AUS vs IND 2024/25, AUS vs IND 1st Test Match Report, 22 – 25 November 2024

India 150 (Hazlewood 4-29) and 487 for 6 Dec (Jaiswal 161, Kohli 100*, Rahul 77) batted Australia 104 (Bumrah 5-30) and 238 (Head 89, Bumrah 3-42, Siraj 3-51) by 295 runs

After completing a remarkable turnaround, India wrapped up a famous Test triumph at the Optus Stadium with a 295-run win over Australia in a one-sided result that should cause aftershocks in the latest Border-Gavaskar Trophy clash.

India had been largely written off after an unprecedented 3-0 home whitewash against New Zealand. They went into the series opener without having played an official match on the tour and were shorthanded without captain Rohit Sharma and injured batsman Shubman Gill.

Under intense pressure, coach Gautam Gambhir made the right moves and the bold selection calls, which included the omission of veteran spinners R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, were vindicated.

Bumrah, in particular, deserves a lot of credit for galvanizing a new-look team and he led from the front with a mesmerizing spell late on day one to drag India back into the game after they had been bundled out for 150 after winning the toss .

There is blame ready to be thrown for Australia, who were underwhelmed in their first Test since March’s New Zealand tour. Questions will be raised regarding the limited preparations of a number of players.

Australia’s failed top order will be particularly under the spotlight, especially no. 3 Marnus Labuschagne, who scored 5 runs in the match to continue a prolonged slump in form.

After starting so well on the opening day, Australia’s bowling wilted in India’s second innings, with captain Pat Cummins enduring a rare off game. Cummins hadn’t played a red-ball match since March, preferring to build his series through three 50-over matches in the lead-up, finishing with modest match figures of 3 for 153 from 40.4 overs.

Australia seemed engrossed in the pitch’s changing conditions, which spiced up day one before flattening out for most of days two and three. The cracks widened as the match progressed and created up-and-down bounces to make batting difficult on the fourth day.

After a disastrous start amid the shadows late on day three, resuming at 12 for 3, Australia faced an India attack with an eye to wrap things up quickly.

Australia’s hopes of chasing a record 534 runs had vanished, but they aimed to at least muster some spirit which had seemingly been broken over the past few days.

After a golden duck in the first round, after returning to his preferred no. 4 position, Steven Smith fronted up to his nemesis Bumrah, who on the first ball of the day had a high lbw appeal dismissed, although in an anticlimax it was a no-ball.

Having been in lbw trouble recently, Smith made a technical adjustment and his trigger movement was not as pronounced as in the first innings when Bumrah put him in front of the stumps. Still facing a fight, Smith took a painful blow to the ribs from fast debutant Rana that left him on his back and in agony.

He bravely continued to bat and combined well with Head, who supported his aggressive instincts and counter-attacked as they produced Australia’s first half-century partnership of the match.

India dried up the scoring for Smith with Bumrah packing the leg side with fielders as the pressure built. Smith’s 60-ball resistance ended when he clipped a superb back of a length delivery from a pumped-up Siraj that straightened out of the seam and caught the edge.

After a tough return to bowling, where his modest seamers were treated with disdain on day three by India’s batsmen, Marsh was hoping to finish his home Test match strongly.

He was completely at sea before the lunch break and put the gloves on several times, but managed to hang on. Marsh and Head, both coming into the match with a limited build-up after being on paternity leave, made the batting look relatively easy after 9 p.m. interval at a time of day that had been the best to beat through the match.

Racing towards a century, the head as usual attacked every width, constantly ripping through the offside as Marsh hit several voluptuous aerial shots in a quick half-century partnership.

But Bumrah bounced back and he produced a superb back of a length delivery that caught Head’s edge on 89 and prompted passionate celebrations from Kohli.

Marsh also missed a milestone when he went on in the 47th over to all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy, who made an impressive debut with his first Test wicket.

Mitchell Starc was sharply held at short leg, giving Washington Sundar his first wicket of the match and it wasn’t long before India claimed a win they will be saving for some time as the pressure begins to intensify on Australia.