WTC Final: Scott Boland set Shubman Gill up beautifully, says Dinesh Karthik

India’s wicket-keeper bat Dinesh Karthik hailed Scott Boland for setting Shubman Gill up beautifully. Gill was dismissed by Boland when the youngster was leaving the ball but it jagged back to rattle the stumps. Boland was bowling an accurate line and length and Gill was left surprised after he left a ball that he should have played.

The 34-year-old Australian bowled in the right channel against Gill and the in-form youngster made an error in judgment. Boland got a few deliveries to move away from the right-hander and then bowled a delivery that seamed back into the India opener to hit the stumps.

“Shubman’s ball was a really good one,” Karthik said while speaking to the ICC about Gill’s dismissal. “I think he (Boland) set him up beautifully, bowling just around the fourth stump and then pitching this one slightly wider, giving the visual perception that it’s probably a good ball to leave but it came back enough to take his off and middle.”

In fact, Cheteshwar Pujara was also dismissed in a similar fashion as he decided to leave a ball that moved back into him to hit the stumps while playing against Cameron Green.

On the other hand, India is struggling at 151-5 as they trail by a huge margin of 318 runs. Karthik is hopeful that Ajinkya Rahane, who is batting unbeaten on 29, will play a big knock for India but admitted it is going to take a miracle from the team to bounce back into this game as they have their backs against the wall.

“I think just the fact Ajinkya Rahane is still batting, they would hope that he keeps batting as long as possible, that’s going to be very important for Team India. But in many ways it’s going to be a Test match they are very much behind the eight-ball, it’s going to take a lot for them mentally and skillfully to come back in this game. Australia are well ahead in this game. They made 459 and India are 150-5 so that’s a big bridge right now.”

Australian bowlers have strengthened their team’s grip in the WTC Final as they were right on the money on the second day’s play after they posted an above-par score of 469 runs.