BGT '24
India's allround show routs Australia in Perth
Perth/IBNS: In a dream comeback from their poor show in the first innings, India triumphed over Australia by a massive margin of 295 runs in the first Test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024 in Perth on Monday.
India bowled out Australia, who started the day 4 reeling at 12/3, for 238 overcoming the late courage of Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh and wicketkeeper-batter Alex Carey.
After Usman Khawaja was dismissed early on Monday, veteran Steve Smith and Travis Head resisted the Indian bowlers, stitching a 62-run partnership.
However, Siraj picked the second wicket of the day, sending Smith back to the hut after the right-handed batter scored a patient 17 from 60 balls.
The Indian bowlers, who were in a hurry to wrap up the match, were made to wait by Head and Mitchell Marsh, who put up 82 for the sixth wicket.
Head was dismissed by India's stand-in captain Jasprit Bumrah for 89 while Mitchell Marsh was returned for 47 by debutant Nitish Reddy.
Bumrah, whose fifer decimated Australia's first innings, picked three wickets in the second to clinch the Player of the Match.
On Sunday, India set a mammoth target of 534 for Australia after the visitors declared their second innings at 487/6 soon after veteran Virat Kohli hit a boundary to script his 30th Test hundred and the first after a considerable time.
Prior to Kohli, young batter Yashasvi Jaiswal, who already has two double hundreds under his belt, ditched big shots, spent ample time on the wicket and slammed a long 161 from 297 balls.
Speaking on Jaiswal's maiden hundred in Australia, Bumrah said, "He left the ball.. he has an attacking nature, but he left the ball well and played long."
On Kohli's return to form, the skipper, who led the team in absence of Rohit Sharma, said, "I didn't see him out of form at all. On challenging wickets it's hard to judge if a batsman is in form. He was looking good in the nets."
Australia, who utilised the pitch in bowling out India cheaply, were virtually out of the match since the third session of day one.
The hosts looked out of sorts throughout their batting in the first innings as the Indian players yielded no scope to Australia to smell a bounce back.
India, who toured Australia following a 0-3 defeat at home against New Zealand, are ahead in the five-match Test series 1-0.
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