Perth, 25 November (UITV)- The Indian cricket team made a great start in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and won the Perth Test match by a huge margin of 295 runs. With this victory, India has taken a 1-0 lead in the five-match Test series. India had given Australia a huge target of 534 runs in the second innings, but the host team could not face this challenge and was all out for 238 runs.
The Indian cricket team has reached the top of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) points table after registering a spectacular 295-run victory over Australia in the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy at the Perth Stadium on Monday. This victory was historic for India, as it was the biggest win against Australia outside home in terms of runs. Earlier, in 1977, India defeated Australia by 222 runs in Melbourne.
Australia lost three wickets in the last session of the third day, which gave India the upper hand. At the beginning of the fourth day, Mohammad Siraj gave an early blow to Australia by getting Usman Khawaja caught out by Rishabh Pant. Khawaja returned to the pavilion after scoring just 4 runs.
After this, Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith played cautiously and took the team’s score to 79 runs. However, before lunch, Siraj attacked again and got Steve Smith caught out by Pant on a personal score of 17 runs. Smith faced 60 balls during his innings but could not hit a single boundary.
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Before lunch, half of Australia’s team returned to the pavilion at 104 runs. After this, Travis Head scored runs rapidly while batting aggressively. Head scored 89 runs in his innings and gave some hopes to the team. He hit 8 fours in 101 balls. However, Jasprit Bumrah ended his brilliant innings by getting him caught out by Pant.
Mitchell Marsh also played a useful innings of 47 runs, but Nitish Reddy ended his innings. After this, wicketkeeper Alex Carey struggled for some time in the lower order and scored 36 runs off 58 balls. However, wickets kept falling at the other end. Washington Sundar dismissed Mitchell Starc for 12 runs and Nathan Lyon for zero runs and sent him to the pavilion. Finally Harshit Rana bowled Carey to give India the win.
Indian bowlers performed brilliantly in this match. Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Siraj took three wickets each. Washington Sundar got two wickets, while Harshit Rana and Nitish Reddy took one wicket each. Bumrah took five wickets for 30 runs in the first innings with his deadly bowling and played an important role in giving India the victory by taking three wickets in the second innings.
With this big win, India has taken the lead in the series and also gained a psychological advantage. Jasprit Bumrah was awarded the title of “Player of the Match” for taking a total of eight wickets in the match.
After the Perth Test, India’s point percentage (PCT) has increased to 61.11, taking it to the top of the points table. Australia, which was at the top earlier, has now slipped to second place and has a PCT of 57.69. Both teams are in the race to make it to the WTC Final to be held at Lord’s on June 11.
Sri Lanka occupies the third place in the WTC standings, with a PCT of 55.56. Recently, Sri Lanka has strengthened its position by defeating New Zealand 2-0 at home. Sri Lanka is also emerging as a strong contender in the race to reach the WTC Final.
India will have to win at least three of their next four matches to qualify for the final. At the same time, Australia will also now prepare a strategy to win in their remaining matches.
This victory of India reflected the excellent performance of the entire team. From a strong start in batting to a strong performance by the bowlers, the team performed balanced in every department. Now the Indian team will try to maintain the same rhythm in the upcoming matches of the series. This defeat is a big setback for Australia and it will be very important for them to make a comeback in the next match.
India and Australia will now travel to Adelaide for the day-night Test (pink ball test) to be held from 6-10 December at the Adelaide Oval. This match can prove to be decisive for both the teams, especially in the race for the WTC final.
This victory of India has given the team a chance to move strongly towards the WTC final. However, the matches ahead will be challenging and the team will have to maintain its rhythm. The performance in the Adelaide Test will indicate how close India is getting to its target. On the other hand, Australia and Sri Lanka will also try to strengthen their position, making the race for the final more exciting.