Day 1 - Bumrah leads from the front as India wrest back control
17 wickets fell on the opening day of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, as Australia and India pacers thrived.
India's batters struggled after stand-in captain Jasprit Bumrah won the toss and elected to bat first on a spicy Perth wicket. Josh Hazlewood led the bowling charts for Australia with a four-wicket haul, with Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Mitchell Marsh bagging two wickets each.
However, the Men in Blue fought back with the ball, with skipper Jasprit Bumrah (4/17) to the fore at the very start before debutant Harshit Rana and experienced Mohammed Siraj backed him up towards the end of the day. At Stumps, Australia trailed India's total of 150 by 83 runs with three wickets in hand.
Jasprit Bumrah got the ball to talk early in Australia's first innings, getting debutant Nathan McSweeney while also causing troubles for Marnus Labuschagne, who was dropped when he was on zero by Virat Kohli in the slips.
Bumrah continued to beat the edge and eventually found a thick outside nick off Usman Khawaja, and the ball flew towards Kohli yet again, where the veteran held on to a straightforward chance in the sixth over.
Off the very next ball, Bumrah had Smith trapped lbw for a duck. Australia's no. 6 Travis Head, who has been India's nemesis across formats, got off to a quick start but was cleaned up by a beauty from Harshit Rana. The debutant Rana targeted the stumps and managed to crash into the top of Head's off stump with a beauty.
Mohammed Siraj returning for his second spell helped induce the edge of Mitchell Marsh (6) into the slips where KL Rahul held on to a stunning low catch. Later, Siraj brought Marnus Labuschagne's stubborn knock of 2 off 52 to an end by trapping the batter leg before. In his second last over of the session, Bumrah got the better of his opposite number, Pat Cummins, to ensure India ended the day on a high.
All-rounder Mitchell Marsh continued Australia's domination in the second session with the wickets of Dhruv Jurel and Washington Sundar in his spell. Marsh had both the batters caught behind the stumps, with Jurel (11) handing his catch to Labuschagne at the second slip while defending whereas Sundar (4) nicked one off to the keeper.
For India, Rishabh Pant remained at the crease, mixing caution with intent to help the side close in on the total of 100. He found some support in debutant Nitish Reddy, who hit a flurry of boundaries against Nathan Lyon. As the partnership grew, the duo became settled and picked up in scoring pace. Australia were however back in the contest when skipper Cummins struck back with the big scalp of Pant (37) in the 46th over.
Australia soon had the eighth wicket through a spectacular effort from a diving Nathan McSweeney, who parried an edge from Harshit Rana towards Marnus Labuschagne, who dove to hold on to a brilliant catch.
Nitish Reddy hit some meaty blows to get India to 150, but the Men in Blue were bowled out at that total owing to a relentless effort from the Aussie pacers.
In the opening session, Australia made early inroads after being asked to bowl on the first day of the Border-Gavaskar trophy. The hosts picked four wickets in the first session in Perth.
After the fall of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Devdutt Padikkal (both for ducks), Virat Kohli joined KL Rahul in a rebuild mission, only to fall to Josh Hazlewood for five.
Rahul was the next to fall (26) for Starc's second, with Australia succesfully reviewing the not out decision on the field.
It was an unrelenting start from Australia's attack.
Mitchell Starc removed Jaiswal in just his second over with an outside edge held on by Australian debutant Nathan McSweeney, while Hazlewood also found the outside edges of Padikkal and Kohli, with simple catches taken by Alex Carey and Usman Khawaja respectively.
Not to be outdone, Starc matched Hazlewood with the wicket of Rahul, as India walked at lunch at just 51/4.
Earlier, stand-in captain Jasprit Bumrah won the toss and elected to bat first in the opening Test against Australia in Perth on Friday.
Bumrah called correctly at the toss and had no hesitation in choosing to bat despite the fact regular skipper Rohit Sharma and top-order batter Shubman Gill were missing from the side.
India confirmed Gill picked up an injury during match practice prior to the first Test and will be monitored in the lead-up to the second Test in Adelaide.
"Shubman Gill sustained a left thumb injury during Day 2 of match simulation at The WACA," a statement from the BCCI said.
"He was not considered for selection for the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
"The BCCI Medical Team is monitoring his progress on a daily basis."
17 wickets fell on the opening day of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, as Australia and India pacers thrived.
www.icc-cricket.com
so that winning an away test match after a home series whitewash would make people favor his captaincy from hereon...
