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Boland shatters Konstas' Ashes hope; bowls dream over to outclass AUS star in Sheffield game

Soumyajit Dutta

Sam Konstas dismissed by Scott Boland [Source: @cricketcomau/X.com]Sam Konstas dismissed by Scott Boland [Source: @cricketcomau/X.com]

Scott Boland almost ended Sam Konstas' Ashes hopes with a delivery that fooled him by miles during the ongoing Sheffield Shield match between New South Wales and Victoria at the Junction Oval. The 20-year-old was in a fierce competition with Boland for a spot in the Australian side, but it seems the latter took the cake.

Boland sets up Konstas to trap him LBW

It was a short, yet tough battle for Sam Konstas as Boland set him up with a couple of slightly turning in swingers. As Boland had the new ball in hand with New South Wales opener Sam Konstas on the crease, the first ball drifted away to the off side as Konstas left it with grace. The next two deliveries were in swingers, which slightly slid inside and were also left by Konstas. 

However, the judgmental error came from Konstas when Boland bowled a full-length delivery that landed in the middle of the pitch, and Konstas attempted to slice it with a drive. The ball angled in and crashed onto Konstas' pads and the finger from the umpire went straight up.

End of Ashes road for Konstas?

It was indeed a schoolboy error from Sam Konstas, who had to walk back for a duck after facing just four balls. This makes his Ashes prospects tougher as he was already fighting to prove his chances with moderate scores of 40, 4 and 14 against Western Australia.

Scott Boland, on the other hand, has been in terrific form with the ball. He is writing his own script for an Ashes call with his best figures of 2/53, 3/34 and 3/2 from his last Sheffield Shield encounters.

Australia is yet to declare their Ashes Test squad as the series begins from November 21. In contrast to their counterparts, England unveiled their strong 16-man squad led by captain Ben Stokes.

Meanwhile, speaking of the Sheffield Shield match, Victoria's first innings against New South Wales saw a 240-run lead with Peter Handscomb and Mitchell Perry amongst the top scorers. Coming in to cover the lead, NSW lost three wickets inside 16 overs to stand at 39/3 at the end of Day 1.