New Delhi: Ravindra Jadeja’s five-wicket haul and three wickets from Ravichandran Ashwin helped India to wrap up the Aussies on 177. The hosts were in complete control after a 76-run opening stand between Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul as India stands at 77/1 at the stumps. Australia showed some glimpses of a fightback but day 1 of the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy goes to India.
Rohit Sharma scored a quickfire 56* off 69, hitting nine fours and one six. He started the inning by hitting three boundaries in the first over to Pat Cummins and continued batting with “intent”. Cummins went for 27 runs in four overs and had to go for spinners to restrict the run scoring.
While Australian spinners managed to restrict the runs, they could only pick a single wicket. In the second last over before the stumps, debutant Todd Murphy picked his first international wicket with KL Rahul, who was dismissed for 20(71).
In the first inning, Australia had a poor start after losing the openers for two runs to swinging deliveries by Mohammed Siraj and Shami. An 82-run stand between Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith brought them back on track as they took control of the first session. Also, a dropped catch in the slips by Virat Kohli gave another life to Smith.
The partnership was broken by Ravindra Jadeja, who made a comeback after knee surgery, as he dismissed Labuschagne for 49. He picked up Matt Renshaw on the next delivery to put the visitors under pressure. While Smith and Peter Handcomb tried to recover, Jadeja struck again to dismiss Smith for 37 off 107.
Alex Carey tried bazball and sweeps to counter the spin as the pitch started unveiling its demons. He managed 36 off 33 before being Ashwin’s 450th Test wicket. While Handcomb partially brought back the memories from his last tour, Jadeja struck lbw to dismiss him for 31 and complete his five-wicket haul. Australia managed 177 and the bowlers will have to strike on the turning track on day 2.
