Watch cricket video highlights of India tour of Australia 2024. 1st Test between Australia and India. Venue of the match will be Perth.
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In the most recent battle for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, India completed an incredible comeback by defeating Australia by 295 runs at Optus Stadium. The lopsided outcome is expected to have repercussions. Even though Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh counterattacked with knocks, the outcome was basically a formality on the fourth day. As they grabbed first blood in the five-match series, Harshit Rana knocked out Alex Carey just after tea, cementing India’s well-earned triumph.
India put up a remarkable display, relying on the valiant work of substitute skipper Jasprit Bumrah. While Virat Kohli and Yashasvi Jaiswal scored brilliant hundreds in India’s second innings to thrash a faltering Australia, he took eight wickets for the match. India’s historic 3-0 home thumping of New Zealand had virtually written them off. They had not participated in an official tour match going into the series opener, and they were shorthanded without skipper Rohit Sharma and injured batsman Shubman Gill.
Coach Gautam Gambhir made the correct decisions under extreme pressure, and his bold selection decisions—including the exclusion of senior spinners R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja—were validated. India was bundled out for 150 after winning the toss, but Bumrah in particular deserves a lot of credit for inspiring a new-look squad and leading from the front with a captivating spell late on day one to get them back into the match. Recriminations are expected for Australia, who performed poorly in their first Test match since their tour of New Zealand in March.
There may be concerns expressed over many players’ inadequate preparedness. The focus will be on Australia’s struggling top order, notably No. 3 Marnus Labuschagne, who scored five runs in the game to extend a long run of poor form. Australia’s bowling waned in India’s second innings after getting off to a strong start on the first day, and skipper Pat Cummins suffered a rare off day. Cummins concluded with the modest match numbers of 3 for 153 from 40.4 overs.
He had not played a red-ball match since March, preferring to build up his skills via three 50-over games beforehand. The pitch’s shifting conditions, which were spicy on day one before leveling out for the most of days two and three, seemed to be confusing Australia. As the game progressed, the cracks widened and produced an up-and-down bounce that made batting challenging on the fourth day. After a terrible start in the dark late on day three, Australia resumed at 12 for 3 and faced an Indian onslaught that aimed to end the match swiftly.
Australia sought to at least regain the enthusiasm that had apparently been lost over the past several days, even though their ambitions of chasing down a record 534 runs were doomed. After returning to his preferred No. 4 position after a golden duck in the first innings, Steven Smith faced his archenemy Bumrah, who had a loud lbw plea denied on the opening ball of the day’s play, although in an anticlimax that was a no-ball. When Smith delivered his fourth delivery with his signature drive through the covers, he was relieved to get it right.
However, Australia’s problems began in the following over as Usman Khawaja, the opener, was caught by wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant sprinting back after top-edged Mohammed Siraj, the first short ball of the day. Smith made a technical improvement and his trigger movement was less noticeable than it was in the first innings when Bumrah pinned him in front of the stumps since he had lately experienced lbw problems. Smith still had to fight, and debutant fast Rana gave him a devastating hit to the ribs that put him on his back and in excruciating pain.
He gallantly kept batting and got along well with Head, who supported his aggressive tendencies and launched a counterattack, resulting in Australia’s first half-century partnership of the game. As pressure mounted, Bumrah packed the legside with fielders as India stifled Smith’s score. When Smith nicked off an incredible back of a length delivery from a pumped-up Siraj that straightened off the seam and grabbed the edge, his 60-ball resistance came to an end.
Marsh intended to end his home Test match on a high note after a difficult return to bowling, when India’s batsmen treated his softly paced seamers with contempt on day three. He struck on the hands many times while at sea before to the lunch break, but he was able to persevere. In a time of day that had been ideal for batting during the contest, Marsh and Head, who both came into the game with little build-up due to paternity leave, made batting appear to be quite simple after the break.
While Marsh delivered a number of lustful aerial strikes in a quick half-century partnership, Head roared towards a century and, as usual, attacked any width and continuously flayed through the offside. On 89, however, Bumrah came back and hit a brilliant back-of-length delivery that took Head off guard and caused Kohli to celebrate passionately. When Marsh chopped on all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy at 47, he missed a significant milestone as well. Reddy’s first Test wicket capped an outstanding debut.
Washington Sundar took his first wicket of the game when Mitchell Starc was forcefully caught at short leg, and India quickly won a contest they will be able to rely on for a while as the pressure mounts on Australia.
