The first day of the opening Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test turned out to be a horror for the batters. With bowlers finding a good amount of seam and pace from the surface of the Perth Stadium, runs came at a premium.
After opting to bat first, India were bowled out for 150, their joint-lowest first-innings total in Australia. The Aussies had a more terrible time in the middle as they ended the day seven down for 67. Meanwhile, Aussie batter Marnus Labuschagne and Devdutt Padikkal have combined to create an all-time embarrassing record.
The two No.3s of India and Australia had a tough time at the crease. Padikkal was troubled by the seam movement of Mitchell Starc, while Labuschagne faced the brunt of the Indian bowling side. Padikkal was dismissed for a 23-ball duck, the fourth longest in the history of Test cricket at No.3.
Labuschagne scored just two from his 52-ball stay as his goal to replicate Cheteshwar Pujara's long innings backfired in the first innings. The two have combined to create an unwanted record now.
Padikkal and Labuschagne played 75 balls between them and scored only two runs at a combined strike rate of 2.66. This is now the lowest combined strike rate of No.3 batters in the first two innings of a Test match (after facing a minimum of 50 balls combined). Overall, this is the second-lowest combined strike rate at any position of two batters playing in the same spot in the first two innings.
The lowest strike rate belongs to former Zimbabwe bowler Paul Strang and ex-New Zealand all-rounder Chris Cairns. Both of them played a combined 53 balls and scored one run between them while batting at the seventh spot in the Wellington Test between Zimbabwe and New Zealand in 1998. Strang scored one from his 44 balls, while Cairns was run out for a nine-ball duck.
Coming back to the first Test between India and Australia, the Aussies find themselves in big trouble after ending the day 67/7. They still trail by 83 more runs and have Alex Carey and Mitchell Starc batting in the middle. The two batters are now handed a huge task if they have to get close to the Indian lead.
