The first Test between India and Australia of the 2018-19 Border-Gavaskar Trophy went underway at the Adelaide Oval. The highly anticipated Test series has a lot of attention of media and the cricketing world and everyone has put their money on India to win their maiden series.
India started off right, as Virat Kohli won his first toss after a long time away from home and chose to bat first. India brought in Rohit Sharma at the crucial no.6 position and hoped that the batsmen will fare better this time around.
However, it was not to be as the Australian quick bowlers ran through the Indian top order as KL Rahul fell for 2, caught by Finch off Hazlewood and Vijay followed suit caught by Paine off Starc for 11.
India’s main man Virat Kohli could only manage 3 before Cummins had him caught brilliantly by Khawaja.
Rahane and Pujara held the fort for a short while, but then Rahane followed a wide ball from Hazlewood and was dismissed, caught by Handscomb for 13. This left India 41/4 and then came in Rohit Sharma and took on the Australian bowlers.
He was cavalier in his attitude, which showed in him hitting Pat Cummins for a six over covers. However, the 45-run partnership came to an end, when Sharma on 37 with 2 fours and 3 sixes, went for another six off Lyon and was caught easily by Harris.
This left Pujara to work his way with the lower order and though Pant looked good for his 25, Lyon got him as well, caught behind. Then Ashwin (25) added 62 runs with Pujara, as Pujara labored his way towards a brilliant century.
Pujara got his century and also completed 5,000 runs in Test cricket and upped the ante a bit, gathering as many runs as possible for India, with Australia taking the second new ball. Pujara was unfortunately run out for a masterful 123 off 246 balls with 7 fours and 2 sixes. His innings has given the Indian bowlers something to defend and put pressure on the Aussies batsmen.
For Australia, Starc (2/63), Lyon (2/83), Cummins (2/49) and Hazlewood (2/52) shared the loot among themselves, as the day ended with Pujara’s run out, leaving India 250/9.
BRIEF SCORES:
IND 250/9 (C PUJARA 123; R Sharma 37; P CUMMINS 2/49)
