India claims a 295-run victory over Australia in the Perth test taking a miserable 1-0 lead in the five-match test series.
However, the visitors didn’t have an ideal start to day one of the Perth test as they were rattled for a score of 150. KL Rahul who was opening the innings alongside Yashaswi Jaiswal had shown resilience at the top with 26 runs before Mitchell Starc broke his defence. Debutant Nitish Kumar Reddy had an impressive debut innings and was India’s top scorer with 41 runs. It was Nitish Kumar Reddy alongside Rishabh Pant who helped the Indian side with 150 on the board. Australian pacers were ruthless on the opening day with Josh Hazlewood leading the attack with four wickets.
Australia had a significant advantage after bowling out the visitors for 150, but the Indian team bounced back as Australia stumbled to a score of 104. Three of the top four Australian batters were dismissed inside single-digit scores with Jasprit Bumrah providing breakthroughs. Late contributions from Alex Carey & Mitchell Starc assisted Australia in crossing the 100-run mark. Mitchell Starc was the top scorer with the bat with 26 runs. India’s skipper Jasprit Bumrah claimed a fifer to finish with figures of 5/30 well supported by Debutant Harshit Rana who claimed three wickets while Mohammed Siraj with two wickets.
The Indian team had a lead of 46 runs going into their second innings with the bat.
The opening duo of KL Rahul & Yashaswi Jaiswal provided the perfect start with the bat and were involved in a 201-run stand for the first wicket before Rahul was dismissed for 77. Yashaswi Jaiswal showed composure in the second inning. The left-handed batter scored her fourth ton in the red ball format after scoring 161 runs. The Indian side had a comprehensive display with Virat Kohli scoring his 81st international ton with an unbeaten 100. At the end of day three India was in an authoritative position after declaring the innings for a score of 487/6 setting a target of 534. In the last session of day three, Australia lost three wickets with only 12 runs on the board.
It was the Indian skipper once again with the bowl to put the Australian team on the back foot. Travis Head & Mitchell Marsh led Australia to a late fightback before Travis Head was dismissed for 89 also being the top scorer for the side. Indian pacers were imposing with the debutant Nitish Kumar Reddy too claiming his first test wicket in the form of Mitchell Marsh. Australia was folded for 238 with India winning the match by 295 runs to win the first test. Jasprit Bumrah was rewarded with the player of the match who scalped eight wickets throughout the match.
The series heads to Adelaide with the second test to begin from December 6 which is set to be a pink-ball test.