Nagpur: All Australia’s military preparations failed. In the first innings of the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, the Kangaroos were caught in the spin trap set by India. Australia’s 1st innings, which chose to bat after the toss, ended at just 177 nett.
India got off to a good start in reply and are moving towards a big lead. India scored 77 runs for one wicket when play was stopped on the first day. Rohit Sharma (56*) and night watchman R Ashwin for no runs are at the crease. KL Rahul who scored 20 runs was out. India need 100 runs if they go with Aussies.
Australia: 177 (63.5 overs)
India: 77/1
Australian innings:
The Aussies held on somewhat in the first session, but after the lunch break they crumbled in front of India’s continuous blows. Aussies lost only two wickets in the first session. But after the lunch break, India put the Aussies on the back foot by destroying six wickets. By the time they left for the tea break, they had lost eight wickets. India grabbed the remaining two wickets after the break.
No one in the Australian batting line-up has a fifty. The team’s top scorer is the world number one batter Marnes Labuchane. The player became the savior of the team with 49 runs. The player faced 123 balls and had eight boundaries in his innings. Steve Smith (37), wicketkeeper Alex Carey (36) and Peter Handsomb (31) are the other Aussies who have crossed double figures. David Warner (1) and Usman Khawaja (1) were lost early on. Labuchane-Smith brought out the Aussies who were knocked down by two wickets for two runs. This alliance scored 82 runs for the third wicket. But after the lunch break, with the team score at 84, wicketkeeper KS Bharat stumped Labushane and it turned out to be the breakthrough in the game. The Aussies didn’t have a good partnership after that.
The magician Jadeja
Ravindra Jadeja, who returned to the field after being injured for several months, became India’s hero. He took five wickets in the match and was defeating the batters of the Aussies team.
Ravindra Jadeja gave away only 47 runs including eight maidens in 22 overs and dismissed five men. R Ashwin who took three wickets was a great support. While Mohammad Shami and Mohammad Siraj took one wicket each, Akshar Patel, the third spinner of the team, did not get a single wicket.
Fireman Suryakumar Yadav and wicketkeeper KS Bharat made their Test debuts for India through this match.
Playing XI India
Rohit Sharma (captain), KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, KS Bharat (wicket keeper), R Ashwin, Akshar Patel, Mohammad Shami, Mohammad Siraj.
Playing XI Australia
David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnes Labuchane, Steve Smith, Matt Renshaw, Peter Alex Carey (wicket keeper), Pat Cummins (captain), Scott Boland, Nathan Lyon, Todd Murphy.
