Adelaide: India gave wings to their quest for a maiden series win in Australia with a 31-run victory in the opening Test, their first in the country since 2008 here Monday.
Chasing 323, the hosts were bowled out for 291 in 119.5 overs shortly before tea on day five with R Ashwin (3/91), Jasprit Bumrah (3/68) and Mohammed Shami (3/65) taking three wickets each for a 1-0 lead in the four-match series.
Things went too close for comfort for India as Nathan Lyon (38 n o) and Josh Hazlewood (13) put on 42 runs for the last wicket and frustrated the Indian bowling. The sparse crowd at Adelaide Oval cheered every single as the duo edged closer and the odd boundary didn’t help.
Finally, things came to a close as Ashwin had Hazlewood caught at second slip to register India’s sixth Test win on Australian soil.
Post lunch, India had a big early breakthrough when Australian skipper Tim Paine (41) played an uncharacteristic pull shot off Bumrah and only managed to loop it up for Pant to take an easy catch.
The visitors then were bothered by two lower-order stands. First, Mitchell Starc (28) and Pat Cummins (28) put on 41 runs for the eighth wicket before Shami broke the stand. Cummins got out shortly after a 31-run stand with Lyon.
In the morning session, India removed Travis Head (14) and Shaun Marsh (60) as Australia reached 186 for six at lunch. Starting from overnight 104 for four, the Head-Marsh partnership lasted only 7.4 overs before India forced a breakthrough.
Head was the first to go off an Ishant Sharma (1-48) delivery. The duo had added 31 runs with the onus now on Marsh and Paine as the last recognized batting pair.
Marsh was looking comfortable at the crease all morning, but Bumrah removed him after the drinks break. It was Pant’s ninth dismissal in the Test, equalling MS Dhoni (9 versus Australia, Melboure in 2014) as the second-best haul by an Indian wicketkeeper in overseas Tests. Cummins then helped Paine play out 10.5 overs, although he had a couple of hairy moments.
Brief scores: India 250 & 307 bt Australia 235 and 291 (Shaun Marsh 60, Nathan Lyon 38 n o; Mohammed Shami 3/65, Jasprit Bumrah 3/68, R Ashwin 3/92) by 31 runs.
Pant equals world record
Adelaide: Rishabh Pant Monday equalled the world record of most catches in a Test by a wicketkeeper, snaring 11, six in first innings and five in the second, in the first Test against Australia while breaking the Indian mark. The 21-year-old is now level with Englishman Jack Russell (vs South Africa at Johannesburg in 1995) and South Africa’s AB de Villiers (vs Pakistan at Johannesburg in 2013). He eclipsed the India record of 10 catches in a game by Wriddhiman Saha. Pant equalled the world record after taking Mitchell Starc’s catch off Mohammed Shami’s ball in the second innings.
