Australia dominated the first day of the fifth and final Test against India in Sydney as they bowled out the visitors by 185cm and came close to winning the series.
Scott Boland took 4-31 – at one point finding himself on a hat-trick – as Australia, having lost the toss, took advantage of favorable bowling conditions on the SCG green.
Despite the change in batting order, with the captain Rohit Sharma walks out for the final Test after a poor run of form, India were again bundled out cheaply, failing to cross 200 for the fifth time in the series.
India captain Rohit Sharma walks out for the fifth and final Test against Australia in Sydney
Rishabh Pant's 40 provided the only real resistance, but he and Nitish Kumar Reddy, who scored a maiden Test century in the fourth match in Melbourne, then departed in regular deliveries from Boland.
Stand-in skipper Jasprit Bumrah (1-7) at least provided a spark late in the day, dismissing Usman Khawaja (2) – caught at slip – with the last ball of the evening, to make up for his curious call at the stadium. bowls and continues his outstanding form for the series, in which he now has 31 wickets at an average of 12.64.
Jasprit Bumrah's stunning run continued as he claimed the wicket of Usman Khawaja with the final ball of the day
Australia – leading 2-1, hoping to reclaim the Border-Gavaskar trophy for the first time in 10 years – closed the day 9-1 in their first innings, trailing for 176.
As the bowlers dominated the early exchanges of the Test, Mitchell Starc (3-49) provided the opening breakthrough as KL Rahul (4) had Sam Konstas simply caught at square leg in the fifth over in the afternoon.
Boland was then brought into the attack and needed just four balls off Yashasvi Jaiswal (10) before the young opener slotted the ball to debutant Beau Webster at third slip.
It brought Virat Kohli, the villain of the pantomime series, to the crease. Kohli was greeted by boos from many in the SCG crowd, stemming from his deliberate shoulder tap on Konstas at the start of the Boxing Test, for which he was later fined.
Fittingly, his first ball was the most dramatic of the session as Boland drew an edge and Steve Smith appeared to pass the baton to Marnus Labuschagne at slip, sparking wild celebrations – only for the catch to be overruled by third umpire Joel Wilson, with replays suggesting that the ball touched the grass as it left Smith's hand.
As lunch approached, Nathan Lyon (1-19) edged Shubman Gill (20) to Smith to see India end the session in trouble on 57-3, while Kohli's (17) luck did not extend much further after break because this time there was no doubt about his advantage from Boland to Webster.
Pant, who was widely criticized after a pair of loose dismissals in Melbourne, survived a dropped chance on 19 against Webster, but again played an ill-advised big shot to dismiss Boland, and Reddy drew Smith the very next ball.
Boland couldn't complete his hat-trick but Starc picked up Ravindra Jadeja (26) lbw soon afterwards to continue India's slide.
Pat Cummins (2-37) removed Washington Sundar (14) in a somewhat contentious decision by the third umpire who ruled that the ball had lightly hit the batsman's glove on its way to Alex Carey, despite inconclusive evidence.
Prasidh Krishna (3) became Starc's third wicket when he dived to Konstas in the deep and Bumrah (22) caught Starc off Cummins to end the innings, before striking himself late on for India.
A win for Australia at the SCG would secure the team a place in a second consecutive World Test Championship final where they would face South Africa at Lord's in June.