End of Day 1 and it would've been 8 down for Australia. Jasprit Bumrah delivered a slower one to bluff Starc but the ball fell short of the bowler. Australia end Day 1 at 67/7. A total of 17 wickets fell on the day, the most in a Test in Australia since 1952.
Jasprit Bumrah you beauty!!!! Pat Cummins is GONE now!! Australia are reeling at 59/7 now!!! Wowowow!! Who thought Australia's innings would be almost over by stumps?
Around 15 minutes of play left for stumps! Can India pick one more wicket and end the day on a high? They are already on top having picked six wickets so far.
Marnus Labuschagne goes after scoring a hard-toiled 2 off 52 balls. Australia are 47/6.
Mohammed Siraj gets the big wicket of Mitchell Marsh. Australia are 38/5.
Australia are 37/4. Marnus Labuschagne on 1 and Mitchell Marsh on 5.
Rana cleans up Travis Head for 11. Australia are 31/4 and are in deep trouble.
Harshit Rana has come into the attack in place of Mohammed Siraj.
Jasprit Bumrah gets the big wicket of Steve Smith. Smith departs for a first-ball duck. Australia are 19/3.
Jasprit Bumrah takes Usman Khawaja's wicket. Australia are 19/2. Khawaja departs for 8.
Ah that didn't give a good look! Bumrah had started celebrating and even gave Marnus Labuschagne a send-off before realising that Virat Kohli in second slip couldn't hold on to the ball after grabbing it comfortably. This could be a big miss for India.
Jasprit Bumrah has his man. Nathan McSweeney got hit on his pads a couple of times before the Indian captain Jasprit Bumrah had his man after a successful review. McSweeney was caught on his crease but the umpire thought it was hitting outside and didn't give him out before Bumrah took the review and got it overturned.
Australian openers Nathan McSweeney and Usman Khawaja are in the middle and the only thing India are looking for are wickets, wickets and just wickets. Let's begin!
KL Rahul, Nitish Reddy and Rishabh Pant showed shades of some good intent and grit and determination but there was no show from the others as India have been dismantled by Australia on the first morning of the Test summer in Perth. 200-250 might have been a bit fighting but 150 seems too low. It could have been even worse but thanks to Reddy and Pant, India have something on the board, something.
And Pat Cummins had the last laugh as he dismissed his SRH teammate Nitish Reddy, who presented an excellent case with the bat on his Test debut. Usman Khawaja spilled a sitter a couple of deliveries ago but has held on to it now by running and diving to hold on to it.
Nitish Reddy and Jasprit Bumrah had some fun in order to score some quick runs but Josh Hazlewood, the pick of the Australian bowlers has sent back the Indian captain. India are now nine down.
Harshit Rana was constantly poking at the deliveries outside the off-stump. He got a boundary on one and lost his wicket on the other as the combination of Nathan McSweeney and Marnus Labuschagne picked a stunner in the slips to see the back of India's eighth batter.
And Rishabh Pant's resistance ends. Another one bites the dust as Rishabh Pant tried to take on Cummins but gets a thick edge and Steve Smith was safe in the second slip to take a good catch. India are seven down now.
Rishabh Pant and Nitish Reddy have taken India's score past 100. The partnership has slowly grown and steadied the sinking ship for India but the team will start hoping for a much longer stay from both of them in the middle.
Nitish Reddy has probably received the first debutant's charm as Australia don't go for a review on what looked like clear out. Reddy had gloved a Starc delivery going down the leg side, which was clear on the replays but Australia didn't think it took anything. India still six down, Reddy survives.
Washington Sundar is OUT and India continue to go down in Perth. 73/6 it is and things are not looking good after choosing to bat first.
Mitchell Marsh strikes! Dhruv Jurel departs after scoring 11. India are 61/5.
India find themselves in a hole at lunch with four wickets down in the first session itself. The last one, the controversial one, of KL Rahul didn't help the proceedings for India are Australia are in control with Starc and Josh Hazlewood taking a couple of wickets each. India have the two stumpers, Rishabh Pant and Dhruv Jurel, in the middle and will hope for a sizeable partnership as the visitors aim a comeback after the lunch break.
KL Rahul was fuming!! Rahul couldn't believe that the umpire gave it out. There was no front-on replay and or the side-on with both bat and pad in the frame. The third umpire was quick to jump the gun as the ball passed near the bat and bat hit the pad just at that very moment. It will be a dismissal that would be talked about as India lose their set batter and fourth wicket.
India 47/4 (24 overs)
Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul have safely negotiated the Australian pacers' spells after the fall of Virat Kohli's spell. Australia currently are in firm control and India will need this pair to go big.
Josh Hazlewood continued to be the most threatening of the Australian bowlers. Hazlewood had his tails up and was continuously bowling in that uncertainty channel and his relentlessness paid off for the second time with a shorter one. Hazlewood banged one in, which surprised Virat Kohli, it took the shoulder of the bat and a simple catch in the slips for Usman Khawaja. The forward press cost him there. India have lost three wickets now.
IND - 32/3 (17 overs)
A couple of triplers and an outstanding cover drive from KL Rahul to end the over, a good one for India off Australian captain Pat Cummins. KL Rahul continued to look good as he took his innings forward while Virat Kohli has started well for now.
It was coming! Josh Hazlewood kept bowling in that channel of uncertainty and Devdutt Padikkal, who failed to score a single run in his 23-ball stay as he poked at a delivery outside the off-stump and a simple catch for the wicketkeeper Alex Carey. Padikkal goes for a duck and India have both their left-handers back in the shed.
India - 14/2 (11 overs)
Yet to open his account having played more than 20 balls, Devdutt Padikkal is getting a bit iffy and itchy to get his first runs. Padikkal tried a couple of flicks on leg-stump deliveries from Mitchell Starc but missed, but for now has been able to negotiate the Aussie bowlers safely.
Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc have tested Indian batters' defence but KL Rahul and Devdutt Padikkal have somehow been able to negotiate them safely. The period is pretty tricky with the runs being scored at 1.5 rate, however, spending time is more important for the Indian batters at this point.
Yashasvi Jaiswal goes for a duck as Mitchell Starc lured him in to play an expansive drive wide outside the off-stump and handed a simple catch to gully and debutant Nathan McSweeney completed a simple catch. Starc has struck early and India have lost the man in form as Jaiswal goes for a duck.
India - 5/1
Indian openers KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal are in the middle and will be looking to get a good start. The first hour is likely to be tricky on the fresh wicket but if the batters get their eyes in, there are runs to be had.
It was expected that R Ashwin might not play, as he has not been a preferred option with the ball in overseas Tests but Jadeja missing out was a bit of a surprise. India have gone with Washington Sundar as the lone spinner, who with his height offers bounce and slow turn, apart from obviously the batting skills.
Mike Hussey on air reckoned a typical Perth wicket - rock hard, a lot of grass and should offer a lot of bounce. Expect the wicket to deteriorate a bit but not open up 'snake cracks'. The build-up to the Test match has been a bit wet but it was bright and sunny on the morning of the West Test and expectedly the captain winning the toss opted to bat first. The first hour will be tricky and India will hope that KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal can safely negotiate before the middle order comes into the thick of things.
Playing XI: Usman Khawaja, Nathan McSweeney, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey(w), Pat Cummins(c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood
Playing XI: KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant(w), Dhruv Jurel, Nitish Reddy, Washington Sundar, Harshit Rana, Jasprit Bumrah(c), Mohammed Siraj
Indian captain Jasprit Bumrah won the toss and opted to bat first on a Perth wicket, which according to him looked good. Bumrah mentioned that the team has some learnings from their only Test appearance at Optus in 2018 and hoped for a good start. Bumrah's Australian counterpart Pat Cummins was 50-50 about the toss and was happy either way and hoped that the bowlers will be able to utilise the moisture after the pitch has been under the covers for the last few days due to overcast weather.
India will be without regular skipper Rohit Sharma for the series opener in Perth. Even though the skipper is scheduled to arrive in Perth on Sunday after the birth of his second child, Jasprit Bumrah is leading the Indian team for the second time in Test matches.
Australia despite not playing Test cricket for 8 months have been lifted to the top of the World Test Championship (WTC) points table, thanks to New Zealand. India with a 3-0 defeat have had their qualification in jeopardy and now need to win 4-0 to make it to the final without depending upon other results. For Australia, the equation is much simpler, win four out of remaining seven Tests.
It's the start of the Australian Test summer with the Indian team on the shores Down Under this time around. India are not in the best of forms but in the last few years, India have sort of behaved like Pakistan, when you give them no chance, they will turn up as wounded warriors hungry to hunt in a pack. Welcome to our live coverage of the first Test from the Optus Stadium in Perth as India look to get back into form in the longest format of the game-
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