LONDON: It was a tale as old as time. The bowler Scott Boland found that perfect line and length in that fifth stump line. Virat Kohli, who was looking solid and compact on Saturday, had already betrayed some nerves. Boland, who started proceedings on the fifth morning, had already hit Kohli on the pads apart from honing in on that length. He had gotten the ball to move inwards on a few occasions leaving the batter unsure.
One of the things India did on Saturday was not to spend too much time at one end. 15 minutes into the day, that had already changed as Boland had managed to get a good look at Kohli; one run, nine balls, some tight leaves, and at least one ball that bounced higher than Kohli expected. Off his first ball of the fourth over, India's No. 4 went fishing. The ball missed the bat and Australia had a DRS turned down for a caught behind but the bait was set. The next ball, Boland again stuck to a good length area and Kohli refused to take the trap.
So, Boland went fuller. And wider. Kohli went on a fishing expedition but only found the outside edge and an acrobatic Steve Smith did the rest. To be fair to Kohli, it was there to be hit. It was a bad ball but it was also what Boland had legislated for. Enticing Kohli into a drive.
Less than 90 minutes later, it was all over. India had combined to lose seven wickets for 70 runs inside a session. In an innings marked by questionable shot selection, it was emblematic that India lost their final wicket courtesy of a reverse sweep (Mohammed Siraj off Nathan Lyon).
On air, Sunil Gavaskar wasn't happy. On the Kohli dismissal, he said: "It was a pretty ordinary shot. Outside the off stump, he was leaving till then. Maybe he was conscious that he needed one run to reach his half-century. It happens when you are nearing a milestone.
"It was a bad shot. You should ask Kohli what shot he played. How are you going to do that (play a long innings) if you play a ball so far outside the off-stump?”