Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood were impeccable with their lines and lengths to pick two wickets each as India lost their top four batters and reached 51/4 in 25 overs at lunch on day one of the first Test against Australia at the Perth Stadium on Friday.
With some grass on the pitch offering movement and plenty of bounce, Australia produced some outstanding bowling to rattle a cautious Indian batting line-up, who found the going tough. All eyes will be on how Rishabh Pant (10 not out) and Dhruv Jurel (4 not out) get India out of troubled waters in the second session.
Electing to bat first, opener Yashasvi Jaiswal got a big fat edge on an uppish drive off Starc and gave a regulation catch to debutant Nathan McSweeney at gully to fall for an eight-ball duck.
KL Rahul was tested hugely by fast bowlers, especially with Starc asking relentless questions on his outside edge and Pat Cummins joining in the exam later on, but he continued to be watchful of anything outside off-stump.
From the other end, Devdutt Padikkal struggled to break free, as Starc kept testing his outside edge, followed by Hazlewood rapping him on the pad, thigh and targeting the armpit with a short ball. Padikkal’s uncomfortable stay ended in a 23-ball duck when he defended off a length ball from Hazlewood, which just nipped away to take the outside edge to the keeper.
India got its first boundary when Rahul tried to get away from a shorter ball by Cummins and took the edge to fly over slip cordon for four. An unconvincing Virat Kohli, standing outside the crease and being overly eager to play on the front foot, was beaten on both edges by Hazlewood.
The pacer eventually had the last laugh as he got extra bounce on an outside off-stump delivery and found Kohli’s outside edge, which was caught by first slip. Rahul grew in confidence to hit two off-side boundaries but was given out on 26 when caught behind while trying to defend off a length ball from Starc.
Australia got the decision on Rahul in their favour, but replays showed two noises and more crucially, the third umpire Richard Kettleborough wasn’t provided a front-on angle from the offside, bringing in the question if there was enough conclusive evidence to give the batter out. Rahul’s fall ensured that Australia won the session easily, thanks to the relentlessness of Starc and Hazlewood.
Brief scores: India 51/4 in 25 overs (KL Rahul 26, Rishabh Pant 10 not out; Mitchell Starc 2-10, Josh Hazlewood 2-10) against Australia.