland’s masterly unpicking of Shubman Gill. Subtly angling his position on the bowling crease while offering a wobble seam on a pitch now composed of patchwork cracking, Boland drew a series of forward defences.

Steadily he zoned in on off stump – were Boland an MLB pitcher, he would be a Greg Maddux, adept at “painting the corners” of the strike zone with just enough subtle variation to keep batters guessing.

Gill, having played the first three balls of the over, guessed it would be safe to let the fourth pass, as it pitched wider than the rest. Imagine his horror, then, when the wobble seam saw it snake back and clatter off and middle stumps. Had they been watching, Boland’s former quarry from England, West Indies and South Africa would doubtless have offered a knowing, wry grin at the sight.

In a trice, Boland had demonstrated exactly how to bowl on the Oval surface, something India’s seamers never quite mastered across 120 overs. Cameron Green, with his added height, mimicked the example grandly when he nipped one back far enough to deceive the often impassable Cheteshwar Pujara.

Virat Kohli, who covered his stumps as well as anyone, was confounded when Starc returned, armed with a fresh ball after the umpires found the original had gone out of shape. Perhaps a little harder, it leapt from short of a length and took Kohli’s glove on the way to a leaping Smith in the cordon.

Mitchell Starc’s brute of a ball dismisses Virat Kohli.Credit: Getty

Starc’s spells were not his best, but Kohli’s wicket underlined why the left-armer has been highly valued over the past decade or more, given his ability to conjure the utterly unplayable, often out of seemingly nowhere.

Forlorn at 4-71, the recalled Ajinkya Rahane and Ravindra Jadeja responded with some stylish play, aided by one more moment of generosity: Rahane lbw to Cummins only to be deprived by the captain’s fourth no ball of a day when his best rhythm proved elusive.

It was worth pondering for a moment how much better the Australians may have to bowl when confronted by the fearless England top order: Starc and Cummins will have to improve in terms of consistency, and the steepling bounce of Josh Hazlewood will also be valuable, provided he can prove his durability after numerous injury setbacks.

Nathan Lyon, held back until the ball was 32 overs old, chimed in with a classical piece of loop and just enough turn to coax an outside edge from Jadeja in the final half-hour. His skills will become increasingly useful as the pitch continues to dry out and crack up.

Nevertheless, it had been Boland’s precision that led Australia to a position from which they have every opportunity to push for victory over the final three days. It will be a brave selection panel that chooses to leave him out of an Ashes Test.

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