Skipper Jasprit Bumrah made amends for his debatable toss call to bat first with a mesmerising opening spell that left Australia scurrying for cover at 67 for 7 and helped India make an emphatic comeback after a flop show with the willow on the opening day of the first Test in Perth. The match, which was billed as a battle between two out of form batting units, lived up to the prediction at least on the first day. As many as 17 wickets fell, which is the first time in seven decades for a Test match on Australian soil.
The stand-in India skipper, much to everyone’s surprise, opted to bat on a track with a liberal grass cover which generated appreciable seam movement and midriff high bounce.
But neither the youngsters nor the seasoned ones in the Indian line-up were up to the task.
It was debutant Nitish Reddy’s gutsy 41 and Rishabh Pant’s 37, including an unbelievable sixer, that got India to 150 in 49.4 overs with Josh Hazlewood (4/29), Mitchell Starc (2/14 in 11 overs), Pat Cummins (2/67 in 15.4 overs) and Mitchell Marsh (2/12 in 5 overs) sharing the spoils.
On the driver’s seat when they came out to reply, Australia had no answer to Bumrah’s (4/17 in 10 overs) quality that was on display. Defending a low first innings total cannot be a one-man show and Mohammed Siraj (2/17 in 9 overs) and debutant Harshit Rana (1/33 in 8 overs) stepped up to support their skipper.
The lengths they hit were immaculate, around five metre from the stumps and on the off-stump channel. The live grass did the rest whenever the ball landed on the seam.
Debutant Nathan McSweeney (10) got a nip-backer and DRS ruled him leg before.
Usman Khawaja (8) just froze in his crease once Bumrah decided to square him up by coming round the wicket. Virat Kohli, who had earlier dropped Marnus Labuschagne ( 2 off 52 balls), didn’t make any mistake on this one.
But it was out of form Steven Smith (0), who got a very difficult first delivery that zoomed in and dipped catching him plumb in front.
Once Bumrah set the tone, debutant Harshit, with a bustling action, got one that pitched on middle stump, drawing Travis Head (11) forward before it deviated to dislodge the off-bail.
Australia were reeling at 31 for 4.
Labuschagne took 24 balls to get off the mark and also found himself at the receiving end of some heated words from an agitated Siraj.
The Indian then pitched one up to Mitchell Marsh and the resultant edge was brilliantly snapped by KL Rahul before ending Labuschagne’s 52-ball agony with an in-cutter.
Bumrah then came for his final spell of the day to remove the rival skipper as India took control of the proceedings.
Indian top-order blown away
But this resurrection was preceded by a horror show with the bat.
Reddy’s grit and Pant’s brief daredevilry were the only saving grace against an a disciplined Australia.
Pant and Reddy had added 48 when rival skipper Cummins, who had dropped a skier, got a fuller delivery to straighten as the southpaw closed his bat face and the thickish leading edge flew to the second slip.
Pant and Reddy were the only two players who were intent on a pushback. Among the top-half, KL Rahul (26 off 74 balls) was ready to grind it out before getting a contentious caught behind decision.
Young guns like Yashasvi Jaiswal (0) and Devdutt Padikkal (0) looked completely out of place during a brilliant opening spell bowled in tandem by Starc and Josh Hazlewood.
Virat Kohli (5) was done in by a short ball from Hazlewood. The star Indian batter couldn’t remove his bat from the line of the ball and the resultant edge became a regulation slip catch.
Rahul followed the basics during this course — playing the one coming into his body while leaving all other deliveries from length.
He got out when Starc, back for his second spell, got one to move a shade and the snicko showed deflection although the batter suggested that his bat hit the pad at the same time when the ball went past the edge.
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