Perth: India’s defence of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy was shrouded in doubt before the series began in Perth. A 3-0 loss to New Zealand, no Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill, India selected a playing eleven which had four players playing in Australia for the first time, with Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja left out of the eleven.
Being bowled out for 150 on day one of the match was enough to create more doubts in minds of onlookers of India defending the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. But India, captained by Jasprit Bumrah, reminded everyone of their all-famous bounceback abilities and came back from behind in emphatic style to record a monumental 295-run win over Australia on day four at the Perth Stadium on Monday.
The manner and margin of India’s famous win in Perth Stadium has given them a 1-0 lead in the five-match series, which is now also their biggest Test win from the runs margin outside home. It’s also the second time India have won the opening match of a Border-Gavaskar Trophy series after doing so in Adelaide in 2018.
Bumrah, the chief architect of India’s famous triumph in Perth, picked eight wickets, including the match-changing spell of 5-30, which gave them a 46-run lead and single-handedly blew away Australia.
Contributions of second innings centurions Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, as well as of KL Rahul, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Rishabh Pant, and Mohammed Siraj will also be etched in memory for a long time as Perth 2024 is now added to the list of glorious overseas Test wins for India.
Starting day four from 13-2, chasing 534 was always going to be a tall order for Australia. Despite a counter-attacking 89 from Travis head and local lad Mitchell Marsh making 47, Australia were bowled out for 238 just after tea, with Bumrah and Siraj taking three wickets each.
Brief Scores: India 150 in 49.4 overs and 487/6 dec in 134.3 overs lead Australia 104 in 51.2 overs and 238 in 58.4 overs (Travis Head 89, Mitchell Marsh 47; Mohammed Siraj 3-51, Jasprit Bumrah 3-42) by 295 runs
(IANS)
