Australia regains Border-Gavaskar Trophy after 6-wicket win against India in 5th test

SYDNEY (AP) — Australia has regained the Border-Gavaskar trophy for the first time in 10 years by winning the fifth and final test by six wickets at the Sydney Cricket Ground against an Indian team deprived through injury of their captain and star bowler on Sunday.

The hosts chased down the 162-run target just after lunch on the third day after it had earlier wrapped up India’s second innings in quick time for 157 to win the series 3-1.

Sunday’s victory also means the hosts booked their spot in a second straight World Test Championship final where it will play the already-qualified South Africa at Lord’s in June.

“This (Border-Gavaskar Trophy) was one that a few of us didn’t have,” said Australia captain Pat Cummins. “It’s been an amazing series and it’s one of those ones that’s been in the calendar for a fair while.

“You’ve always got an eye on it for the last year or two, and it’s really lived up to all the hype.”

In a devastating setback for India’s hopes of bowling out Australia to level the series and retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for a record-extending fifth consecutive time, star bowler and captain Jasprit Bumrah did not bowl during Australia's second innings.

Bumrah’s injury occurred on Saturday and had only been described as “ back spasms” by the India team after the star seamer had returned from medical scans at a nearby clinic. Bumrah had back surgery to repair a stress fracture in April 2023.

The 31-year-old, who was named man-of-the-series with his 32 wickets — the highest ever by an Indian bowler in a single series in Australia — has almost single handedly kept India in the contest throughout the summer. But he but did not warm up with the other bowlers prior to play Sunday and looked uncomfortable when he did come out to bat as India's was quickly swept up by the hosts.

“So you know, lots of ifs and buts because the whole series was well fought and today as well, you know, we were in the game, so it was not like it was totally one-sided,” Bumrah said. “This is how cricket goes in the nervy moments, whichever team holds their nerve for the longest and you know, sticks together and tries to find a way out of that, will win the series.”

Even without its talisman, India’s attack still sent jitters through Australia’s batting as it had the hosts at 71-3 at lunch and then removed Usman Khawaja (41) to seed more doubt.

Australia had taken 35 from the first three overs and it appeared they might wrap up the test and series before lunch.

But with India desperately needed a breakthrough they got it when Konstas (22) played a wild swipe off Prasidh Krishna with Australia 39-1.

Krishna (3-27) then added Labuschagne (6) to his tally and then the prize wicket of Steve Smith to send some jitters through Australia’s batting lineup at 58-3.

Smith managed only four of the five runs he needed to become the 15th player — and fourth Australian after Ricky Ponting, Steve Waugh and Allan Border — to pass 10,000 career test runs.

But Travis Head (34 not out) — a frequent thorn in India’s side in recent years — and debutant Beau Webster (39 not out) guided Australia home for a landmark series win under Cummins.

Australia now holds every bilateral test trophy available as well as the one-day international World Cup won in India in 2023.

“Yeah, really proud with what we’ve been able to achieve,” said Cummins, who took a team-leading 25 wickets. “We’re also hopefully having the best time of our lives as we’re doing it together as well, so yeah, pretty satisfied at the moment.”

Earlier Sunday, Cummins (3-44) and Scott Boland took two wickets each to wrap up India’s innings for 157, with the tourists only able to add 16 runs to its overnight total to set Australia a target of 162 runs to win the test.

Boland, named man-of-the-match, returned 6-45 for his second career five-wicket haul and took 10 wickets in a match for the first time.

On Saturday, Rishabh Pant’s blistering half century highlighted a chaotic second day where 15 wickets fell and India reached 141-6, for a 145-run lead to leave the series very much in the balance.

Australia was earlier bowled out for 181, giving India a four-run lead on the first innings, and could not take advantage of Bumrah's absence.

Australia's 3-1 series win came after victories in Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney. India won the first test at Perth and the 3rd test at Brisbane was a rain-affected draw.

AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket

Australia's Beau Webster celebrates after hitting the winning runs during play on the third day of the fifth cricket test between India and Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground, in Sydney, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

The Australian team pose with the Border Gavaskar Trophy after defeating India in the fifth cricket test at the Sydney Cricket Ground, in Sydney, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

Indian players celebrate the dismissal of Australia's Steve Smith, left, during play on the third day of the fifth cricket test between India and Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground, in Sydney, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

India's Virat Kohli, left, talks with umpire Sharfuddoula Saikat during play on the third day of the fifth cricket test between India and Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground, in Sydney, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

Australia's Steve Smith reacts after he was dismissed during play on the third day of the fifth cricket test between India and Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground, in Sydney, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

Australia's Beau Webster bats during play on the third day of the fifth cricket test between India and Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground, in Sydney, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

Australia's Travis Head bats during play on the third day of the fifth cricket test between India and Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground, in Sydney, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

Australia's Sam Konstas walks from the field after was dismissed during play on the third day of the fifth cricket test between India and Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground, in Sydney, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

India's Washington Sundar takes a catch to dismiss Australia's Sam Konstas during play on the third day of the fifth cricket test between India and Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground, in Sydney, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

Australia's Steve Smith, left, reads after he was dismissed by India's Prasidh Krishna, right, during play on the third day of the fifth cricket test between India and Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground, in Sydney, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

Australia's Steve Smith reacts after he was dismissed during play on the third day of the fifth cricket test between India and Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground, in Sydney, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

India's Jasprit Bumrah is out bowled during play on the third day of the fifth cricket test between India and Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground, in Sydney, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

Australia's captain Pat Cummins, right, celebrates after dismissing India's Ravindra Jadeja, left, during play on the third day of the fifth cricket test between India and Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground, in Sydney, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

India's Washington Sundar is out bowled by Australia's captain Pat Cummins during play on the third day of the fifth cricket test between India and Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground, in Sydney, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

India's Jasprit Bumrah reacts as he is out bowled during play on the third day of the fifth cricket test between India and Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground, in Sydney, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

Australia's Usman Khawaja runs to make his ground during play on the third day of the fifth cricket test between India and Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground, in Sydney, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (AP) — Crowds poured into the streets of Uruguay's capital on Wednesday to bid a poignant farewell to former President José Mujica, a former guerrilla who became a pioneering leader and icon of the Latin American left, remembered most for his humility, simple lifestyle and ideological earnestness.

Thousands of people mourning the death of their former leader, affectionately known as “Pepe,” joined the procession as Mujica's flag-furled coffin, borne on a gun carriage, made its way through downtown Montevideo.

The cortege culminated nearly four hours later at the country's parliament, where banners, wreaths, handwritten notes and portraits littered the lawn and emotions ran high. “Farewell, Pepe” was painted across the walls of the historic Legislative Palace.

Mujica died Tuesday at the age of 89, just days before his 90th birthday, in his home on the outskirts of Montevideo — a three-room farmhouse where he lived throughout his life and during his presidency (2010-2015), in rejection of Uruguay’s opulent presidential mansion. Mujica was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in April 2024.

His coffin will lie in state before the funeral on Thursday, which is expected to draw an array of sympathetic left-wing leaders, from Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to Chilean President Gabriel Boric, Uruguay's presidency said.

Chants of “Pepe, dear, the people are with you!” rose as the horse-drawn hearse passed through the streets on Wednesday. Uruguayans applauded from balconies, packed the sidewalks along the route and formed snaking lines outside the parliamentary seat of Uruguay, waiting to pay their respects to Mujica's closed casket. Some were wiping tears and others somberly bowing their heads.

“It’s like losing a family member,” said Estela Piriz, a 69-year-old nurse among those gathered for the wake. “I have come to say my final goodbye.”

That slow and steady stream of regular people — as well as lawmakers, ministers and former officials — seemed a fitting tableau for the lying-in-state of the humble chrysanthemum farmer whose folksy maxims on excessive consumerism and bold progressive policies earned him admiration at home and cult status abroad.

Among those paying tribute to the late leader in the echoey, stained glass hall were Mujica’s rivals and critics in a sign that the leftist leader’s legacy transcended his politics.

During his tenure, as Mujica legalized marijuana and same-sex marriage, enacted the region’s first sweeping abortion rights law and established Uruguay as a leader in alternative energy, he also won respect for meeting with his political foes despite polarization across the continent.

“We had many disagreements, but in life it’s always better to focus on the good things,” former conservative President Luis Alberto Lacalle de Herrera, who governed from 1990-1995, told reporters as well-wishers slowly processed around the coffin.

Another former right-wing president, Julio María Sanguinetti, now 89, acknowledged that he and Mujica were often “on opposite sides” of issues. But he said their bond went beyond partisan loyalties.

“We are the same generation that lived through all the ups and downs of the country in the last 70 years,” he said. “Peace is made with your adversaries.”

Uruguay’s president, Yamandú Orsi, Mujica’s protégé from his left-wing Broad Front party, declared Wednesday-to-Friday national days of mourning in a presidential decree that praised Mujica’s “humanist philosophy,” closing the government to all but necessary operations while flags dropped to half-staff.

Orsi and Lucía Topolansky, Mujica’s life partner and fellow guerilla-turned-politician, launched the funeral procession together from the government headquarters. After privately saying farewell to Mujica's casket, Topolansky emerged from the Legislative Palace with a stunned expression, leaving quickly before speaking to reporters.

A former mayor and history teacher, Orsi has, like his mentor, shunned the pomp and circumstance of the presidential palace in favor of commuting from his family home. Mujica made some of his last public appearances campaigning and casting his ballot for Orsi last fall.

Before overseeing the transformation of his small South American nation into one of the world’s most socially liberal democracies as president, Mujica robbed banks, planted bombs and abducted businessmen as the leader of a violent leftist guerrilla group in the 1960s known as the Tupamaros.

A former activist who worked with Mujica and his wife during the country's 1985 transition from dictatorship to democracy, Beatriz Benzano recalled how her colleague's revolutionary fervor transformed into a spirit of compromise once he assumed office.

“Pepe had his days as a former guerrilla, but he always said that you had to make room for young people and be open to dialogue, even if you don’t share the same ideas," Benzano, now in her 90s, said as she passed through the parliament to pay tribute.

Uruguayan President Yamandu Orsi covers the casket of the late, former Uruguayan President Jose Mujica with the national flag at the presidential palace in Montevideo, Uruguay, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Santiago Mazzarovich)

The funeral procession for the late former President Jose Mujica makes its way from the presidential palace to the National Assembly in Montevideo, Uruguay, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico)

Uruguayan President Yamandu Orsi, left, stands with Lucia Topolansky, widow of the late, former President Jose Mujica, next to his casket at the presidential palace in Montevideo, Uruguay, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico)

Mourners watch the casket of Uruguay's former President Jose Mujica from the sidelines of his funeral procession from the presidential palace to the National Assembly in Montevideo, Uruguay, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Santiago Mazzarovich)

The funeral procession for the late former President Jose Mujica makes its way from the presidential palace to the National Assembly in Montevideo, Uruguay, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico)

A woman watches the funeral procession of former President Jose Mujica from the presidential palace to the National Assembly, next to graffiti that reads in Spanish: "Farewell dear old man," in Montevideo, Uruguay, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Santiago Mazzarovich)

Uruguayan President Yamandu Orsi, left, stands with Lucia Topolansky, widow of the late, former President Jose Mujica, next to his casket at the presidential palace in Montevideo, Uruguay, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico)

Supporters walk behind the casket of Uruguay's former President Jose Mujica during his funeral procession from the presidential palace to the National Assembly in Montevideo, Uruguay, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Santiago Mazzarovich)