1st Test Australia vs India: Cheteshwar Pujara’s gritty batting followed by some disciplined bowling from the bowlers helped India beat Australia by 31 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the four-match Test series. This is the first time India has won the first Test of a series Down Under and the first win since 2008. This win is bound to give immense confidence to the Indians going ahead in the series, who were on the backfoot at the end of Day 1 after winning the toss and opted to bat first. But to have the belief and come back from there is highly commendable. None of the Australian batsmen got going and the inexperience in the absence of Steve Smith and David Warner was exposed.
Ashwin and Bumrah were the pick of the bowlers in the first innings where they scalped three apiece, which helped India take a nominal 15-run-lead in the first innings. There is no doubt that Cheteshwar Pujara’s 123, followed by 71 in the second innings made the difference. Rahane too got among the runs as he scored an invaluable 70, Kohli’s 34 in the second innings was also important as he stitched an important partnership with Pujara to extend India’s lead.
Shami, Bumrah in the second innings, was India’s best bowler as Rishabh Pant equalled a world record for most dismissals in a Test.
The Australian team has a lot to think about. Apart from Nathan Lyon’s six wickets in the second innings, no Australian put in any performance of note. Bumrah bowled well, he bowled with pace and he hit a beautiful length and was surely the best among the pacers. Young Pant was solid behind the stumps, he also created the record for most dismissals in a Test in Australia with 10 dismissals for the match.
The second Test starts on December 14 and the Australians have a lot of thinking to do ahead of that.
