India’s cautious batting approach didn’t pay off as they were bowled out for 185 after opting to bat on a green-top in Sydney. Scott Boland was the most successful Australian bowler, reaching figures of 4-31 with his metronomic lines and lengths accentuated by the seam movement the surface provided.

India had their moment of luck when Jasprit Bumrah caught Usman Khawaja behind (for the sixth time in the series) after a verbal exchange with non-striker Sam Konstas. The dramatic finish gave India some joy on an otherwise tough day with the bat.

Tough questions had to be asked of India right from the start when Bumrah went to throw in place of Rohit Sharma. The pacer, who had led India in Perth, mentioned that Rohit had “decided to rest” for this match and then subjected his batters to tough questioning. KL Rahul, who returned to the lead in Rohit’s absence, along with Yashasvi Jaiswal, started alertly when the conditions required it, initially staying tight in defense and out wide.

But against the run of play, Rahul fired a leg-stump half-volley from Mitchell Starc straight into the hands of square leg, pushing India back. Jaiswal tried to counter Scott Boland’s relentless lines and lengths by walking towards the bowler, but he ended up ramming a ball into the hands of debutant Beau Webster at slip.

Boland almost got an encore when Virat Kohli grabbed the first ball he faced to the right of Steve Smith, who got his fingers under it and pushed it to Webster to his right. But replays appeared to show the ball may have touched the ground as Smith performed his acrobatic feat. Third umpire Joel Wilson ruled this in Kohli’s favour.

With that bit of luck, the out-of-form senior batter prevailed with much of the discipline he had displayed in the first innings in Melbourne. Pat Cummins used his four frontline pace options in short spells and each of them asked tough questions, offering few scoring opportunities for both Kohli and Shubman Gill, who was back at number 3.

Gill had some rough scrapes, with an inside edge missing the stumps and another outside edge flying over the fence. But like Kohli, he too was careful to minimize unforced errors for much of the 106-ball 40-run partnership. But just before lunch he danced to Nathan Lyon and grabbed the slip, pushing India further back.

Kohli’s vigil didn’t last long either as he darted outside and found himself in the fence for the seventh time in the series. The metronomic Boland could have had Ravindra Jadeja early had Smith not missed a catch.

At the other end, an unusually orthodox Rishabh Pant delivered several blows to the body but didn’t attempt anything out of the ordinary in a fighting jab. With the Australian pacers offering no freebies, Pant had to capitalize on his boundary chance as he danced across the ground and hit Webster down for a six.

A short ball hit from Lyon after Tea’s strike gave him another boundary in an otherwise difficult game that finally ended in the final session when he missed a shot from Boland to mid-wicket. As soon as he went back and insulted himself, he was joined by Nitish Reddy, who was caught in the slip cordon on the first ball. Ravindra Jadeja, who had fought his way to a 95-ball 26, then played across to Starc and was caught straight in front. Washington Sundar hit a few welcome boundaries before being adjudged missed by the third umpire of the Australian review, leaving the lower order to take the fight. Bumrah swung his bat to reach 22 before becoming the last man to be dismissed. It continued India’s poor run of results in the first innings of Tests and was bowled out in less than 80 overs for the seventh time in the last eight Tests.

Short results: India 185 (Rishabh Pant 40, Shubman Gill 20; Scott Boland 4-31) leads Australia 9/1 (Jasprit Bumrah 1-7) by 176 runs