The fragility at the heart of Australia’s aging batting line-up was exposed by a bizarre vigil from Marnus Labuschagne as Jasprit Bumrah’s astonishing new-ball spell put India on top after a 17-wicket opening day in Perth.
Australia bowled out India for just 150 runs, before falling to 67 for seven runs on the first day. This is the first time in history that 17 wickets have fallen on the opening day of a series in Australia, and the first time since 1952 that 17 wickets have fallen on the first day of a Test in Australia.
Bumrah, the stand-in captain in the absence of Rohit Sharma, who is on paternity leave, brought India back into the game with a magical opening spell after his batsmen failed to capitalize on the advantage to win the toss and bat first.
In his first spell of six overs, Bumrah picked up three wickets and conceded only nine runs. First to go was Australian debutant Nathan McSweeney, who was pinned at heavyweight (Bumrah needed a review to remove him), and two balls later Labuschagne was dropped badly by Virat Kohli at second slip .
Bumrah’s third over was a maiden that caused all sorts of problems for Labuschagne outside the off stump, and in his fourth over he had Usman Khawaja caught by Kohli and Steve Smith lbw. Smith, back at No.4 after a failed opening experiment, had never taken a golden duck in 192 Test innings but now has two in his last four.
Bumrah continued to trouble Labuschagne, who took 23 balls to get off the ground (when he did, the Perth crowd applauded ironically). He withdrew from the attack and debutant Harshit Rana bowled Travis Head, then Mohammed Siraj had Mitchell Marsh caught at slip and Labuschagne lbw. Labuschagne, born in South Africa, had hit two off 52 balls and had barely attempted an attacking shot. To make matters worse, he did a review with him.
Pat Cummins, the Australian skipper, was the 17th wicket to fall in the day, caught by the returning Bumrah, who was four for 17 off 10 overs at stumps. Australia’s hopes of taking the lead rest on in-form Alex Carey.
Bumrah cements his status as one of the greatest Test bowlers of all time. He now has 177 wickets at an average of 20.2. Only one bowler, the Englishman Sydney Barnes, who played between 1901 and 1914, has more wickets with a better average. Barnes took 189 at an extraordinary average of 16.4. What makes Bumrah’s record all the more remarkable is that he hails from India, where his career coincided with pitches that largely helped spinners, not bowlers.
Australia’s pace attack remains in poor health, even as the batting order struggles. India’s 150 was well below par, with Josh Hazlewood the pick of the bowlers with four for 27. There were two wickets each for Mitchell Starc, Cummins and Marsh. Only counter-attacking innings from Rishabh Pant and Nitish Kumar Reddy helped India post 150 after being 73 for six.