Boland finally loses grip on perfection as Australia belatedly return to earth | Geoff Lemon

Combined with his MCG outing, at one point Scott Boland had taken eight wickets for seven runs in nine overs. But, eventually, perfection has to pass

After Scott Boland’s dream run at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, it seemed self-evident that things would never be that easy again. In his second bowling innings on debut, the Victorian seamer rolled in for four overs and picked up six wickets. Catches streamed into the cordon, he hit the stumps, he hit the pads, and he took a return catch himself. Another catch was dropped at gully. The longest he went without a wicket was five balls, and when it was done the whole enterprise had cost him seven runs.

When he came on to bowl in his second match in Sydney, though, the dream continued. His first over was a maiden, and nearly had Zak Crawley playing on to his stumps. His second over kept Crawley guessing, hitting the seam with a perfect position that sometimes ducked away and sometimes in. The final ball of the over was a little fuller, carving back off the seam to hit the very top of off-stump. Perfection.

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