Jasprit Bumrah guided Team India to a commanding 295-run triumph over Australia in the opening Test of the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Perth, delivering Australia their first-ever Test defeat at the new Perth Stadium. Until Monday, Australia had maintained an unblemished record at the venue, having secured victories in all four of their previous Test matches against India, New Zealand, the West Indies, and Pakistan. This was only the fifth test in the Optus Stadium since its opening in 2018.
The outcome was virtually inevitable throughout the fourth day, despite resilient counterattacking innings from Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh. India’s well-earned triumph was confirmed shortly after the tea break when Harshit Rana dismissed Alex Carey, securing the opening victory in the five-match series.
In the second innings, the opening stand of 200 runs of Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul helped India to put on a massive target of 534 runs for the hosts, Virat Kohli also scored his seventh test ton on Australian soil surpassing Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar. India came back strong after the poor performance with the bat in the first innings of the test.
India came to Australia after suffering a humiliating whitewash on their home soil against New Zealand and the absence of the skipper Rohit Sharma made it even worse for them, head coach Gautam Gambhir made a brave decision by dropping India’s most experienced test spinners R.Ashwin and R. Jadeja. Stand-in captain Jasprit Bumrah led his team from the front and became the first captain to defeat Australia in Perth, he also picked 8 wickets in the test match and pushed Australia to backfoot in crucial situations.
On the 4th day, Mohammed Siraj sent Usman Khawaja packing on just 4 runs, Steve Smith and Travis Head put on 50+ partnership and kept Australia alive in the chase but the veteran batsman eventually edged a delivery from Siraj. Head smashed a quickfire half-century and was looking dangerous until the Indian skipper sent him back to the dressing room.
The failed Australian top order will raise a lot of eyebrows, especially Marnus Labuschagne who managed to score just 5 runs in the match, and Steve Smith who recorded a golden duck when Bumrah pinned him in front of the stumps in the first innings and scored just 17 runs in the second innings while chasing a massive target of 534 runs. Washington Sundar picked up two quick wickets of Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon and almost confirmed the victory for India.
Rana wrapped things in Perth after dismissing Alex Carey. The Oval will serve as the venue for the second test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, scheduled as a day-night game.
India 150 (Hazlewood 4-29) and 487 for 6 Dec (Jaiswal 161, Kohli 100*, Rahul 77) beat Australia 104 (Bumrah 5-30) and 238 (Head 89, Bumrah 3-42, Siraj 3-51) by 295 runs.
Jasir Basharat is a cricket enthusiast capturing the heart of the game through insightful analysis and storytelling sharing his passion for the sport through engaging narratives. He is a business graduate from University of Kashmir.
