Twitter Reactions: Game in the balance as India and Australia strive for ascendancy

A few late wickets on the first day put India in a decent position against Australia at the new Perth Stadium, but the hosts also hit back hard. Their lower order frustrated the Indian bowlers once again and the likes of Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood were able to rattle the visitors’ star-studded the batting lineup. In the end, Virat Kohli and Co are still trailing by 160 runs in the first innings.

Aussie pacers dictate terms

Tim Paine and Pat Cummins were the overnight batsmen as the Aussies resumed at 277/6 in 90 overs. The duo carried on and compiled a decent stand of 59 runs from 137 balls. Most importantly, they took their team over the 300-run mark. Cummins valued his wicket and scored a 66-ball 19 before being castled by Umesh Yadav. In the next over, Jasprit Bumrah trapped Paine, who notched 38.

The rest of the batters couldn’t quite come up with much resistance as Australia were shot out for 326. India got off to a shambolic beginning. Mitchell Starc cleaned up Murali Vijay for a duck in his second over to draw first blood. The ball shaped back in and Vijay was left with no answer. After a couple of overs, Josh Hazlewood castled KL Rahul, who could only score a couple from 17 deliveries.

Kohli and Rahane hold on  

Following the initial stutter, Cheteshwar Pujara and skipper Virat Kohli put their heads down and staved off the Aussie bowlers without much trouble. A few overs later, there was a massive caught-behind appeal to dismiss Pujara, but the batsman found himself on the right side of luck. Kohli was fluent to start his innings and he smacked Hazlewood for quite a few boundaries, all along the ground.

India went into Tea with the score at 70/2. Unfortunately, after the break, Starc accounted for Pujara’s wicket when the batsman tried to fend one down to fine-leg. The Saurashtra-batsman scored 24 runs off 103 balls. Kohli buckled down to play until the very end and stayed not out on 69 from 167 balls. Ajinkya Rahane, who hasn’t had the best of times recently, also showed intent and racked up a half-century.

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