It was Test cricket on speed on the opening day in Perth All Credit Goes to Fast Bolwers . India Got all out on 150
It was a slightly different story at the Optus Stadium in Perth on Friday (November 22). This was Test cricket on speed as well. But of a slightly different kind.
With a couple of fast bowlers, that too probably the two best practitioners of their craft in the modern game at the helm, what else could you have expected. There was no way the batters were going to have their way. If anything, the way it played out, you'd have thought this was a script specifically designed by two fast bowling captains, where the batters from both sides were at their mercy, and they could dictate terms from start to finish.
As they did on a day where 17 wickets fell on a pitch which couldn't be held solely responsible for what was a staggering outcome for an opening day of a high-profile series between India and Australia. It probably started at the toss itself, with both Jasprit Bumrah and Pat Cummins sounding keen that their respective batters take a dive into the deep end against, well, their respective counterparts.
And while it was the Indian top-order who were tasked with countering the likes of Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood to start with, you can imagine a scenario where the Aussie top-order would have found it equally difficult against Bumrah & Co, as they would later in the day.
So, let's start with Starc and Hazlewood. This is the best rhythm the starry new-ball duo have been in over the last few summers. Not to mention how fresh they've seemed across multiple practice sessions in Perth over the last few days. And it was very evident in the way they ran in from pretty much the first over of the day. It was Starc who struck first by getting Yashasvi Jaiswal flashing at a full delivery on off-stump, before Hazlewood showed why he's probably the ultimate threat in these conditions.
Having bowled an incisive spell to open the attack, he returned just when Devdutt Padikkal was trying his best to break free.
You could see the dismissal coming from miles out, literally from the moment the gangly New South Wales fast bowler stood at the top of his mark. Padikkal had started to show off his anxiety at not being able to score, attempting untoward shots and looking keen to spar at any delivery that he thought was there in his scoring arc. Hazlewood would produce the length that would have Padikkal edging surely. And after beating the outside-edge with his very first delivery before changing his angle slightly to hit the left-hander on the pads off back to back deliveries, he slipped in a slightly fuller delivery, which pitched and angled away just enough to have Padikkal poking and having him caught behind the wicket.
India 1st Innings150-10 (49.4 Ov)BatterRB4s6sSRExtras 11 (b 4, lb 1, w 2, nb 4, p 0)Total 150(10 wkts, 49.4 Ov)
Fall of Wickets5-1 (Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2.1), 14-2 (Padikkal, 10.6), 32-3 (Kohli, 16.2), 47-4 (Rahul, 22.2), 59-5 (Dhruv Jurel, 27.5), 73-6 (Washington Sundar, 31.4), 121-7 (Pant, 45.5), 128-8 (Harshit Rana, 46.4), 144-9 (Bumrah, 48.6), 150-10 (Nitish Reddy, 49.4)BowlerOMRWNBWDECO
Day 1: Stumps - Australia trail by 83 runsAustralia 1st Innings67-7 (27 Ov)BatterRB4s6sSRExtras2 (b 0, lb 0, w 0, nb 2, p 0)Total67 (7 wkts, 27 Ov)Yet to BatFall of Wickets14-1 (Nathan McSweeney, 2.3), 19-2 (Usman Khawaja, 6.4), 19-3 (Steven Smith, 6.5), 31-4 (Travis Head, 11.1), 38-5 (Mitchell Marsh, 16.5), 47-6 (Marnus Labuschagne, 20.6), 59-7 (Pat Cummins, 24.2)
Fall of Wickets
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