Australia, by beating India by 209 runs at The Oval, the first team.
When he dismissed Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja in the same over in the WTC cricket final, Boland demonstrated his ability to make deliveries nip off a good length and set off India last-day collapse.
“Australia Pat Cummins of Boland remarked, “He was simply our best bowler the entire game.”
“To get two big wickets in an over is just reward for how well he bowled. He didn’t go for many runs.”
After making his Test debut at the age of 32 and taking six wickets in the second innings of Australia Ashes-clinching victory in Melbourne two years prior, Scott Boland is well-known in England.
However, under English conditions, the seamer may be an even tougher proposition.
For seamers like Boland, test pitches in England typically provide some assistance, with the Dukes ball providing more movement off the surface for a longer period of time than the Kookaburra used in red-ball cricket in Australia.
The win came just five days before the first Test against archrival England at Edgbaston, where Pat Cummins team was attempting to win their first away Ashes series in 22 years.
AFP Sport examines three lessons from Australia commanding performance in south London.
Openings cause Australia concern
Given the movement offered by the pacemen, England may be a fantastic place for bowlers like Boland, but it is also a challenging venue for opening batsmen to score runs.
At The Oval, Australia David Warner and Usman Khawaja struggled to get runs. It has been 12 Test innings since Australia had an opening stand of 20 or more in England.
But the fact that their first-wicket partnership did not contribute in the final did not hinder Australia because Steve Smith and Travis Head both scored hundreds in the first innings against India.
However, in a five-match Ashes series, it is asking a lot of their teammates to keep saving Warner and Khawaja.
With just one century in his last 34 Test innings, left-hander Warner recently announced an intention to retire from red-ball duty for Australia in Sydney the following year.
But if the 36-year-old can’t improve on his performance during a drawn 2019 Ashes in England, where he averaged under 10, Australia’s selectors may make the choice for him.
Lack of preparation costs India?
The majority of India team at The Oval had already competed in the lucrative Twenty20 Indian Premier League, with the exception of veteran batter Chet Eshwar Pujara, who was representing English county team Sussex.
Additionally, while Ajinkya Rahane was able to use his IPL performance to record huge totals in the championship game, other top-order Indian batsmen had trouble.
Following Sunday humiliating loss, India captain Rohit Sharma stated that the WTC should be determined in a three-game series. Semi-finals have also been discussed as a possible solution.
“A three-match series would be nice, but it’s about finding a window,” stated Rohit.
