BGT 2024-25 First Test

A red-hot India captain Jasprit Bumrah picked four wickets to scythe through the Australia batting line-up as the hosts’ reached 67/7 in 27 overs and trail visitors by 83 runs at stumps on day one of first Test at the Perth Stadium on Friday.

After Josh Hazlewood’s 4-29 bowled out India for 150, Bumrah made merry on a spicy Perth pitch by bowling at the absolute peak of his prowess – mixing accuracy and pace with deadly precision - to leave 31,302 spectators in the stadium spellbound through his spell of 4-17.

He was well supported by Mohammed Siraj taking 2-17 while Harshit Rana got a wicket on debut as India did well in bowling on stump to stump lines and good lengths.

India’s counter-attack with the ball meant it marked a day of Test cricket where 17 wickets fell, all to fast bowlers. The last such instance of these number of wickets falling on day one of a Test match in Australia happened in January 1952.

India’s stellar show with the ball began when Bumrah trapped debutant Nathan McSweeney lbw with a fuller ball coming in with the angle. He could have got a wicket in the same over if Virat Kohli hadn’t dropped the catch of Marnus Labuschagne in slips.

Though a struggling Marnus Labuschagne got off the mark on his 24th delivery, he was trapped lbw in front of leg-stump by Siraj, who also had Mitchell Marsh edging to a diving third slip.

Bumrah returned to have Pat Cummins nicking behind in a regulation dismissal to complete a four-fer, as Australia will look to Alex Carey (19 not out) and Mitchell Starc (6 not out) to bail them out of trouble on day two after a gripping opening day of this year’s Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Brief scores:

India 150 in 49.4 overs (Nitish Kumar Reddy 41, Rishabh Pant 37; Josh Hazlewood 4-29, Mitchell Marsh 2-12) lead Australia 67/7 in 27 overs (Alex Carey 19 not out, Jasprit Bumrah 4-17) by 83 runs

(This story was taken from a syndicated feed and was only edited for style by Gujarat Samachar Digital team)