Sydney, Jan 4 (IANS): Australia head coach Andrew McDonald is not surprised by his pacer Scott Boland's eight-wicket haul in the ongoing fifth Test against India at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Saturday. Playing his third Test of the five-match series, Boland returned with figures of 4-42 after finishing with 4-31 in India's first innings. His performance enabled Australia to reduce India to 141/6 at stumps on Day 2.
“We're not surprised by Scotty's performances. Every time he plays, he does the job well. His ability to just be relentless on a length and move the ball both ways, it's proving difficult, in particular on this (SCG) surface," McDonald said. “He's always a genuine consideration Scotty and every time he pitches up in the Australian colours he delivers. We're lucky to have those four quicks in Josh Hazlewood, (Pat) Cummins and (Mitchell) Stark and Boland.”
The head coach hailed Boland's ability to execute their plans rightly in the middle especially against Virat Kohli as he dismissed him for the fourth time in the series. “It's one thing to have a plan, but then to be able to execute that, the way that we have to Virat, (to) put him under immense pressure.
"And look, he's tried some things, he's walked out of his crease, he's tried different tactics as well, but clearly that relentless nature of in particular Scotty Boland in that matchup's been incredibly difficult for him to come back, but he's never an easy wicket," McDonald said.
With the pitch playing a huge role in the series finale, McDonald is aware of the challenge despite a low-scoring chase on the cards on Sunday. “Low-scoring games like this, it just heightens the pressure within it, so a long way still to go, there's going to be plenty of cricket, so we'll see what happens. (The loss of quick wickets is) just a symptom of where Test cricket is at.
“I think the quality of bowling, upfront, I think both attacks are blessed with some generational talent that we're witnessing. So we're not surprised by the nature of the games where a new batter coming in is always vulnerable, and we've seen that across the journey.
“But if you can get a partnership going, then you've shown that you can score runs on these surfaces," he added.
India are currently 145 runs ahead with Ravindra Jadeja (eight not out) and Washington Sundar (six not out) expected to build a strong partnership to take the lead further on Day 3. India will resume their innings from 141/6.