Dynamite News Ind vs Aus, 1st Test: Hazlewood and Cummins blow visitors away as hosts register 8-wicket win
One session cost India the pink-ball Test against Australia at the Adelaide Oval as the hosts registered an eight-wicket victory on Saturday to take a 1-0 lead in the four-match Test series.
Adelaide: One session cost India the pink-ball Test against Australia at the Adelaide Oval as the hosts registered an eight-wicket victory on Saturday to take a 1-0 lead in the four-match Test series.
Riding on the back of a brilliant spell of bowling from Josh Hazlewood (5/8) and Pat Cummins (4/21) on the third afternoon - first session - Australia first dismissed India for 36 - Mohammad Shami retiring hurt - and then came back to chase down the target of 90 in just 21 overs.
Joe Burns hit a career-saving unbeaten 51 while Matthew Wade hit 33 as the two put on 70 for the opening wicket to extinguish any hopes India had of staging a fightback.
But it was certainly a day to forget for the Indians as the batsmen went down like ninepins. While it was a collective failure as far as the batting line-up was concerned, what made it worse was skipper Kohli's drive just outside the off-stump with the score reading 19/5. The ball flew off the edge to gully and debutant Cameron Green took a fine low catch. This is also the first time under Kohli's captaincy that India lost a Test match after he won the toss.
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While it is important for the captain to stand tall when wickets are falling left, right and centre, it is also the role of every batsman in the team to stand up and make it count when the host bowlers are bowling a spell as fiery as the one from Cummins and Hazlewood.
The Indian unit might have had a 62-run lead entering the third day of the Test, but the team squandered the advantage as the batsmen failed to rise to the occasion and all the top-order batsmen flopped in unison. It was one of those days when everything the duo of Cummins and Hazlewood did fell into place.
This was India's lowest-ever score in Test history as the team's lowest score before this was the 42 they had registered against England in 1974. It was also the third successive time that India lost a Test in two-and-a-half days - after the twin losses in New Zealand.
Resuming at 9/1, India lost the wickets of Jasprit Bumrah (2) and Cheteshwar Pujara (0) in quick succession as Cummins sent both the batsmen back to the pavilion. In the very next over, Hazlewood scalped the prized wickets of Mayank Agarwal (9) and Ajinkya Rahane (0) as the visitors were left reeling at 15/5 with just a lead of 68.
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Things turned worse for the visitors as Cummins got Kohli (4). Wriddhiman Saha and Ravichandran Ashwin also failed to bother the scorers and India was reduced to 26/8. In the end, Mohammad Shami was hit on the right arm and he retired hurt as India's innings came to an end with the score on 36.
Having done all the hardwork, the Indian bowlers were once again let down by the batsmen, a sight that has become almost synonymous with India playing away from home. India's much-talked about bowling line-up has time and again put the host batsmen on the backfoot, but the Indian batsmen have failed to rise to the challenge against the host bowlers.
Not to forget the Australian tail wagging on Friday to add 80 runs for the last three wickets. Not only did they come back to haunt the Indians, but also with Kohli leaving after this Test and David Warner likely to come back for the next game, the visitors have their task cut out.
Brief Scores: India 244 and 36/9 (Josh Hazlewood 5/8, Pat Cummins 4/21); Australia 191 and 93/2 (Joe Burns 51*) (ANI)