India crush Australia in first Test to silence critics

Text size

India ran riot to win the opening Test in Perth by a crushing 295 runs on Monday, leaving Australia in shock and looking for answers.

Set a mountainous 534 for victory, the world’s top-ranked Test team crumbled to 238 all out in the final session on day four.

A counter strike, Travis Head made 89 while Mitchell Marsh chipped in with 47.

But it was never going to be enough against an inspired attack led by the irrepressible Jasprit Bumrah, who took 3-42 to claim eight wickets in the match.

He was ably supported by Mohammed Siraj with 3-51.

“Very happy. We were put under pressure in the first innings but the way we responded was fantastic,” said stand-in skipper Bumrah.

“We were really well prepared. I told everyone to believe in your abilities.”

It was a stunning turnaround for India, who arrived in Australia on the back of a humiliating 3-0 home series defeat to New Zealand.

Given little hope of defending the Border-Gavaskar Trophy they have held since 2017, they now head into the second day-night Test in Adelaide next week with a big psychological advantage and boosted by the return of skipper Rohit Sharma.

The emphatic win was only India’s second in Perth and first since their triumph at the WACA Ground back in 2008.

“Pretty disappointing. Preparation was good, everything shot, fair to watch as a lot didn’t go right,” Australia captain Pat Cummins said.

“You want to get back on the horse but we will take a few days rest and train in Adelaide.

“We didn’t give ourselves a chance in a couple of different facets, like the end of day one with the bat.

“There will be lots of conversations about what we can do better under the same conditions.”

Under Bumrah’s interim captaincy, India dominated an aging side which is now the one facing scrutiny after failing to fire.

Out for a dismal 104 in reply to India’s first-innings 150, the hosts’ bowling attack then had no answer to a brilliant 161 from impressive young opener Yashasvi Jaiswal and an unbeaten 100 from Virat Kohli.

Superstar batsman Kohli came under pressure in the five-match series.

“Jaiswal’s best Test innings so far, he left the ball well,” Bumrah said of the 22-year-old.

“I didn’t see Virat out of form – hard to judge that on difficult pitches. But he was good in the net.”

Australia’s batting line-up, which has long relied on a big score or partnership to pull them out of sticky situations, was mostly outwitted.

With India setting them a big target, they capitulated again on Monday.

After imploding in the final 30 minutes of play on Sunday, they resumed 12-3 with Usman Khawaja on three and Steve Smith yet to score.

Khawaja added just one when he mistimed a pullshot from Siraj and got a big edge.

It was captured by returning wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant, who became the most expensive player in Indian Premier League history on Sunday at the Twenty20 tournament’s lucrative auction.

Head survived a loud lbw shout on seven, a review showing it was missing leg stump, and he struggled to hit seven boundaries for his 17th Test half-century.

At the other end, Smith was felled by a Harshit Rana bouncer that smashed into his midriff and needed a spell lying on the ground to recover.

He was able to get up and play on and, like Head, got through an lbw review on the 12th.

But their partnership was ended by Siraj, with Pant taking another neat catch after Smith got a delivery to play on 17.

Head combined with Marsh in an 82-run stand to temporarily boost home hopes before Bumrah once again worked his magic.

Seemingly destined for a century, the largely untouched Head feathers to Pant with Bumrah’s loud double fist pump showing how ecstatic he was at the breakthrough.

All-rounder Marsh kept the scoreboard ticking over with Alex Carey but fell for 47 pulling a wide Nitish Kumar Reddy delivery onto the stumps.

Mitchell Starc, the top scorer in the first innings, was out for 12 at the tip of tea before the tail ended early in the final session.