The West Test: India dominate day two to take control against Australia
An unbelievable 17 wickets fell on an extraordinary opening day of the First Test between Australia and India at Perth Stadium.
India captain Jasprit Bumrah took four wickets in a scintillating spell to leave Australia reeling at 7-67, chasing just 150.
Alex Carey (19*) and Mitchell Starc (6*) will return to the crease with the hosts trailing by 83 runs with three wickets remaining.
Follow all the action from day two in our blog below.
Blistering Bumrah
That’s 5-17 from 11 superb overs from India’s stand-in skipper - and he’s not done yet, seemingly.
Bumrah produces a couple of plays-and-misses from the new batter in Nathan Lyon. The Indian fans are up and about, and it feels like the tourists now have a significant advantage in this Test.
It’s 8-70.
BUMRAH STRIKES!
And Alex Carey has to go!
The carnage continues for Australia. First ball of the day from Bumrah, and he’s at it again!
Carey goes back to play one that nips away from a fourth-stump line and succeeds in only feathering it through to the ‘keeper. Dream start for India, horror opening for the hosts!
Australia 7-70
Carey and Starc combine for a trio of singles in the first over to get us underway for the morning.
A reminder that Starc produced a 68no - his third-highest Test score - in Perth, 12 years ago...
Underway!
We’re back in action on day two!
It’s Harshit Rana to bowl the day’s first over, with Alex Carey on strike. Big first hour for the Aussies!
Starc chats
Here’s Mitchell Starc chatting to Seven about the plan of attack today, among plenty of other things!
Crowd piling in
A bumper crowd of 31,302 was on deck yesterday - not bad for a weekday in November when school is still in session!
There appears to be a much larger presence of children here today as the fans steadily make their way in. Hopefully, that 30K mark will get surpassed once again by the time the day is done.
We couldn’t ask for more perfect weather conditions, with a forecast maximum of 29C - down a couple of degrees from yesterday’s forecast - and not a cloud in the sky, 10 minutes out from the first ball of the day.
The back page of Saturday’s The West Australian.
Day 1’s Hits & Misses
While we await the arrival of Alex Carey and Mitch Starc at the crease in about 25 minutes’ time, get up to speed on the day 1 highlights with our Hits & Misses - including that extraordinary Rishabh Pant shot that stood out like a beacon on a tough day for batting (and deserves to be watched over and over again)!
Pitch update
The deck looks in decent nick as we get ready to start day two, but Mitchell Starc last night warned he could already see cracks starting to form.
It could flatten out a little and hold some runs should the batters be able to get through the first 30-40 overs of the ball zipping around, but that has already proved a significant challenge for both Australia and India’s line-ups.
The prospect of a fourth day of this Test appears bleak, but there’s still a long way to go yet!
Hello!
And welcome to day two of the first Test at Perth Stadium.
Australia will resume at 7-67, with Alex Carey and Mitchell Starc at the crease.
The Aussies trail India by 83 runs with three wickets remaining.
Can Carey help re-build the innings and save the hosts from a massive first-innings deficit?
