Jasprit Bumrah blazed through the Australian batting order on Day 1 of the 1st Test at the Optus Stadium in Perth returning with figures of 4/17. Bumrah, who has taken over the team’s captaincy due to the absence of Rohit Sharma, provided the necessary assistance with the ball after the Indian team was bowled out for a modest total of 150 runs after winning the toss and choosing to bat first. However, that was fast bowler Bumrah’s third spell and the result saw the Australian top order bowled for a mere two runs with Australia’s reply in tatters at 67-7 when play ended.
He bowled out debutant opener Nathan McSweeney for 10, but nearly managed to claim Marnus Labuschagne in the same over, a chance that was put down by Virat Kohli at second slip. However, Kohli revelled in the spotlight following his earlier disappointment and managed to grab a catch off Bumrah to dismiss Usman Khawaja who had scored 8 runs.
He then sent Steve Smith packing on the very next ball for a duck before Travis Head refused to give him a hattrick. Bumrah was the first bowler to dismiss the former Australia captain for a golden duck while on Australian soil.
After all that damage done by Bumrah, Harshit Rana came on and clean bowled Head (11) for his first Test wicket and shortly afterwards Marsh went for five and was caught low in the slips by KL Rahul off Mohammed Siraj’s bowling.
Labuschagne was a lucky boy as he scored two runs off 52 balls before he losing his wicket lbw to Siraj and shortly bumrah returned to get skipper Pat Cummins out too for a meager 3 runs.
India had an 83-run lead at the end of the day, but it wasn’t a great position considering how the first innings had gone.
“I mean as a fast bowler, it’s probably a day that you thoroughly enjoy. I think both teams were good in the field and especially with the ball, a lot of good stuff was bowled,” Starc said.
“There was quite a lot to exploit in the pitch, both swing and sideways movement, along with quite a bit of pace and carry.
“Tomorrow we’ll come out and make sure we get as close to their total as we can.”
